Tyler and I finally got the chance today to go up to Whistler to ski/ride.  This was my first day out this season so I spent some time last night getting all my gear ready to leave Downtown Vancouver by 7:15am this morning.  Technically, this was Tyler’s second day this season; as he had the opportunity to go to a GLC (Garabaldi Lift Company) Tweetup last week, which you can check out on his Blog.  I was very envious that he was able to attend, unfortunately, I had to work.

We were both pretty excited and looking forward to getting up to Whistler today as the weather and conditions were great and as an added bonus were able to make it up to Whistler on a weekday…which means there are significantly less people on the mountain.

We decided to spend the day just on Whistler Mountain and not bother to take the Peak to Peak Gondola to ski Blackcomb as well.   The Peak to Peak Gondola is neat, but I do have a slight fear of heights (it is almost 2km high!) and personally, for me, it seems to ruin the experience just to ski the best parts of Whistler and Blackcomb in one day.

We had a great day!  We spent some time doing some warm up laps on the a mix of Green and Blue runs which turned out to be fairly tracked out and icy.  Then we headed over to Harmony Ridge and back up to enter into Symphony Bowl a couple of times.  Symphony chairlift was closed, which was too bad, but I love the views and find it exhilarating to enter into this area of Whistler.

Black Tusk and looking into Symphony Bowl, Whistler Mtn

After having lunch at the Roundhouse the conditions deteriorated a bit.  The wind picked up and was blowing hard and the light was flat in the upper alpine.  We did a couple more runs and tested out the Saddle off Whistler’s peak.  The snow conditions on the Saddle were perfect, except, the light was so flat we had no depth perception.  We decided to call it a day after the light grew flat and conditions started to get icy.

Me contemplating my next move in flat light going down The Saddle, Whistler Mtn

Overall, it was a great day, especially, for pre-season with a snow base of 182 cms.  Compared to conditions this time last year in Whistler with a snow base of around 65cms we are pretty lucky.  Also, I know the Media has been pretty excited about this big snowfall for the 2010 Olympics.

I can’t wait to go back….mostly likely next week when a close friend and ski buddy of mine arrives into town.  She only has one day at Whistler so she might have to convince me to get up on the Peak to Peak so she can do all of Whistler/Blackcombs premium terrain in one day =)

Whistler/Blackcomb has shattered their November Snow Record with an accumulation of up to 418cm (165-inches) of fresh white delicious snow. The previous record was set back in 2006 at a total of 416cm (164-inches) and previous to that was back in 1979. Pretty crazy snow conditions eh?

Photo by: Erik Gustafsson

With a current snow base of 258cm (101-inches) there are some pretty great snow conditions happening right now. There also is 10-15cm of more snow in the forecast with it tapering off during the weekend.  Who has their gear ready for some crazy pow days up at Whistler?

Whistler Tweetup

Are you into Twitter? Are you going to be in Whistler for the full-opening on November 26th? There is an après-ski event happening at the GLC (Garibaldi Lift Co.) from 2pm to 5pm. Come by, say hi, win some prizes (such as an EDGE card, Sapient Snowboard and more) and help celebrate the full opening of Whistler/Blackcomb!

A quick post, but most people should know by now that Whistler Mountain will be opening this Saturday, the 14th of November. Robyn and I were recently up at Whistler and with the snow level dropping every day, more and more snow is accumulating on the mountains! Blackcomb is still slated to open November 26th.

Blackcomb Mountain as seen from Skier’s Plaza

So far there is a 95cm snowbase with more snow in the forecast!

Upcoming Events at Whistler:

• Nov 12-15 – Cornucopia 2009
• Nov 14 – Whistler Mountain Opens (yay!)
• Nov 26 – Blackcomb Mountain Opens
• Dec 3-6 – Whistler Film Festival
• Dec 12 – Fresh Tracks Breakfast
• Dec 31 – First Night 2010

Hopefully that won’t be all the events happening before the 2010 season starts. Who’s excited for snow at Whistler?

Don’t forget, the snow has been dumping on our North Shore Mountains as well, hopefully they will be able to open early but I think it would be at least a few more weeks for them. Let’s see what happens!

It’s getting closer to that time where the white stuff will fall to the local mountains and people will be shredding slopes. This also means that the Vancouver Snow Show will happen too, in fact it did happen, just this weekend.

Now I am not going to bore you with the finer details of the Vancouver Snow Show, so here is short summary along with some photos. The Vancouver Snow Show was held in Canada Place this year and it consists of a nice gathering of ski and snowboard enthusiasts to find out some of the latest happening around the various ski resorts, gear manufacturers as well as a great place to get some deals on new and used gear.

In attendance this year of course were not only the local NorthShore Mountains such as Cypress, Grouse and Seymour but other interior resorts such as SunPeaks, Big Red, Apex, Big White and others were showing their stuff and talking about deals for the upcoming 2009/2010 Winter Season.

Grouse Mountain was having a great deal too, a 1-day flex season pass. It allows you to go once a week to Grouse Mountain catching the 3:45pm tram up to the snowy peak with one of the nicest views of Vancouver. We’re excited because this means we’ll get the opportunity to ski/snowboard for roughly the same amount as we go to last year. Let’s not hope they are too busy with the whole 2010 Olympic thing going down though.

Another large portion of the Snow Show, is the ski/board swap area. Here you can pick up new/used gear ranging from skis, boots, boards, and bindings. Local shops also set up booths to sell off any overstock of winter gear they might have.

Goggles and gloves were going for like $25 a pair, bindings for snowboards were dirt cheap, and even winter outter gear had some decent prices. It’s a pretty interesting place to check out for an hour or two.

You can also enter yourself into multiple contests that booths were having. Majority of the contests for for ski packages at the resorts. I am hoping to win at least one of them. I also entered to win a brand new Mazda CX-7 which could come in handy during those snowy times. There was even a Hummer that was pimped out you could win, it would drive me insane to drive around in a Hummer that had neon lights on the inside which would sync up with the massive sound system it had.

There was a lot to see and it was more enjoyable this time around. I also liked how it was set at Canada Place as opposed to BC Place like last year.

Did you manage to get up to the Snow Snow on either Saturday or Sunday?

Tomorrow also counts the 1 month until Whistler/Blackcomb are open too!

One of the cool aspects of living in the metro Vancouver area is that we have access to 3 different ski/snowboarding areas over on our beloved West Vancouver and North Vancouver area (aka the North Shore). With the Winter season approaching, a lot of people are probably wishing and dreaming of deep pow days for our North Shore Mountains this year. I thought it would be a cool idea to take a look at these 3 local ski mountains and what they offer.

In order of West to East:

Cypress Mountain

• Lifts: 9
• Number of Runs: 52* total / 14 lit for nighttime
  • Green: 7, Blue: 18, Black: 19, Double Black: 4
• Vertical Rise: 610m (2010ft)
• Others: 2 Terrain Parks, 1 Half-Pipe
• URL: www.cypressmountain.com

Cypress Mountain has 19km of cross country ski trails which 7km of them are lit at night, 10km of snowshoeing self-guided trails as well as SnowTubing.

New to Cypress (as of last season) is the Crazy Raven Bar & Grill which is part of their newly constructed day lodge at the base of the two mountains.

* – Before/During/After the 2010 Winter Olympics there will be less runs/terrain available to ski/snowboarders.

Grouse Mountain

• Lifts: 5
• Number of Runs: 26 total / 13 lit for nighttime
  • Green: 3, Blue: 15, Black: 6, Double Black: 2
• Vertical Rise: 384m (1260ft)
• Others: 2 Terrain Parks
• URL: www.grousemountain.com

Among Ski and Snowboarding, Grouse Mountain offers ice skating, sleigh rides as well as 4 snowshoeing trails.

Don’t forget Grouse Mountain is also home to The Observatory and Altitudes Bistro. Great dining options high above the Vancouver city skyline.

Mount Seymour

Mt.Seymour Snowboarding by Kris Taelemen

• Lifts: 5
• Number of Runs: 23 total / 12 lit for nighttime
  • Green: 5, Blue: 14, Black: 4
• Vertical Rise: 330m (1082ft)
• Others: 3 Terrain Parks
• URL: www.mountseymour.com

Mount Seymour also offers 4 SnowTubing lanes and 8 Toboggan runs with 10km of marked and maintained snowshoeing trails.

Overall there is some pretty good snow action across all three local mountains. Robyn and I have been to Cypress and Grouse in previous seasons, but we have not visited Seymour so we cannot tell you which mountain out of all three we do prefer to go to. Actually, I have been to Mount Seymour, though that was back in grade school and were I learned to Ski. That would have been over 15 years ago though. We hope we get the opportunity this winter season to try out Mount Seymour.

If you have any other mountain info you would like to share, or would like to mention about which mountain is your favourite and why, please leave a comment below!