Check out the full scoop!

Kathleen, Me, and Tyler at Mt. Baker

To get to Mt. Baker we woke up early at 5am and headed east to Abbotsford through the Sumas Boarder Crossing in to the Untied States.  After a quick intermission at the boarder and exaggerating the truth to the boarder guard about having fruit in our car we headed off the windy back roads to Mt. Baker.  I have never skied Mt. Baker and was surprised that the roads to get there were so narrow through farm land and forests.

View of Mount Shuksan – one of the two mountains in Mt. Baker’s ski fields

I must say, Mt. Baker is so beautiful!  The terrain is very picturesque and with their alpine base at over 200cm (111 inches) that day there was lot’s of snow.  Initially, I was under the impression that Mt. Baker was as big as Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains but I found the terrain there to be a similar size to Grouse Mountain.

Mt. Baker

One thing I noticed immediately was the boring names they use for their chairlifts…ie. C-5, C-8, C-7.  Speaking of Mt. Baker’s chairlifts, I was NOT happy!  They feel very unsafe!  They do not have a restraining bar and you have to be ready for them to ’scoop’ you up or get hit by them when you get on.  They are older quad chairs but I was shocked that they didn’t have a restraining device to keep you in your chair.  It was especially scary when the chair stopped and swung in mid-air…

Tyler with the Mt. Baker trail map contemplating our next move after lunch

However, despite being a smaller mountain the terrain was awesome!  Very fun and lot’s of snow.  Our favorite run of the day was a black diamond called Canyon which we went down three times despite the sketchy chairlift C-6 to get up to it =)  We also enjoyed the other terrain the mountain had to offer and it did have lot’s of wide runs and extensive blue terrain.  We discovered the snow was less tracked out on the right side (Mt. Baker side) of the mountain and much less busy.

View down our favorite run of the day Canyon

Overall, it was a very long but great day to Mt. Baker.  I would love to go again sometime soon.  I just have to work up enough courage to get back on their chairlifts.

Now I know that this post is a bit late (about a week) but I’ve been busy with other items and have not had time. Though for those who are interested I had the opportunity to be an accredited photographer not only at the LG FIS WorldCup 2009 Boardercross but I also was able to attend the Half-Pipe event which was held on the following Saturday (February 14th). A snowboard Half-Pipe event is usually the most exciting and most popular out of all the snowboarding events, or at least in my opinion.

What Is A Half-Pipe?

A Snowboard Half-Pipe is a pretty large structure and in the case of the LG FIS WorldCup 2009 event it was a monster 170 metres in length with a crazy height of 22 feet. Not to mention it has the incline of an 18 degree angle. I definitely wouldn’t want to accidentally slip off the deck to drop down 22 feet on solid ice.

Snowboarders (or riders) perform aerobatic jumps, twist, and tricks on this massive half-cylinder structure as they make their way from the top to the bottom. Did I mention is is usually hard packed (like ice) type snow? Something I wouldn’t really want to fall onto after clearing the deck by like 15 feet!

Inverted Shaun White

The tricks that the riders perform can be pretty insane to watch as well. There is the straight-air, grabs, rotations (which can go up to 1080 or even higher!), switches, frontsides, backsides and even inverted. The riders have to put together a routine while traversing down the length of the Half-Pipe in order to score high with the judges. If the rider falls in the Half-Pipe during their run their points stop so any trick performed (if possible) is just mainly for fun.

LG FIS WorldCup 2009 Half-Pipe Finals

The way scoring works for the Men and Woman’s Half-Pipe Finals is the better of the two scores the riders could earn out of their two runs. A maximum score a rider could make on a single run would be 50 points. The best score of these two 50 point scores would determine where the rider was placed.

Gretchen Bleiler & Hannah Teter USA

Sitting, standing, kneeling on the deck was a pretty cool experience for me. Being so close to the riders pull off their tricks in front of me was pretty crazy. The photographers around me (not too many mind you) had some pretty awesome gear, and some spectators had better glass than I did. Though that didn’t really bother me, I was closer to the action with a great vantage point for taking photos of these amazing riders. Though we only had about 2 to 3 feet of room we could maneuver in and after a while the snow under our feet would harden to ice.

Iouri ‘iPod’ Podladtchikov

Ryoh Aono

There were so many good riders out that day entertaining the crowd with their gravity defying feats that I didn’t notice that the whole day went by so quickly. Sure trudging up the ski runs with just my snowboard boots and camera gear was really exhausting and then having to climb up the deck of the half-pipe too was as equally tiring but the end result was a great day of shooting these riders strut their stuff.

Standings

Woman

• 1: Kelly Clark USA
• 2: Jiayu Liu CHN
• 3: Hannah Teter USA
• 4: Gretchen Bleiler USA

Mens

• 1: Shaun White USA
• 2: Ryoh Aono JPN
• 3: Iouri ‘iPod’ Podladtchikov SUI
• 4: Kazuumi Fujita JPN

Overall for my first experience seeing professional riders hit the Half-Pipe during the LG FIS WorldCup 2009 I walked away with over 2000 photos and a great first experience as a media accredited photographer. The LG FIS WorldCup 2009 PGS event was unfortunatly cancel due to poor (soft) snow conditions. Though the whole weekend event was great and look forward to seeing how Cypress and the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics pan out when these riders come back next year.

You can check our some of the other photos I have uploaded from the LG FIS WorldCup 2009 event over on Flickr.

In addition, one of the local TV stations, City TV, was holding a contest that is now closed called ‘Duck Out’ to take a picture of a rubber duck in an unusual location. The TV station randomly selects 5 winners over 5 weeks so Tyler and I thought we would enter. The prize is pretty nice: $4500 value of a trip for two to Acapulco Fairmont Hotel!
We thought we would bring our devil duck up to the slopes on Cypress Mountain to enjoy all of the fresh snow! Here are the two pics Tyler and I submitted:

Robyn:

Devil Duck getting ready to hit the slopes on Cypress Mountain

Tyler:

Devil Duck ready to board down Cypress

Also, here is another Devil Duck picture that we didn’t submit that Tyler took that I enjoy.

Anyways, we and the devil duck had a great evening on Cypress Mountain……can’t wait until we get some fresh snow soon.

Snowboard Cross or boardercross as most people like to referrer to it as, is an event that challenges a rider’s abilities to maintain control throughout a down hill course. These courses contain turns, gaps, berms, drops, steep sections as well as flat areas which all ensure that the riders do not have the easiest of times speeding down the course. The riders also have to make sure they do no collide with each other as they traverse down the course to the finish line as fast as possible.

Cypress Mountain was host to the LG FIS WorldCup 2009 event which consists of 3 snowboarding events; Boardercross (SBX), Half-Pipe and PGS (Parallel Giant Slalom).

LG FIS WorldCup 2009 – Boardercross (SBX)

Friday (February 13th 2009) was the Boardercross Finals for both Men and Woman.

The action was pretty intense as the athletes maneuvered down the course at high speeds in groups of 4 riders per heat. There were a few collisions, but that is not unexpected in a Boardercross race. The groups usually stay closely packed together as they ride over jumps and berms. One wrong edge and you would easily drop to last place in your heat. The fastest 2 riders would continue on to the next race.

All of the riders were highly entertaining throughout the course, especially the last largest jump at the finish line. As the day progressed, the crowd got more and more into the action as the riders would entertain them just before the finish line.

When Robyn and I first talked about Boardercross and the 2010 Winter Olympics we were a bit hesitant on putting our names in for it as we did not think it would be much of a spectator event. Even though we did not win tickets for the boardercross, after watching the LG FIS WorldCup 2009 Boardercross event it would be something we would definitely recommend people trying to get out and seeing if they have an opportunity.

LG FIS WorldCup 2009 Final Standings

Womens

• 1: Lindsey Jacobellis USA
• 2: Olivia Nobs SUI
• 3: Helene Olafsen NOR
• 4: Maelle Ricker CAD

Mens

• 1: Markus Schairer AUT
• 2: Mike Robertson CAD
• 3: Seth Wescott USA
• 4: Francois Boivin CAD

A lot of the athletes who participated in this event will be competing during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics as well. It was a great opportunity to see the best at Bordercross compete on one of our local mountains. The spectators who will be attending the 2010 Winter Olympic Boardercross at Cypress Mountain will definitely love watching these riders race down the course for their chance at the Gold.

All Photos by: Tyler Ingram

Last night being a Tuesday means that Robyn and I get to use our Night Ski pass up at Cypress and we were both looking forward to the evening. With receiving 25cm of snow the previous day it should have been great conditions right?

The nice thing I find about night skiing is that the slopes are not as busy as the weekend is. There are no crazy lineups at the chairlifts and the snow can be somewhat decent. Well the snow depends really on the weather and in Vancouver we haven’t had the greatest snow so far this Winter.

When we arrived at the parking lot they were practicing for the Freestyle Aerial event, Canada Post Freestyle Grand Prix that Cypress is hosting. The event’s venue is actually where the 2010 Winter Olympic Aerial and Mogul event is being held. It was cool seeing a couple of the people launch off the snow ramps, but we thought we’d check it out after our time on the snow.

I would also like to mention that I was mistaken in my last post about thinking it was part of the WordCup event which is being held at Cypress too. The LG Snowboard WorldCup is being held this month as well. My favorite part of the mountain is closed as they set up the border cross course. The Skiing portion is for the FIS (International Ski Federation) and they are doing Aerials and Moguls.

We took to Panorama as our first run of the day. The sun had not quite set yet so I was hoping we’d be able to get some photos of Vancouver from the ridge.

Metro Vancouver from Cypress

It seems that we were in luck and managed to get a couple shots of Vancouver and the surrounding area with Robyn’s camera.

The Lions

The view is amazing from Cypress as not only does it show you the the city, but if you face the other way you can see the Sunshine Coast, Horseshoe Bay and even the Lions.

After the initial run on Panorama as a warm up we found the snow to be very icy. Luckily there were not many people on Panorama as it is the only run open on the Black Mountain side during night ski as the north runs are closed due to the WorldCup Cross course being set up.

Setting up for the LG WorldCup Snowboarder Cross Event

The runs for the PGS (Parallel Giant Slalom) and Boarder Cross are PGS as well as the Upper portion of Fork. Going up the Eagle Express Chair you can see the course marked out with blue paint as well as all the rollers they have created. It looks pretty sweet actually and fun too.

We headed back over to the Lions Express chair and tried out Collins. I had a bit of a spill at the beginning on a patch of ice and hurt my tail bone but the rest of the run was better than expected. We hit Collins a couple more times as we thought that the other runs were far too icy.

Black Mountain at Dusk

The view of the mountains and surrounding area as the sunset was pretty impressive. Seeing the FIS Grand Prix event lit up as the sun set was pretty cool too. We headed into the lodge after a few runs, ate our food and went back to the car to pack our gear.

After we got our gear in the car and on the rack we decide to head over to the aerials and check them out. We ’snuck’ in pretending we were part of the event and no one seemed to really care we were there. Yes I do wish I had brought my dSLR but I had fun using Robyn’s point and shoot camera to try and take photos.

FIS Grand Prix Aerials

I did manage to get one decent shot of an aerial. The others, the action was too fast for the camera to capture properly. We stayed there watching jump after jump. It was pretty cool seeing freestyle aerials in person. Jump after jump we both thought the landings were quite hard. We think about 95% of the aerials ended up falling when they hit the snow, which sounded hard and really icy.

We saw one person fall bad and ended up injuring his leg. He was moved into the tent behind us and looked at by the first aid attendents. I guess he twisted his knee as he had a huge ice pack wrapped around it when we left.

You can check out the rest of our Cypress photos from this night as well as others over at my Flickr Cypress Set.

Again we did enjoy our time up at Cypress even if the snow was icy and a bit nerve racking. We also really enjoyed watching the freestyle aerials. Robyn is glad she got to see part of the event as her work schedule will be interfering with some of the other events she would like to see such as the WorldCup Snowboard Halfpipe. If only I could get media accreditation for the event to take photos of such an event.

Tyler and I attended Wordcamp Whistler on Jan. 24th which was a great day and we got the opportunity to hear more about what was going on in the world of Wordpress and new technology. Personally, being new to blogging I didn’t know many people but Tyler introduced me to a few people as well we both met some new people.  We asked around at Wordcamp but it appeared we were the only people that had plans on going up the mountains the next day.

Raul showing us his love and dedication to Wordpress!

Tyler and I were both exhausted on Sunday morning from Wordcamp the previous day and a full work week so we had decided to enjoy the luxuries of The Chateau Whistler by sleeping in and using the pool facilities.  It was a beautiful sunny day but a chilly -17 Celsius.  We decided to do a half day pass but trust me, financially it’s not worth it!  It’s only $10 cheaper and does not start until 12:30pm  so we just went ahead and paid full price to go up Blackcomb at 11:30am.

Whistler/Blackcomb unfortunately has not had a very good snow season.  There has not been any new snow for a couple of weeks and with the base at 142cm the runs were ice rinks!  We were slipping and sliding all over the place.  We decided not to head over to 7th Heaven as it is so windy on that side of the mountain the ice could potentially be worse.  Crystal chair was the least icy spot on the mountain but it was so cold we could only do a couple of runs and then have to go inside to warm up.

Looking down Blackcomb Mountain near Rendevous

Neither of us had a major fall but we saw lot’s of other people falling frequently.  Tyler and I had a fun day but were glad were only on Blackcomb for a half day as the ice was tiring and dangerous.  It’s been a poor snow season for Whistler/Blackcomb which is too bad, I just received an email today saying they received 23cm of new snow in the past 24hrs which gives me some hope for the season to improve.  As of right now if they don’ t get more new snow I’m going to save my money and keep skiing locally.

Tyler contemplating his next move on the icy terrain!

A mild temperature and rain in Vancouver during the Winter usually means one thing; snow on our local North Shore Mountains. The plan was for me to go up to Cypress and go riding by myself as well as take a Level 4 lesson while Robyn worked. It was unfortunate that Robyn had to work but I cannot lie, the snow was great and I had a fun time.

According to the local weather we were supposed to receive up to 30mm of rain in the City and 40-50mm rain on the mountains. I was a bit skeptical on whether or not I would get to go up Saturday as I did not want to ride in the rain. After Robyn headed off to work, I called our friend up at Cypress to ask her how it looked. She said it was snowing and I best come up.

The drive was alright until the last stretch of road. The snow started falling, the roads were snowy and the Cypress Charter bus in front of me was going really slow. There were times where Robyn’s car (her’s has snow tires) would drift to the right. It freaked me out as my only though was: what if I couldn’t make it up the hill, I am so close! Luckily there was enough traction and I made it up. The plows were just starting their descent down the roads (did you know Cypress has like three times as many plows as the City of Vancouver?) and people were getting out of their parked cars headed for the runs.

I stopped off at the Lodge, picked up my lift pass, entered for a Level 4 lesson and said hi to our friend Lili. I headed off over to the Lions Express chair only to find out they were not allowing people to load due to an Avalanche Warning. So I hoofed it over to the Eagle Express chair and started my day.

I first took to Panorama (green) to get warmed up. Due to the snow and cloud coverage there was no opportunity for me to take photos of Vancouver below. It was great getting out on the runs as the previous night Cypress received up to 25cm of fresh snow. It was quite and relaxing. I went back up to Fork (blue) and started working on my turning technique. When I got to Lower Fork there was some pretty crazy deep fresh pow. Without have any experience it in I did manage to bail pretty good a couple times. I tried to keep my board’s nose up but I kept plowing it in. The pow was a bit heavy but soft enough so it was fun falling.  I went up 1 more time before my 10:30am lesson but took Cascade (blue) after Upper Fork as to avoid the moguly pow conditions of Lower Fork.

It was time for my 10:30am Level 4 lesson. Robyn and I have both found that typically after Level 3 (in both ski and snowboarding) Level 4 and up usually end up being private lessons. This was great as I was not entirely sure I was ready for a Level 4 lesson. According to Cypress, Level 4 is introduction to Black runs and moguls. I talked to my instructor (David) and he said because it was a private lesson we would just work on whatever I wanted to. This was great, I wanted to work on steeper terrain and learn how to handle mogules. So this is exactly what we did.

After our initial run on Collins (green), as David wanted to see what skill level I was at, we went back up to on the Lions Express chair to Humpty Dumpty (blue). Humpty Dumpty used to be a black run (also was Lili’s favorite) but they groomed it over the Summer and it is not as much as a chute run as it used to be. It was great for working on moguls as there were a lot of them. Not hard icy ones mind you so it wasn’t going to be too difficult to handle.

The pointers he told me were to look 1 or 2 moguls ahead and ensure I look to where I wanted to go. I got the hang of it pretty quick and we managed to get down the mountain without incident. Well except for how my instructor had to answer the call of nature off in the tree line. He hadn’t have the change to take a break as he was in a private lesson before my lesson. The funny part was the moment he went off into the tree to do his thing, two snowboarders came riding by him in the tree line. Anyway we all had a good laugh.

Humpty Dumpty runs into Horizon (blue) which eventually leads you back to either of the lifts. We took off towards the Eagle Express to try some steeper terrain and work on quicker, more narrow turns.

We first went down Panorama (green) to work on a fun exercise of switching edges while in mid turn. We would do little hops to switch from toe edge to heel edge and then back from heel edge to toe edge.

Went back up and then down Fork and took the first right which was P.G.S (blue) or Parallel Giant Slalom which is for the 2010 Winter Olympics to practice turning on steeper terrain. It went well and David was happy with my progress. It was also moguly so I not only got to practice narrower turns but being able to control myself on and around moguls too.

For our next run we went down Fork and branched off to Cascade (blue) to keep practicing making narrower and narrower turns. It was fun as we tried to see how many turns we could do and then also incorporate all of the aspects of riding too. Aspect such as keeping my back straight, knees bent, putting pressure on my lead foot when turning, rolling over to my heel or toe edge, flexion and extension, ensuring I am looking where I am going and more.

After my lesson I went into the lodge and had a drink and something to eat. Cam (from work) sent me a text saying he was on the mountain and if we wanted to meet up. So we did and we hit Midway (blue) with his brother. Going down Midway was alright until I hit some deep pow and my board decided to go submarine on me and bury myself in knee deep snow. I tried hard to get out of it but I ended up having to get off my board and walk down to the non-pow area. That took a lot out of me, luckily I did not have skis as I did see someone earlier lose a ski in the pow.

We went back up to Collins to take it easy. According to Cam he bit it hard earlier and cracked his goggles so he didn’t mind doing a green run. That went well so we decided to go in for lunch (as Cam hadn’t eaten yet). After lunch we went back out to Fork and did a couple more runs and they went well. I was done after that and headed home.

I really enjoy my time up in the snowy mountains on my board and it did suck Robyn was unable to come out as the snow was great. The mountain was not as busy as I thought it migh have been for being a weekend day. I got to work on some new skills and I am enjoying my progress. Did I remember to mention that once I got back to the car in the parking lot there was 2 feet of snow around it? It kept on snowing and now Cypress Mountain’s base is at over 250cm!

You can check out all the Cypress Mountain photos we have on the Cypress Flickr Set.

Our view from the Executive Inn

We had planed to go up skiing/riding for 2 days but since our first day was so cold we decided to save some money and just do that one.  I was so cold on top of Whistler with the alpine temperature being -23 Celsius.

I’m so cold on the chairlift I can’t even look at the camera!

Well, we had a good time and it was beautiful and sunny but it was very icy with limited terrain open.  Tyler had some troubles with his board being able to bite into the snow.  Most people were only able to do 2 or 3 runs before having to go inside to warm up.  I bought toe warmers which I needed and even with them my toes were freezing!  However, the mountain views were amazing and clear.

Looking back at Blackcomb Mountain 7th Heaven

Recently, we have been spending time a bit closer to home on Cypress Mountain but now that Whistler has had new snow and the alpine base is currently at 120cm we are looking forward to going again soon!

Being New Year’s Eve Robyn and I thought we could hit up Cypress Mountain for a bit of night ski/snowboarding. We do have Bronze Adult Night Passes which allow us to go up from 4PM to Close one night a week. The weekday we picked was Wednesday and we were both really excited to do some night skiing. This would be the first time snowboarding at night and luckily Cypress Mountain received about 13cm of fresh snow early in the morning.

Cypress’ New Lodge & Night

After meeting up with our friend Lili we took off to the Collins (green) run to warm up. The thing that was a bit different for myself was I repositioned my bindings a bit further apart. This should help me get in a lower stance on my board, boy did it help! I also lengthened my straps a bit to make it easier to strap my boots in. I have been having troubles doing that.

The snow was fresh, and the crowds were minimal, in fact not many people were on the mountain at all. I guess being New Year’s Eve people would rather be at home partying than be on the mountain. Not I, I loved the fresh snow, the quiet surroundings of riding down the runs.

Looking towards Black Mountain

We took to Horizon (blue) and unfortunately Robyn skied over a rock and bailed. She was alright though and we continued down the run. It was quite moguly and icy in some spots though I did find I had an easier time going down this time than the previous day. There were some more exposed areas on the run due to boarders plowing the snow. Trust me, I really try not to plow the beautiful snow anymore! I too now find it frustrating going over sheets of ice and/or exposed rocks!

We went up to the other side of Cypress (Black Mountain) and went down Panoramic (green). Yes we did do these runs last time on Cypress (Sunday) but I needed to get used to the new wider stance of mine. It was great and I really enjoyed it. After that run we met up with some more friends of ours (Tony and Ali) and took to our next run Fork (blue). So far Fork (upper & lower) are my favorite runs on Cypress.  They are wide enough for me to practice my turns, but also kept it a bit more challenging due to the steepness as well as offering occasional narrow bits to practice tighter turns.

Cypress’ New Bar & Grill

After a couple runs down Fork we took to the Crazy Raven Bar and Grill, part of the new Cypress lodge addition. They offer great food and friendly staff. Not to mention the great view of the snow outside.

Great food at Crazy Raven

While we feasted on nachos, various other foods and drinks it started to snow outside. A light dusting of 2-3cms allowed the runs to be even more fun. We suited up and took back up the Eagle Express Quad Chair to get in a couple more runs down Fork before the mountain closed at 10pm.

Ever since I took my level 3 lesson, snowboarding for me has gotten much more easier and more enjoyable. Being able to link c-turns has allowed me to really enjoy snowboarding at a whole new level. Robyn and our friends did not really have to wait up for me anymore. At times I even passed them by and kept going.

Robyn recommends I take the level 4 lesson which is an introduction to Black runs as well as carving, terrain adaptation and moguls.  Though according to my previous instructor it was an introduction to Blue runs, but I am already doing blues.

For being my first night ski/board experience I have quite enjoyed it. I have to realize though the night wasn’t as icy as Robyn has experienced in previous seasons but it was really enjoyable and I think I was spoiled, weather and snow condition wise. I am looking forward to more night skiing/riding as the winter season progresses.