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March 06, 2006
Fresh Tracks, Tree Runs, Double Diamonds and more....
So this morning myself and SK woke just before 6am and readied ourselves for fresh tracks. 7cms of snow the night before wasn't record breaking but it was enough.
We uploaded on the Village gondola at 7:15am and having feasted on greasy fry-up, fruit, yoghurt, cake and orange juice we kitted up and hit the slopes at about 8:15.
We got fresh tracks down a couple of runs, the first 'Jimmy's Joker' had been groomed the night before so we charged down that putting in long arcing turns leaving behind large rooster tails of snow from the backs of our boards. 'Dave Murry Downhill' (the location of the 2010 Winter Olympic Mens down hill) was next, it hadn't been groomed and was a little choppy but it was still great fun as we were still some of the first down.
We did a few shortcuts through the trees between the pistes in search of more powder and had some good short runs.
We found out the alpine (the ski areas at the very tops of the mountains) wasn't going to open that day so left Whistler and went to Blackcomb.
While on blackcomb we unexpectedly met with Ben and a friend of his from work so teamed up with them. We were getting a taste for tree runs and the powder they offered so went beyond the ski boundary in search.
For those that don't know Tree/Gladed runs are (surprisingly) where you ski amongst the trees, Gladed runs have been selectively thinned and are slightly easier to negotiate. They are only ever advanced (or more) graded and so pose ever more challenges with (small) cliffs, drops, tree roots ditches and large banks of snow all adding to the 'fun' :o)
We did 'Outer Limits' - a double black diamond run (my first and the only double diamond gladed run on either mountain). It was great fun charging through knee deep snow like a band of lunatics, the various banks of snow provided ample entertainment when jumped off and even nearly going blindly over a 20ft cliff didn't detract from a great run.
We did another run called 'In the Spirit' which was excellent, on which SK had an encounter with a tree stump... I'll let her explain that one.
Following our 'arboristical adventures' we stopped for lunch, Rumour had spread of the excellent waffles to be had at the top of the mountain in the 'Crystal Hut', we decided to investigate.
The hut was cozy but we managed to find a small table in a corner, myself and SK ordered a 'fully loaded' waffle - with everything - Warm strawberries, chocolate, maple syrup and whipped cream washed down with a hot chocolate - a coronary waiting to happen :o)
After our feast we did another tree run then rode back to the main village, too tired and soggy to continue.
Tomorrow ~15cms forecast and its currently puking. We're planning on doing fresh tracks again but spending the day in the alpine doing bowls and more tree runs so should be amazing! Hopefully doing 'Khyber's Pass' an out of bounds tree run on Whistler, its a locals secret and probably one of the longest tree runs in the area.
Should be fun :o)
P.s. I've added the 'official' WhistlerBlackcomb video of the pipestyle contest into the video section, shows more of the action - as well as some great crashes...
Posted by edwardnorthridge at March 6, 2006 04:44 PM