Return To Whistler!

After a grueling 17 hour journey, my four friends and I finally arrived at Whistler Blackcomb ski resort last night. In the end, it was worth it. Whistler is as amazing as I remember -- maybe more.

We got up early this morning to use our "Fresh Tracks" tickets. The gondola took us up to the Roundhouse lodge, and also brought us together with our daylong companion, a snowboarding instructor I will refer to as "Bob". Bob's students hadn't shown up for their lesson, so he was free for the day, but in uniform. We decided to spend the day together -- travelling with him, we could skip the lift lines, but he couldn't get this preferential treatment by himself. We found the bargain to be heavily in our favor, because in addition to skipping the lines, we also got the services of an experienced mountain guide, and even a few teaching tips, at no cost.

Our group includes snowboarders with different skill levels. Jeff and Don are relatively inexperienced, while John, Jim, and I are more accustomed to riding in powder and steep slopes. This became an issue because of the fantastic snow conditions on the mountain. There's a lot of deep powder as a result of some enormous snowfalls over the past week. Don and Jeff did quite well and are improving rapidly, but they found the deep snow taxing. Mostly it wasn't an issue because most of the bowls here have trails running through them, but we did encounter some difficulty heading down from Whistler peak through the Cirque, a tiny notch of a trail cut into the side of the mountain. I got a picture of Jim and Jon descending into the bowl, but unfortunately didn't snap a shot of Jon walking back up from the precipice that nearly killed him. Luckily he went first and waved me off, so I had a relatively safe trip back down to the lift.

We have really been enjoying our stay so far. The condo is spacious and located very near the lifts (and everything else), and we have been taking full advantage. So far the amount we've spent on beer and food has been a bit excessive, but then again, we're on vacation!
- posted by Joachim @ 2:21 AM