Feb.1/09,Blackcomb shampagne powder

My son and I spent the day in incredibly light powder yesterday. Unfortunately, the coverage is still not great; I put a number of scratches on the bases of my new Rapid Transits . It snowed lightly all day and the visibility was decent. The nasty wind was only felt on the ridges and it deposited fine snow into the creases between the exposed rocks. I did get some face shots, but they probably would have been disqualified because they were wind assisted. The double-blacks that we investigated were closed; we did have fun in some of the chutes around Secret Bowl, as the photos below may suggest. We explored the upper mountain and skied a variety of runs and terrain. We could have skied to the car but I was concerned about doing further damage to my skis.

Workmates of my son had rented a luxurious house for several days. We arrived Saturday evening and were persuaded to stay last night as well. That wasn't too hard to do after a couple hours of hot tubbing and "rehydrating". The highway outside of Whistler was a gong show this morning. Eight inches of new snow on top of black ice created problems for those traveling up. A car just ahead of me slid into a stalled truck causing me to wonder how many people are still not buying into the concept of using winter tires in winter time conditions.

Sunday was fun, Monday was even better although it warmed up significantly after 12. Must have been 8-9 inches overnight although in spots it was more.

My son had to report into work yesterday otherwise we might have taken advantage of the significant snowfall.The mountain seemed empty on Sunday, with no waits at any chairs( likely due to the Super Bowl). With the highway closed for a period Monday morning, I bet that there was no wasting time at the lifts for those lucky enough to be on the mountains.

Good on ya, Bob; Whistler was so cool in BAD snow that I'm sure I'll be grinning when I get up there with the freshies.