June 22/23,2009 West Bowl, Whistler

Tom K. and myself spent a few days camping on Alta Lake and skiing West Bowl in the sunshine. Both experiences were excellent. I had never skied the north side of West Bowl (Sneaky Pete); photos 2 and 3 are in the glades found on that side. Photo 1 shows the typical route into West Bowl from the south side. We were ambidextrous and used both sides of the bowl many times. The upper mountain is still in good condition, but Harmony was not made available. Even West Bowl was considered out-of-bounds and was to be skied at your own risk just like the Gem Bowls and Blackcomb Glacier had been on the other mountain. I will definitely get up there again this year.
For those who wish to see more pictures, check out telemarktalk.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=58419

Cool pics Telemon. Could you post a pic of your time machine? Or was that May, not June?

The snow looks pretty good in the pictures -- how would you rate snow quality?

Cool pics Telemon.  Could you post a pic of your time machine?  Or was that May, not June?

The snow looks pretty good in the pictures -- how would you rate snow quality?

I would post a picture of my time machine, but that would break the quantity photo rules of TAY

The snow quality was spectacular in the glades of Sneaky Pete, good for the time of year on the other steeps and intermediate runs, and sticky s**t in several sections of the cat tracks.While it may go contrary to the philosophy of many in the TAY community, 15-20,000' of great turns a day at the end of May is something I can really enjoy. I was able to ski within five minutes of the gondola mid station, although most people were downloading from the Roundhouse.

That's some of the best "inbounds" terrain I've skied. Awesome, thanks for sharing.

Looks like fun - do you think it would still be worth bringing my skis to Whistler this week for some touring in the upper bowls? The Whistler Gondola is apparently open but I wonder if things are too melted out to make it worthwhile.

Plan B is to bring my fat tire rig but Telemon's report makes me wonder if there's still some quick touring to be had...decisions, decisions.

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

I can help you with one of your decisions, Jim. W/B will not let you bring up your skis in the gondola after they have shut down their lifts for the season (which they did two weeks ago). They will open up the Horstman Glacier on Blackcomb for skiing, but you would have to be pretty desperate to lift ski to pay for that situation.