February 26, 2010 Blackcomb

We spent the 25th near Canada Hockey Place and watched the Woman’s Hockey game between Canada and USA in the Quebec Provincial Pavilion.  A unique experience. We spent the night in the campervan in Squamish and avoided the permit requirement on the road between Squamish and Whistler by getting on the road before 6am.  We had a parking permit for Lot 11 north of Whistler which included a free shuttle to Blackcomb.  We used our Stevens Pass midweek passes to get a free Edge Card and the reduced Edge Card rates for our lift tickets. 

It was snowing big, wet flakes at the base and it kept snowing harder as we ascended.  It was the most unusual experience on the mountain – it was almost deserted even though it was a powder day above the Excalibur gondola.  The upper lifts eventually opened, although visibility in the high alpine was limited.  OK, what does ‘deserted’ on Blackcomb really mean?  We concentrated on the area from the top of the Crystal chair to the top of Excalibur.  We rarely shared a trail with anyone and we were usually skiing 1-2” new on the groomers until we stopped around 1pm.  It is so unusual to stop while skiing and have wait for a couple minutes before someone else came by.  We took a brief break in the Glacier Lodge about 11:30 and there were about 20 people around.  We watched the US hockey team blitz Finland on the TV screens during our short stay.

We eventually skied down to Base II and locked up the skis. Then I walked down the stairs to the ticket booth and bought a couple tickets for the 4-man Bobsleigh event for $30 each.  We walked over to the Sliding Center and watched the first 2 runs of the event.  Getting through Security was interesting – they required us to remove our ski boots and send them through the XRay machine, then we were wanded and could finally put on our ski boots.  The folks behind us had a lot of patience.  It was exciting because with the General Admission tickets we were able to roam around the whole area.  We had a great view of Turn 16 part of the track, and eventually stood about 6 feet from the track near the finish line timer. We watched the blur of sleds cross the timing line, ascend the runout and apply their brakes.  We also had a few sleds slid by tipped over on their sides.  Fortunately, no one was injured during our visit.  The cow bells, flags, painted bodies, and cheering fans made our skiing day at Blackcomb memorable, in addition to enjoying the deserted powder runs on the upper mountain.

The genuine friendliness of everyone we encountered was memorable and priceless.

Thanks Canada !

I skied Blackcomb today. Too bad there wasn't any new snow because I've never seen a ski area more empty in my life, especially in the afternoon after the game started. Eventually the fog burned off and the backcountry was nice. We were downloading the gondola when Crosby had the game winner. The roar from the village was amazing.

Hey Zap, sorry we missed you.  We skied 2/26 and 2/27.  I called channel 10-33 several times on Saturday; did  you have yours on? 
I have not skied W/B much but this was the first trip with good freshies.  There was a fog belt around lower Jersey Cream, but the alpine was good sight distance, we left tracks on most runs, and sailed straight onto the lifts almost every time. 
I saw only the tail end of the women's slalom,but my friends saw other events, we got into the victory ceremony on Friday, and all the international crowds, live music and video feeds, partying and general positive vibrations were super!  What a memorable trip.   

Highlights:
My alpine-ski buddy Walter smashed himself in the face with his ski pole and still ran laps for hours.
-When my whiskey flask went through security the attendant said, "No alcohol allowed in the events!  But you can drink it now and then go in."  So we did.   
-I had my souvenir Canuck flag ready to wave out the window on the way back through Vancouver in case Canada lost the hockey final and we were accosted by vigliantes in toques.   :

Great celebration of international peace and sport excellence. 
     

Hey Zap, sorry we missed you.  We skied 2/26 and 2/27.  I called channel 10-33 several times on Saturday; did  you have yours on? 

Great celebration of international peace and sport excellence. 
     

Mack,  I had the radio on Friday while we were skiing but not on Saturday while at the Mens Slalom event.

Did you get a picture of yourself in the Canadian bobsleigh outside your room and the Olympic Rings ?

It was great to be there.

Jill and I are getting ready for a Road Trip.   

Our bobsled team was 1 man, 1 woman, and a German shepard.
Happy Trails!