February 8th, 2015 Whistler Variable Powder/Slush

Had a good mixed day. Skied about 30,000 feet of every type of snow known to man. Got on Creekside Gondola at 815 hoping to find more new snow than there was. Got 4" new stuff in Franz's Meadow,, Marmot, and Upper Dave Murray before the crowds hit and we went down to mid station on icy then slushy groomers. No waiting to get back up, had us getting our espresso at Pikas, and then hopping on Harmony when it opened around 10:30. Some new snow on Harmony, but it had been partially skied out yesterday afternoon and there were spots where yesterdays turns were nasty, icy under the bit of fresh. We went to Symphony and took great advantage of our local knowledge by getting in half a run of Cascade Powder, and then waiting for a full hour for the mechanics to get things running. We hiked half way up Jeffs Ode to Joy while we waited, and then still caught 4th chair around noon. The treed chutes to the left of Boundary Bowl held steep, trackless deep, skiable snow. With highspeed turns the snow seemed pretty good. I did about three laps of those type of areas before having our lunch Ceasar at Seppo's. Some would call the visibility poor, but since we knew the area very well, (and how to find the trees thru the fog and flat light) it was OK.

Not having time to go back to Symphony, we took the Peak to Peak over to Blackrock and found Glacier Chair without cloud or fog. Had an interesting run down Heavenly basin in classic mashed potato crud. I had to ski it very hard to keep from getting lazy and hurting a knee or something. I'm surprised a didn't lose a ski in the fist to grapefruit sized hard junk. Even though Kathy took the Crystal Traverse around she had had enough and took off. I should have grabbed a last run on Spanky's Ladder but didn't think of it until too late. I skied to the bottom in light fog and large slush bumps. It was late May skiing for sure. I skied Bark Sandwich for probably only the second time and had a lot of fun on the huge soft springtime bumps. I got to the Village in plenty of time to hitch the Gondola back to Whistler for a final 4,000 feet of spring snow. There was a large line of people downloading the Gondola to avoid skiing the slush I guess. I don't get it...

I think tomorrow I will skin up Flute several times and find very good, fresh powder in north facing gladed trees. Maybe go real back country Tuesday or Wednesday. Anything touched will be junk. It would be nice to get a few inches tonight to refresh things, but hey, I'm skiing skiable snow from top to bottom at the largest resort in North America. Lucky to be here.