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Dive to open tomorrow at Sunshine!

2K views 13 replies 5 participants last post by  Banjo 
#1 ·
#3 ·
The South Side Chutes were good in the morning - not light fluffy powder by any means but some very nice turns especially as you clear the chutes and it opens up. However, being SSV on a weekend, it was chewed to shit by 11am.

Also curious about dive conditions as from afar it looks sparse.
 
#4 · (Edited)
Hey everyone, just to give a quick report on conditions in DD. Did a few runs and scoped it out and had some really great turns. That said I wont be going back in until we get at least another 30cms total in there...coverage sucks and some of the best areas are unridable due to still exposed rock.

Went in yesterday right when they opened it. most of the entry points along Bre X are pretty gnarly with lots of exposed rock. (we did not go right from the hike in but watched some folks do so, sounded hard as skis were scraping.) They ARE doable of you are confident and can point down the fall line to avoid things. Plenty of snow blown in over the ridge so the very top (first 2-3 turns) was nice and soft.

With the coverage right now (which is crap) there are 3 main chutes you get forced down into no matter where you drop. We were behind a group of skiers who literally side slipped the entire run, so the bottom of the chute has massive mounds of snow...and the whole upper portion of the chute is rock hard snow (not ice, just snow). SO hard in fact, that even with my sharpened mag board i would lose my edge. Out the bottom of the chutes there are some good turns in some wind blown snow.

Once you are past those main three and their run outs, your decision is go right or left to bypass Practice Cliffs. Right looked and sounded (heard some skis scraping hard snow) brutal, left was nice and again had some blown in snow. A few good rocks to fly off and a decent amount of crusty snow to land in. A few good wind lips too. As you level out and approach the tree line, its pow crust that isn't very deep.

The trees to the right of the final gully(Bluff and into the trees) were the best choice as they haven't been ridden that much and were soft with no crust, A+. To the left of the trees where you get forced down into the gully before the run out, was nice and soft, but pretty bumpy and you had to be on your toes to avoid a few exposed parts. The final run out (where normally you just blast to get as far into the hike as possible) is a roller coaster that is not smooth or easy to just point by any means....proceed with caution.

As always the hike out sucks, hahaha.
 
#6 ·
cheers man that was very thorough. I didn't get out this weekend due to illness, I'll be in Kicking Horse all weekend from thursday night wont get into SSV til the next weekend probably. Hope they get more, I'm a season pass holder but as you say, coverage really sucks this year (so far).
 
#8 ·
Not sure how many of you were out at SSV today, but with 12-15cm across the mountain, there were some great turns this morning and this snowfall did alot to get coverage up to snuff.

Let me start by saying that this day contained some of the best runs I have ever had...both in DD. Glad I went from night shift straight to the mountain and then back for night two, lol.

They were bombing DD all morning so we rode Goats Eye and watched the sluff come down, nothing too substantial so stability looked really good. They sent a few big sluff slides over Practice Cliffs and Diamond Rock so we were looking forward to getting in on that. We had lunch, went to the top, and got on Divide...timing was perfect and we had literally the 2nd line in after they opened it and were the only ones who started at Bre X. Blues sky and peering over the edge it looked REALLY good...the wind had added at least 10-15cms on top of the snowfall.

Update time:

The coverage at the entire Bre X ridge was great, lots of spots to drop in, so we did! WAY better than last time, the chutes have a good amount of snow on that crust and it was great turns through them...the first 4 from the drop in were "fresh as f*ck". Coming out of the chutes it was magic. wide open, plenty of pow, no bottom unless you dug real deep and no tracks. Whiteroom and faceshots galore.

Practice cliffs and Diamond rock area was epic, Jay Hill was a tad wind blown and it would quickly go from pow to hard with little visible change so be careful. Downside of Jay hill was again, epic.

The gully has a bit better shape and was full of great snow, with the run out being a little less roller coaster so you can carry all the way to the uphill hike. Second run was also awesome, really put the pedal down, but it was getting a tad chopped out in places.

This snow was what the Dive needed, and although there are still some exposed rocks and a few areas that have been wind stripped, its getting into good form and there are lots of spots to just blast off....caution though, most cliffs still need a bit more as the lips are still rock.

**no pics in the dive...too busy, hahaha. one off goats, one from the hike out of DD**

 

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#11 ·
Jeez the forum is quiet this year - must be another byproduct of a shitty season.

Anyway, I'm heading to SSV on sunday, bringing my avi gear and going to head into the dive for the first time this year. they're meant to get some snow on saturday and with all the new snow last week I'm hoping for better coverage all round. Anyone get in after this last storm?
 
#14 ·
Was in DD on Tuesday and it was still pretty nice and soft, getting chopped out a little bit. Hopefully some snow this weekend and coming week to keep it nice.

Still some tricky spots with light snow on a few stones, but hell thats the way it always is. Watch the rock take offs as I fell victim to a "snakebite" at the tip of a takeoff...the flip was tight but the landing needed work :injured:
 
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