AIRider

So what's the consensus as of today, Wednesday the 9th, how are the locals doing? Is it still crappy? And Mitch, I just received an email from Whistler saying they got 48cm over 2 days, how's it up there? Was thinking of heading out tomorrow.

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mitch19

Well I rode this morning and it was ehhh, we hit our favorite drop first up which was super nice but the snow was really heavy and wet. They were opening the peak as my buddies were leaving and I didn't want to go adventuring by myself so I can't comment on the higher alpine. I'd expect the snow to get really hard seeing as the temps are about to drop

AIRider

Thanks. I'll skip on it. Next week maybe. Keep us updated.

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jliu

Not sure where this fits...so I guess I'll post it here. Have you guys seen the Whistler 'Wonder' Vids? The most recent one:
The Screening Room | Wonderground

Now all I can say after these vids was that damn!...WB has a huge marketing budget and they do indeed capture the mountain well. Hi res cameras, heli shots, excellent colour saturation, artistic, fitting music, etc. My question to you guys who regularly shred WB is....is it even like they present it 10% of the time? First thing I realized was the mountain seemed empty. Reading the TRs and experiences ppl have with WB all I hear about is the crowds.

Anyway, the vid got me particularly interested in the Blackcomb glacier run and the Harmony & Symphony bowls. What are these 3 runs like on a 'normal' day? :P

mitch19

It's my second season in WB and after watching that it really does put into perspective of how huge this place is

I read a lot of reviews about Whistler Blackcomb and most of them are about how busy the mountain is and the extreme line ups. I was riding Symphony today and at first I was able to basically ride onto the lift, a few more runs later I may have had to navigate a few people in the lift line but still got a chair to myself. Most complaints I've heard/read are when they book from like 22nd of December till 3rd of Jan and are like, why isn't the mountain dead with tons of powder Cause it's freaking peak time! ride midweek or pick the right weekend and the mountain can be really quiet.

Harmony/Symphony are some of the busiest places on the mountain so if there hasn't been a huge dump it can get tracked out, however there are always well maintained groomers to cruise while you enjoy the scenery.

I posted a video a short while back from when the old man was here and the opening shot was taken on Harmony chair to give you an idea what the terrain looks like

My mate showed my a video of the day I didn't ride with him on Symphony and it was literally untouched runs with no one on the runs (needless to say I slapped him)

I love the Glacier, unfortunately haven't riden it yet this season but when it's good. It's really good.

It can be a lot of just getting lucky, I've gone up some days and been like 'I would not want to be paying for a day pass' and I've had other days where it has been perfect - Thats resort life

Sassicaia

I never hit line ups at WB. Ever. I just never go up on weekends, and avoid the time between christmas and new years like the plague. In fact I don't to go any hill during that time because its seriously for suckers.

I love the WB haters as if its cool to hate something that everyone knows is universally a top 3 resort IN THE WORLD. Great snow in the day and a high quality steak and bottle of wine at night. Every... freaking ...time.

Hitting the fresh tracks in the morning after a decent snowfall is like heli skiing for the price of breakfast.

mitch19

THIS GUY, knows his shit. So no one listen to him

AIRider

Can I get an expert opinion on something, I'm trying to understand something.

When it's sunny outside, like today for example, the snow on our locals melts a little during the day, then at nighttime, it freezes over, therefore resulting in icy conditions. Right? Or does it only get icy when the actual temps on the mountain raise above 0 degrees during the day, then freeze over at night?

I'm asking as sometimes after a sunny day, the nighttime snow would be okey, but other times it would be an ice rink.

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Donutz

The air temps have to climb above 0 for it to make a significant difference. Right now we have the additional issue that we had all that rain earlier this week. I was just up Seymour today and it was rock-hard. Didn't really soften up either, despite the sun.

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poutanen

Hardpack snow (which feels like ice) had be made from people just passing over it enough and packing it, but yeah solid ice is made by thawing and refreezing.