 Poster: A snowHead
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mij, we haven't had a great deal of hassle really, only going out and not signing the contract, but I think that is partly our fault as we didn't realise they had to send us the Projet d'Acte first, which wasn't ready.We really love the resort we're buying in (Serre Chevalier), and the French there are all extremely friendly and welcoming. I'm not deluding myself on the snow conditions in Whistler. I figured that the poor base would mean bad snow, but there you go, some more experienced people have said otherwise. The only thing I haven't done yet is booked lift passes as I wanted to see how things developed first.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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If you're still wondering about conditions in Whistler, I posted a report in "Resorts." Basically it is fairly icy in most areas, but with some decent powder if you are willing to hike/do very tough runs.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Not likely to come for a while though 
Do Flute Bowl tommorow, you won't be dissapointed. Similar to Spanky's in that it's cut-up powder, but the powder is much deeper in Flute and a bit less cut up. Also, it's a nice wide open bowl, very calming just to cruise in.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Just back from Whistler (skied 23 Feb - 4 Mar), I know there are several snowHeads going out there in the next few weeks so thought I'd post a snow report.
Before I flew out I was a little despondent about the prospects for this holiday - there was fresh powder all over the Alps and more new snow falling in the UK than in Western Canada
As it turned out, it was a great trip and I had some ski days in Whistler last week that were are as enjoyable as any I’ve had anywhere, any year. 
The good news:
There’s a lot of great riding to be had if you stay up high: Peak chair, Blackcomb Glacier, Spankey’s, Flute and parts of Harmony Bowl were all nice, if icy in places. And it doesn’t take much snow to turn things around in the high alpine - after the meagre 10cm dump last Monday night there was still tremendous skiing in Whistler bowl and Flute bowl for several days after. I skiied in Whistler bowl with stuarth on Thursday (hi Stuart!) and the snow was gorgeous: chopped-up powder but light and fluffy as a pillow.
It was a very pleasant change to ski Whistler in clear blue skies and blazing sun. Now I know what the mountains and the valley actually look like
If you enjoy big moguls on black diamond runs then you are in for a treat.. (or not as the case may be)… 
To their credit, they are making colossal efforts with grooming, snow-cannons and harvesting to keep the ski-outs open. I’ve never seen so much snow-making going on in one place. On a cold day Lower Dave Murray was actually in better nick than I’ve seen it in supposed ‘good’ years.
People seem to be compensating for the snow drought by partying even harder than usual this year 
Food, drinks and ski gear are very cheap on the current exchange rate. Drinking and eating out in Whistler works out cheaper than going out in Bristol right now 
And the less good…
Despite the new snowfalls and the up-and-down freezing level, the lower slopes are still very brown and it looked like May rather than Feb/Mar. It will need some major storms to turn that around - we’re talking several feet of new snow needed, not centimetres. Pistes below 1800m (Christines, The Roundhouse station) are scratchy at best. All gladed (tree-line) black diamonds are closed, there’s just not enough cover. Most runs below 1200m are closed – those open are marginal and mostly man-made. Watch out for ice, rocks, exposed earth. These lower runs are like solid concrete in the morning and like gloopy wet caster sugar in the afternoon (actually I quite enjoy ripping through wet spring snow on the way home but call me a masochist  ) On Blackcomb – everything in the zone to the right of Solar Coaster / Wizard lifts and below Expressway on the map is closed. Lower Cruiser to Blackcomb base and the link back into Whistler village are open though. On Whistler – most runs below the Chic Pea (1600m) are either officially closed or else very marginal – the only ski-outs to the valley are Lower Dave Murray to Creekside, and from the bottom of Emerald chair via the Olympic to the Village.
On several days it turned too warm and rainy for snow-making on the lower runs, even at night
I haven't pulled any punches on the bad news. But to those worried about the snow for your trip - don't be, Whistler-Blackcomb is a huge area and there's more than enough good stuff to keep you busy. And a bad year by Whistler's standards is not *that* bad – I can remember doing several weeks in the Alps with worse snow in Jan/Feb/Mar in recent years.
Best advice is get up high, stay high, enjoy a cheap beer and a hot-tub afterwards
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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johnnyrotten, thanks for your cheery report. I was indeed getting rather despondent, going out to Whistler for Easter, and thinking I should have stuck to good old Val Thorens or La Plagne as usual. It seems it might be worth packing the ski boots after all.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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johnnyrotten,
What's snowMedia?
Alpine was great yesterday, unfortunately it rained very high up last night, then froze, then was very warm today, so all in all pretty grim today
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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For some reason, I can't enlarge the thumbnails. It says "I must be a registered user" to view them, then when I try to login it won't accept it Do you have to register seperately for the media section of this site? If so, I would change this - anooying and poorly designed.
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You know it makes sense.
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ponder, yes you do, it's actually a completely separate site, it just has very close ties to this one, what we normally suggest is that you register with the same details as on this site and you will get an email back very quicly to grant you full access
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I just stumbled across this site which seems to give fairly honest snow reports for Whistler, ie
Tuesday, March 8th 2005
Rain up the whole mountain over the last few days has made for some wet and slushy conditions over the entirety of both mountains.
Heading up there today means getting very wet and uncomfortable. Only for the very keen.
Monday, March 7th 2005
It was not cold enough even up the top of the mountain to snow last night. We received rain all the way up to 7th Heaven meaning conditions were slushy.
http://www.snowboardingatwhistler.com/snowreport.html
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Poster: A snowHead
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gregh, not looking too good from today's report.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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For all you folks heading to Whistler over Easter - it`s apparently snowing heavily at the moment (according to the Whistker Insider website). Fingers crossed !
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I would post a link to Epic, but I know that many of you will shout at me first before reading it to the end, so I won't post it. Instead, there is a claimed 14cm fell yesterday.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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2 sleeps
2 sleeps
2 sleeps
(OK, i feel better now, thanks!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Hey sparky, we don't take kindly to unsolicited spam.
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Looks like our transatlantic snowHeads are in luck and things have improved greatly. Perspective on the season at Whistler in this review from Times Online
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But last week the resort was selling just 8,000 lift passes a day, compared to 25,000 in other years - which makes for very quiet slopes at the top of the mountain: ironically offering better skiing at times than in other years, as there are fewer queues for lifts.
Arleigh Galant, co-ordinator of media relations for Tourism Whistler, said: "We were under pressure to maintain the reputation of this resort. If we had closed that would have been a black mark against us."
* Postscript: conditions have taken a dramatic turn, with a big snowstorm in over the past few days dumping up to three feet of snow and resulting in 85 per cent of slopes now being open. Officials are hoping it's not a temporary cold spell - and that the "worst winter of our dreams" has finally come to an end - Tom Chesshyre |
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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colinmcc, I was so sad to leave it all behind. We had a great (if wet) trip round Stanley park though as we had bags of time before we got to the airport.
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FAQ
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