 Poster: A snowHead
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Snow every day so far, about ft per night. Lovely as it is also cold but very busy on the main lifts.
Should be coming sunny for the rest of the trip and staying cold on the mountain but hot in the village.
Ski out not worth it below mid station.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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"Ski out not worth it below mid station"
How not worth it? Not skiable or just an unpleasant slushfest?
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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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Hi there geetee, are you out there this year?
We arrive tomorrow night.
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Ski out not worth it below mid station.
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As far as I can see from the webcams, there's snow below the midstation: that's considerably more "worth it" than last year!
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Hi @Acacia! We fly out next Thursday (BA) and will be 'camping' for the two following weeks. How long will you be there?
| acacia wrote: |
| As far as I can see from the webcams, there's snow below the midstation: that's considerably more "worth it" than last year! |
If you can see snow on the webcam then it's skiable  I just hope the temps behave themselves for the next month.
Safe travels!
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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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Temps will warm up a tad going into the weekend. Friday will be brilliant sunshine, and spring like. Could see some flurries and cooler temps going into Easter Sunday. Should be decent conditions all the way around.
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| geetee wrote: |
"Ski out not worth it below mid station"
How not worth it? Not skiable or just an unpleasant slushfest? |
Slush fest at end of day, and icy early on. Yes at least there is some of that white stuff this year. I do not see the point of skiing rubbish so down bother. Plenty of people are though.
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Blue bird all day today and due to be for next couple of days too. Then we are off back so others, coming out can keep a full update.
Still cold enough up high so the snow was super, though all the powder we had for the 3 days in a row has been tracked out.
They have just exceeded the average total season snow fall so not a bad season on the mountain. However we have never seen the golf club green (not here last year) in many visits that were more often in April than March. So valley has been warm.
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| Toadman wrote: |
| Could see some flurries and cooler temps going into Easter Sunday |
I would be quite happy with that. 
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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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| geetee wrote: |
| Toadman wrote: |
| Could see some flurries and cooler temps going into Easter Sunday |
I would be quite happy with that. |
Fingers crossed for you, it does say freezing level is top of the mountain for Sunday but should be coming back down the hill later again. Freezing her in the village this morning. Bluebird forecast again, just hope my legs are going to stand up to it.
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@Jake43 Thanks! Enjoy your last couple of days, you can rest on the plane! 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Brilliant day out there today. Bluebird, not a cloud in the sky. Never see that before in whistler.
Still cold up the mountain and skied well all the way down to mid station, I don,t do slush so down loaded last bit.
Legs throbbing nicely so definitely left it all out there on the mountain. Have fun all those coming next week. It will be busy as it is BC school hols and queues this week have been long. Don't forget Garbanzo lift though as that is quietest sneaky one with access to good terrain.
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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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@Jake43,
Absolutely - a great first day: even the much maligned ski-out to Blackcomb base was in pretty good nick (the slush only becoming granulated sugar conditions for the last couple of pitches: I have no problems with that...in fact I rather enjoy that aspect of spring skiing).
The Garbanzo lift is one of my favourites for bad weather days: in the year pre-Olympics I found myself standing next to Michael Walchofer in the lift line (the Austrian team was training there).
@geetee, We're here for two weeks, and I'll be camping this coming Monday, but not the subsequent one, so I guess we won't be suffering together this year! (I'm curious to know whether Pat intends to repeat his cliff-hucking exploits on Fraggle Rock, though).
PM me when you get here and maybe we can hook up for a few runs.
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You know it makes sense.
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Snow still here and fairly decent - west cirque super nice 
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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@geetee, @stuarth,
P*ssing with rain yesterday, but this deposited a bountiful measure of powder for today's Camp. T-bar bowl was particularly good.
The Belgian IS in town, I met him in Pika's this morning: Canadian Immigration clearly hasn't tightened its stance.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Acacia Oh good! There's sun in the forecast but, of course, a lot can change over the course of the next two weeks. I'll be happy if it doesn't turn sticky.
| Acacia wrote: |
| The Belgian IS in town, I met him in Pika's this morning: Canadian Immigration clearly hasn't tightened its stance. |
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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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Still all good (if a little on the heavy side)
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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I love this place!
Monday - skied by myself, as first day back on skis after the knee injury. so wanted to take it easy. Plus my baggage had been 'delayed' en route, so was on hire gear. Unfortunately as I have touring boots (carried in hand luggage thankfully!) I had limited hire options, and ended up on bigger and heavier skis than I would have preferred with a recovering knee (but the smallest pair Excess Backcountry had). Still - skied a few runs on Blackcomb in the morning, all very nice despite a lot of cloud - then headed over to Whistler for the afternoon. Started feeling a bit better about the knee and couldn't resist some nice soft bumps. Ended up skiing the Dave Murray downhill all the way to Creekside (I had no idea where I was going all day - I just skied). Slushy lower down, and maybe wouldn't have chosen it, but all very fun. Did laugh at some people walking up and out of a part of the run with (lovely) very big bumps. Got back up, skied a little more, and downloaded at the end of the day due to the slush.
Tuesday - met up with the SCGB rep, who has been fantastic! Did a tour of Whistler (back on the hire skis as my gear still hadn't arrived  ) and had a brilliant day, though I've no idea of the runs we did. All over the place inc. Harmony and Symphony bowls (I think I particularly liked Harmony). Downloaded after lunch as my bag was meant to arrive after 3pm (it didn't).
Weds - didn't ski as the weather was pants, and my pass includes 2 days off while I'm here, so opted for this one. Apparently it was a good call as it was meant to have been fairly nasty all day. My knee appreciated the break too.
Thursday - what a day! Finally out on my own gear, and back with the SCGB rep for a tour of Blackcomb. For a lot of the day it was just me and him, and he is a young guy, phenomenal skier, and knows the place inside out, so he's been pushing me in terms of speed and terrain - very enjoyable. The visibility was a bit changeable in the morning, and poor in the afternoon, but he found the best of it. Skied so many places, I can't remember them all - but included Secret bowl off of Horstman's, Salmon bowl, and some gladed runs below 7th Heaven (Renegade, Where's Joe, Raptors Ride). He found some great snow too - very fun. My knee gave me a kick at a point on Raptors Ride, so I sat in the snow for half a minute, but got up and skied away, all still working. We skied back down to the base at the end of the day too, but the slush did indeed get really heavy lower down.
I'm really impressed by the sheer scale of the this place - there is so much I want to ski everywhere I look. I'm also impressed by how easy it is to access more difficult terrain, as well and the generally high standard of skiing on display. The names of runs are very entertaining too! (Was a bit thrown by skiing "Catskinner", and loving that there is an area called "Fraggle Rock" )
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@fixx, wait till you get out touring , and ski body bag bowl . deseased ridge and dead on arrival
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@fixx, Phew so glad you are enjoying it. It is a very big place after 9 years i still have not seen it all. All the runs names have a meaning if you can find a book there. ie parallel to Dave Murry is Franz names after a bloke that first skied the mountain by walking up what became known as Franz's Trail.
Along with the SCGB rep there are free local guides too every day at the main light boards on each mountain.
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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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@fixx, Delighted you're enjoying Whistler, sounds like you're having a blast. Check out Dustys at creekside, the Dubhlinn at Whistler and there's another pretty decent place for apres at Blackcomb (can't recall the name at the mo, pm me if u need it)
I thought Whistler was very good but tbh not a patch on the better resorts in Europe e.g Chamonix, StAnton, Verbier, etc, etc, etc
It's a triumph of marketing, service and proximity to the wonderful Vancouver which is all good, but for me it fell well short of the great category. E.g I'd rate Ischgl, 3V, Zermatt and Val D'Isere well ahead of it also.
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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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@Jake43, I've been shown the coffin  Never ever ever...!
I did ski Cockalorum yesterday actually - and it was indeed very nice. Also ticked off Whistler Bowl yesterday, though that was very busy, so less fun. Came out to ski down Surprise which was pretty decent. And I think Low Roll, or at least something similar over in Harmony. It was first day of The Camp, so I don't now half of what we did, I was just following 
@horgand, I've been to the Dublinnh a few times now  Dusty's is planned for Friday - I'm looking forward to it!
I'm still making up my mind about it compared to European resorts. I think it helps that there is a huge amount of snow here at the moment, so there are loads of areas and lines to ski. I'm defintiely skiing better after spendignn time here, as it's forcing me to get better on the harder stuff, as it's all so accessible. I'll have a proper think after I've done my 2 weeks in the 3 Vallees too
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Saturday was a spa day - very nice and relaxing. Knee is now feeling hugely better, so that is a relief!
Sunday - decided to do a day with one of the local mountain hosts on Blackcomb. A lot of low vis, so he took us over to 7th Heaven for a few runs, then back round to Crystal. Mid afternoon we all split off and I headed back to 7th Heaven which was deserted! It was like a private playground, really fun
Monday - blue skies and sunshine, and first of my 4 days with "The Camp". I'm reserving judgement on that for now, as I was less than impressed with some aspects of it to start with. My instructor is very good though, and we did ski some fun stuff (see above, all on Whistler) and my technique was definitely better at the end of the day than the start.
Lower slopes - opted to download from the Whistler midstation yesterday, as it's been getting stickier and stickier all the time. Big mistake - huge queues at the midstation! I would rather have skied down... Lesson learned - it's either download from the top, or commit to a full ski down in future.
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You know it makes sense.
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@fixx, Don't forget Crabapple off Whistler too. Sometimes better snow depends if they have had the cannons on.
Pulled Pork Sarni & fries at Dustys ... yum yum.
Which camp instructor did you get? Have a quiet word with them (they are all nice and try to do what you want) to make sure they are doing your thing. They used to do a thing they called Esprit which was a lot more fun but they like to shake things up for some reason. Not sure what they though was broken that they had to fix. Camp was always race training and crazy steeps. Now it seems to be sort of in the middle but I am only a lazy L4 not doing your extremes. You must have been in at least L5 to do those on your first day. Kimberly was teaching that group 2 weeks ago and she is great and been there years.
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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'm with @horgand, with regards to Whistler marketing, particularly the comedy snow depth reports, and the 'we have powder' face shot photos after 10cm of snow. If you are not in the first few down a run after new snow, it might as well not have snowed, as you are skiing the base underneath rather than the new snow. Obviously the low elevation, warm temperatures and rain don't help.
I also get the impression that standards are different with regards snow conditions. When I was there in previous years, I would often hear/talk to people saying how great the conditions were (when they weren't), or even watch people from the chair lifts skiing over bare rock and ice (after 10cm new snow), whooping like they were skiing in spectacular conditions.
@fixx The accessibility of terrain is both a benefit and a curse. It is easy to get to, but it is also easy for everyone to get to. In most resorts you have to earn the terrain (a long traverse, a boot pack etc), but in Whistler you can just slide/pole to most of it. Some of the Blackcomb has to be earned, DOA for example.
@Jake43 Your video clips are a perfect example of typical Whistler snow conditions. There are so many skiers that everything it turned into skied out chop in a few hours. The Coffin was never an option the years I was there, as there wasn't enough snow to reach it.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Wow it's warm and slushy!
Tues - Whistler again, though Whistler bowl was thoroughly vetoed by my group - huge unappetizing moguls formed. Others did go in though, but unsurprisingly it was looking a lot quieter than normal...
Cockalorum was still a good ski in the morning, and not bad in the afternoon, though definitely starting to soften...
Weds - over on Blackcomb. Very icy and solid first thing (with some comedy slides to watch) but rapidly softening. We skied the glacier (Blow hole - woohoo! and Winky pop) late morning, and it was closed pretty quickly after us due to avalanche risk, I'm guessing wet slides from the cliffs based on what we observed.
All download options off the mountain have been thoroughly abandoned by me - there's just no need to do that to myself! Sticky glue lower down, ick.
@Jake43, I just had a (very) bad start to the Camp, which has negatively coloured the whole experience. I've spoken to the instructor, as well as a couple of the organisers, and tried to persevere - but it was having a quite strong negative impact on my holiday. So we agreed a partial refund, and I'm not doing the final day. The whole thing would no doubt be hilarious to paulh who is convinced I am permanently happy - I definitely haven't been this week, but am now looking forward to my final few days having some fun and relaxed skiing.
I was in a level 5 group, apparently the faster one - which I found amusing, as I think of myself as a rather slow skier Control over speed every time for me! I was one of the faster people in my group though.
@PowderAdict, yep, I think it is over hyped a lot of the time, and it could be annoying that stuff gets tracked out so quickly - but so does Chamonix (my 'home' resort). I'm one of those freakish people though that really likes bumps and bouncing over/through chopped up stuff (despite the bum knee). I just like skiing, being out on the mountain, and travelling and exploring large terrain (as well as the conquering technical challenges of less-then-perfect snow, when fit at least ), so I am really enjoying the Whistler terrain, even if the powder is limited (understatement...). It seems some great lines are available with a bootpack or skin though, which are much less tracked out than some places... Definitely my kind of thing, even though I've not brought full touring gear this time due to the troublesome knee  DOA is on the list for future visits
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@fixx, Level6 is the highest standard, but there is often could be people who should not be in there. They are normally pretty good about moving people round to get the right levels. They are good about dropping out to though and giving a credit. Sounds bad if you were not happy and they could not sort it out. Hope the feed back got passed back up the management chain?
The whole concept of Whistler is different to Alps. They have a controlled area where you can ski safely (ish). Obviously this attracts loads more people than you would get hiking into fresh untracked powder as they use lifts to get up there at a hundreds an hour, so yes it gets tracked, but I don't mind that either. Just happy to be out there. Note there is a difference to tracked powder and just pure bumps. It was pretty much all bumps at the end of our stay.
If you want huge areas of untracked then get a guide and go out the back. They are opening up an official 3 day trail through the Spearhead range but it will not be ready before 2018. You can do this now, in tents. Not my cup of tea, I like a warm hotel myself. Sister is much more into ski touring and has it on her radar when the huts are open.
We had 3 days of a ft of new stuff over night just the week before you, so sad you have not had any.
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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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@fixx, @Jake43, I agree that the backcountry is the way to go for fresh tracks. I’ve been touring off Whistler across the musical bumps (Flute, Oboe, Singing Pass), and off Blackcomb to the Spearhead Glacier, Mt Decker, DOA and Disease Ridge.
The whole area above 7th Heaven (Booterville, Body Bag bowl) is my favorite side country area on Blackcomb, as it often the only place to find fresh powder days after it last snowed.
I have also been touring further a field, such to Mt Cayoosh, and of course getting proper fresh tracks heli-skiing
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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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After a few days of beautiful, warm sunshine and slush, it's going to be a little bit cooler today. It's playing havoc with my layering system!! Still able to find pockets of snow that aren't either boulder hard or gloomy slush. Some flurries due in the early part of the week but the warm weather returns at the end. It's been almost like summer here. What a scorcher!
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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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@geetee,  Sorry we used it all up. Hope it gets colder soon and more of that new white stuff arrives for you
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Jake43, it's not looking too likely now but we're still having a great time. The freezing level will be lower for the next couple of days so conditions might be OK as long as it doesn't get too sticky. We're doing another camp and geetee jr is signed up for adventure camp. Should be another fun week.
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Incidentally, I can hear it raining so crossing fingers that it's snowing up top and not raining. Live temps show 1 deg C at the Roundhouse and -2 at the Peak. Maybe, just maybe......
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@geetee, Daughter teaches Kids Adventure Camp (creekside) so hope geese jr has a great time.
That was what we had rain in the valley but great new snow up in the Alpine - fingers crossed for you.
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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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@Jake43, actually, it was a pretty good day up the mountain. We found fresh tracks over in Symphony and Boundary Bowl although the visibility was coming and going. Hoping for more tomorrow. 😀❄️
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FAQ
