CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF THIS WEEK

TWO RIDING DAYS OUT OF THREE MAKE HAPPINESS

By PETER THOMAS BUSCH

So, as I was saying, I had embarked on a mountain traverse on Monday. And I continued on even though finding some icy patches on Blackcomb, including my favorite parts of the Honeycomb.

I have seen enough World Cup downhill crash videos to know when to hold back a bit.

I got to the bottom of the Excelerator Express, and then I headed back up to the top at Rendezvous Lodge by taking Jersey Cream. I did Ross’s Gold again on the way down, but then I went around the icy Stoker and headed past the Blackcomb Gondola mid-station toward the Village.

I uploaded on the Whistler Gondola as my coach bus ride home was picking me up at Creekside, and also, I had not completed the Dave Murray Downhill yet.

On Wednesday, I started the whole process all over again, except about 15 minutes earlier, waking up at 4:30 am to catch the public transit bus to the pickup spot for the bus ride to Whistler at 6 am.

The coach bus arrived at Creekside about ten minutes before 8 am. The Creekside Gondola officially begins uploading at 8:30 am, but unofficially as early as 8:15 am, if not earlier. 

If the avalanche crews are still clearing the top trenches after heavy snowfall overnight, Creekside will not begin uploading until the lift operators get the ‘all clear’. 

The weather and snow conditions are unusually winter like for this time of year. Spring is nearby with the cherry blossoms out in Vancouver and in the Squamish, Whistler and Pemberton Valleys. But up top, a nice crisp winter day seems stuck in the old volcano shell of a mountain, at least for a few more days.

I had a great day carving on Whistler with about 5 cm of new snow overnight. As on Monday, most trails were well groomed with a nice topcoat. I warmed up a bit before taking the Garbanzo Express, and then hanging left onto the Raven Trail.

I was delighted to find Raven well groomed for carving with a topcoat of fresh overnight snow. And then I hit the moon when I discovered Ptarmigan open, which is usually closed for the ski clubs and ski teams slalom training during the week and competitions on the weekend.

What a great long combination of runs for carving down to the Whistler Gondola mid-station and the Garbanzo Express. Of course, I found everything too good to be true when I went for the second run, and I notice the closed sign, “passes will be revoked” hidden away from the entrance.

I had a great warm up for the Saddle though. And I took three runs at the Saddle. On Monday, the Saddle had been groomed, making way for some nice carving on a crisp day, with some wind gusts. Yesterday, the fresh overnight snow had already been skied out a bit and carving the Saddle was no longer an option. I had to do more of a slalom run, but I still managed three runs at a much more difficult pace because of the need to follow someone else’s line, crossed over and generally mixed up with yet someone else’ line.

I was rather happy and content, though, so I stayed on Whistler all day with some very good conditions under mixed cloud and sun skies.

I had lunch at the Roundhouse Lodge, and gave my legs a much needed break. I was really hungry, even though I had a big breakfast. And then of course I ate too much, and the whole afternoon just kind of slowed down, especially for the first hour back after lunch.

I found the Side Order trail open just after Raven, and this made for a nice long carving run down to the Garbanzo Express, which I did about three times, until my legs started giving off signals of extreme muscle fatigue.

I kept going until about 3 pm, stopping early only after completing the Dave Murray Downhill a couple of times. The lifts close at 4 pm during the Spring.

I looked at the weather today, and the snow and weather conditions are forecast to continue for a few more days. I would head up the mountain again, but my legs are bonked, I am out of days on my Edge card, and I have to go to work today and get things done before the long Easter Weekend.

Enjoy the rest of the ski season everyone. I have started road cycling already in preparation for some day long tours beginning early summer.