DAY OF PARTIAL CLOUDS ENDS CHRISTMAS BREAK

PISTE             9

RIDING STRAIGHT TO THE GONDOLA REDUCED TOTAL VERTICAL FEET

By PETER THOMAS BUSCH

Monday was a great last day of the Christmas snowboarding holiday.

Whistler Blackcomb had received a thwack of new snow since a snow and rain storm last week. The runs were just right with about 2 cm of new snow and the sky shifting throughout the day with partial clouds and sun.

The day was cold but not too cold except on one or two lifts that dip away from the sun, like the Big Red Express on Whistler and the Jersey Cream Express on Blackcomb.

I uploaded from Blackcomb Village on the new Blackcomb Gondola. Again, almost no line-up on this weekday.

I had a good start to the morning leaving the house at 6:45 am and having gassed up the night before I was able to get to the mountain paid parking just after 8 am. I was able to take my time gearing up and walking to the Upper Village from the parking lot before making my first turns on Ross’ Gold by 9 am.

I like to take a few runs getting use to the snow conditions, which are quite often different each day, and also warming up my legs and torso before riding more aggressively.

This day would be back to the one day a week minimum snowboarding trip as everyone heads back to work after the Holidays.

I rode Ross’ Gold to Cruiser and then uploaded at the Blackcomb Gondola mid-station a couple of times before carving Stoker. This route is relatively short so I could work hard on Stoker and then recover while uploading in the Gondola.

Eventually I took a break from Stoker and kept hard right toward the Excelerator Express where there was no line-up. I had an awesome ride on Honeycomb which has a kind of rolling Honeycomb line with some bending and twisting underneath the Excelerator Express. This run was a bit longer than to mid-station and required a bit more aggressive boarding to get the most fun out of the Honeycomb.

Then I kept further right and took the Jersey Cream Express to the top of Blackcomb and did the entire run from the top to Excelerator.

Despite the early start, the morning just flew by, and before I realized the time, the mid-station clock showed 12:45 pm, which left just enough time to take the Peak to Peak Gondola and run the Dave Murray Downhill on Whistler.

I was able to skip lunch again by munching on a couple of fruit and nut snack bars while uploading in the Gondola. The snow conditions were a bit better on Whistler riding the Upper Whiskey Jack to the Upper Dave Murray Downhill.

The good snow conditions with some ice patches made the run promising from the start, but I still made the first attempt a bit cautiously because previously the conditions went from light snow to hard packed rather suddenly.

I was pretty happy to find that the snow machines were operating on the Lower Dave Murray, which had covered most of the icy sections with a couple of centimeters of fine manufactured snow. These snow conditions allowed for some aggressive carving all the way to Creekside, particularly on the second run.

I uploaded at Creekside by 1:55 pm. I had just enough time for uploading all the way to the top of Whistler and then one more run to Creekside before the Gondola closed for the day.

The second ride on Dave Murray was a lot of fun. I was able to get a lot more carving in the second time knowing what the snow conditions were. I wish I had started earlier on Whistler to make the run once more, but when I got to Creekside I was out of time for the day.

I uploaded to mid-station and then took the Big Red Express to the top before skiing out to the Village by 2:55  pm.

The Epic Mix App has me for 24,785 vertical feet for the day. The short runs in a straight line to Blackcomb mid-station reduced the amount of total vertical for the day. If I had boarded to Jersey Cream, I am certain the total vertical for the day would have been a personal best.

Total vertical feet for the season so far is 225,156.