TRAVERSING THE MOUNTAINS ADDED VERTICAL

PISTE             7

RIDING THE DOWNHILL RATHER GINGERLY OUT OF RESPECT FOR AWESOMENESS

By PETER THOMAS BUSCH

The day after Boxing Day was a big beautiful day traversing Blackcomb and Whistler with the fresh snow in the surrounding mountain ranges making for spectacular views all day long.

I had been notified that the sun would be out and that more trails were opening, including a ski out to Creekside down the Dave Murray Downhill. So the idea from the beginning was to gradually work up to making a couple of long runs in the afternoon down to Creekside after the snow had softened up a bit.

I uploaded to Blackcomb and rode the Cruiser to Honeycomb a couple of times before heading over to the Glacier Express lift for the first time this season. I was actually a bit surprised how many more trails there are north of the new Jersey Cream Express.

You can kind of find a lot more runs keeping right after offloading the Glacier Express. It takes a bit to get out of the Black Diamond runs and the donkey trails  before finding yourself on the Crystal Ridge Express.

I rode Ridge Runner down the first time and then Rock and Roll the second time to be closer to Jersey Cream.

Crystal Ridge has a hut at the top of the lift that has food and drink. Crystal Lodge is at the bottom of the Jersey Cream Express and the Glacier Express. This lodge is similar in capacity to the Rendezvous Lodge and Roundhouse with cafeteria style food service.

I had the Epic Mountain Burger to fuel up my legs for the rest of the day.

I ran Springboard to warm up my legs after lunch before taking the Peak to Peak to Whistler Mountain. Just to be sure, I snowboarded my typical runs, riding Ego Bowl and the Enchanted Forest before taking the Emerald Express back to the top.

Upper Whiskey Jack from the Whistler Gondola station takes you to the junction where the Dave Murray Downhill starts. You can also start about mid-station and take the Garbonzo Express to the top of the run.

The first time down I snowboarded rather gingerly trying to show respect for the difficulty of the run and trying not to gain too much speed when any little bump or any little dip or hole in the snow can throw you into a spill.

The Dave Murray Downhill is marked a Black Diamond mainly for the speed of the run with rolling hills and sharp turns. If you hit an ice patch or a bump or a pot hole, your feet can disappear from underneath you and you will find yourself landing somewhere else somewhat uncomfortably.

I also wanted to enjoy the breathtaking views while giving my legs a break.

Once arriving at Creekside I uploaded right away on the Creekside Gondola without any line-ups. You have to go Creekside Gondola and then the Big Red Express to get back to the top where you can start all over again by taking Upper Whiskey Jack to the start of the Dave Murray Downhill.

The second time down I detoured the steep chunky mogul section by taking Bear Cub and rejoining the run on the other side to the right of the Big Red Express.

The Dave Murray Downhill is a great ride on a snowboard with lots of opportunities to carve. People start to ski out to Creekside after 2 pm. So the run was getting rather cluttered with skiers and snowboarders of all levels. I uploaded from Creekside and the Big Red Express one more time before skiing out to Whistler Village on the Olympic by about 3:15 pm.

Another beautiful day this time splitting the day between Blackcomb and Whistler for a one day total personal record for vertical feet of 25,941.