WHISTLER
T3v WHISTLER
CROWN JEWEL NESTLED INSIDE VOLCANIC BELT FOR ALPINE ADVENTURISTS
By PETER THOMAS BUSCH
T
he snow top caps have returned to the highest peaks and covered the black volcanic shells left over as remnants of a more violent volatile geological age of Planet Earth, while the thousand year old glaciers have been chilled and resurfaced by that cold blowing wind as a new winter season begins.
For the avid outdoor adventurer now hanging up the mountain bike in the broom closet in exchange for a snowboard, a set of skis and perhaps, for someone else in the family, a set of snowshoes, the snow cannot fall fast and far enough.
Whistler, British Columbia hosts thousands of skiers and snowboarders from around the world with their fanatical penchant for outdoor adventure in front of a sky that reveals a gentle glimpse of a distant time when red and black lava flowed from a volcanic belt pressed up from the continental shelfs all the way down south passed the 49th Parallel.
The volcanic arc extends through the Garibaldi Provincial Park boundaries to the south of the resort, next to Whistler Blackcomb, and further south yet to Lassen Peak in Northern California.
Lassen Peak is one of 20 volcanos in the Pacific Ring of Fire that stretches 1100 km.
Lassen erupted not too recently in 1917, while magma blew from Mount St. Helens, in Washington State, so heavy that the height of the mountain was reduced by 1300 feet on May 18, 1980. The north face of St. Helens had collapsed, releasing volcanic steam and ash and 24 megatons of thermal energy, after a series of 4.2 to 5.1 magnitude earthquakes in the Cascade Mountain Range.
Once the ash plume and debris flow subsided, the crater left behind became the site of continuous dome building by lava forcing a way upward to the surface. Substantial volcanic activity has occurred from about 2004 onward, during which time the lava dome has collapsed and reformed in various configurations.
The Cascade Volcanic Arc in the Cascade Mountain Range stops, and the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt in the Coastal Mountain Range starts, just a few kilometers north of Vancouver along the Sea to Sky Highway.
South of Whistler, Black Tusk and Wedgemount, as well as Sky Pilot, remain still left in the heavens as ever present reminders of the strength of the energies unharnessed below the surface of the Earth.
The jaggedness of the peaks is a result of weather erosion – about 10,000 years worth of cold, wind, snow and ice, and then the melting power of spring rains ultimately giving way again only to the winter freezing in an extreme weather cycle after 93 million years of initial construction.
The Garibaldi Volcanic Belt stretches perhaps 200 km from Vancouver to Pemberton, bending and turning and climbing alongside a Pacific waterway fed by river water destined for the Pacific Ocean and edged by a mountain highway.
The highway for motor vehicles has been improved since once upon a time the First Nations People had used the dirt and rock Pemberton Trail for hunting and gathering between winter and summer camps. For some people the resort area has always been a year-round destination.
The trail underneath the pavement was then imprinted by the thousands of people following the gold rush from San Francisco in the South to the Yukon and Alaska in the North.
Outdoor pioneers Alex and Myrtle Philip built a fishing lodge on Alta Lake, and then came still other adventurers.
Franz Wilhelmsen recognized the jewel that had been shaped in stages by plate tectonics and lava flows as a place for alpine adventures to spend leisure time and perhaps stay longer.
Whistler had been there in that place for centuries waiting for someone to give the jewel a name.
Wilhelmsen formed the Garibaldi Lift Company that built the first ski lifts that took visitors into places where the geology could be showcased in 1962.
The jagged mountain peaks distracted people from the alpine rivers and lakes formed when flowing lava created natural damns behind which water accumulated.
Lakes also formed from imprints in the ground left behind receding glaciers, and when the glaciers receded further as the temperatures rose, yet even more lakes formed.
The three Joffre Lakes 60 km to the north of Whistler have a turquoise colour as a result of the finely ground glacier soil at the bottom of the lakes that melted out of the ice ever so delicately as fine as flour.
Garibaldi Lake is an alpine water body to the south of Whistler that formed at 6900 feet behind a lava dam 300 metres thick and 2 km wide. This natural science dam has been aptly named, The Barrier.
When the mountains and the lava could not hold the rain anymore, waterfalls formed. Shannon Falls south of Squamish is just one larger waterfall of many smaller waterfalls along the cliff face above the Sea to Sky Highway.
Brandy Wine falls just south of Whistler cascades through several layers of colours justifying the water formation’s name just as the cold water shaped a canyon through a ridge of hot lava 60 metres below the falls.
And Porteau Cove dips into the landscape near the shores of Howe Sound to provide a picturesque blend of water and mountains of sun and clouds as just a hint of the spectacular Mount Garibaldi with the arching back and sharp tip that can be seen across the highway at Squamish.
In the winter, Mount Garibaldi catches a layer of white snow that brings the entire mountain closer into the foreground.
And the Tantalus Range north of Squamish appears tentatively at first to the west but then emerges quite stark where a pull out has been created for people to momentarily park their vehicles and take pictures of a spectacular landscape.
The white jagged peaks of the volcanic belt appear more and more as the highway gradually turns away from the water and into the narrow Whistler Valley.
Whistler Valley as design has left space for three substantial village areas beginning at Creekside and then Whistler Village a few more kilometres north, and then Upper Village, more or less a bit further than a short snowball throw away at Blackcomb.
The village areas are modern creations, not quite the 300 year old Bavarian experience at European resorts, but still home to a mix of high end restaurants and retail shops, as well as nearby world class hotels.
The three villages are busy enough, especially during the Christmas season, a scene fixed in print like some advent calendar in a Grimm’s fairy tale for adults and children alike.
At least one parking lot has a charging station for electric vehicles.
The larger hotels offer a complete experience, with restaurants, bars and spas inside the hotel, as well as rooms for sleeping, before heading out for a day of adventure. As well, private entrepreneurs have fought for a share of the market, establishing private spas and extra alpine experiences, such as heliskiing.
Whistler and Blackcomb are actually separate geological mountains, but brought together as one legal corporate entity by the magic power of property lawyers. One lift ticket allows full access to both mountains, as well as the Peak to Peak Gondola that transports skiers from the top station on one mountain to the top station on the other mountain in about 15 minutes.
Blackcomb has the Rendezvous Lodge at the top station and Whistler has the Roundhouse Lodge. These lodges are large structures with cafeteria style food service, as well as a few retails shops and washroom facilities.
The more out of the way ski areas on the mountain also have small huts, such as Horstman Hut at 7th Heaven, and the Crystal Hut at the top of the Crystal Chair, Ollie’s Shack at the Olympic Mid-Station and Raven’s Nest at the Creekside Gondola Mid-Station.
On the north side of Blackcomb, where the Jersey Cream Express and the Glacier Express climb vertical feet in different directions at just above mid- level, is the Glacier Lodge.
The mountain corporation has a constant official presence in the area with a high level of customer service agents in the gondola stations and a number of customer services agents discretely patrolling trails on skis and snowboards in the winter.
The prospect of fresh overnight snow on the alpine trails every morning brings out the laziest of skiers, snowboarders and snowshoers to take in the most glorious of seasons in the high alpine. The pounder hounds have a sense about this.
Whistler now has three gondolas: one gondola for uploading in each of the three villages.
The Creekside Gondola still only goes to mid station, but the Big Red Express takes snowboarders the rest of the way to the main stage where a panorama of jagged volcanic peaks weathered over the centuries lures people toward trails disappearing in all different directions.
If you arrive during the day, take a peak on foot at the mountain scapes that will have to wait for riding just one more day and one more evening. Whistler Village gondola goes there, whereas the new Blackcomb Gondola goes to the staging point on Blackcomb.
First half day visitors can then take the Peak to Peak Gondola to get to the other mountain stage, whichever mountain they are not currently on. The Peak to Peak gondola takes people on skies, snowboards, snowshoes, boots and shoes.
The Excalibur Gondola also only goes to a mid-station where you have to take a lift one step higher before riding down to the Jersey Cream Express and then getting uploaded to the absolute top station.
Intermediate to expert skiers will go even higher for the black diamonds of ungroomed powder several times before heading out of the area toward yet another bowl just a bit more south. Often when the mountains have received overnight snow, the powder hounds, many of whom I suspect are mountain employees, will have gotten up with the sun and made first tracks before the mainstay of the guests upload into the alpine for the day.
Those skiers and riders that just want powder can find the overnight snow caught in several of the mountain bowls formed by natural history over thousands and millions of years.
The bowls of powder wait as if holding tiny vanilla coco pebbles beginning with the Secret Bowl off to the right near the Horstman Glacier and then moving south toward the double black diamond Jersey Cream Bowl, and then after a detour down a donkey trail to 7th Heaven, the Lakeside Bowl on Cloud Nine to the south east of offloading from the 7th Heaven Express.
Enjoy the whiskey jacks fluttering overhead in and out of the line-up here.
7th Heaven is one of a handful of spectacular alpine mountain panoramas made accessible for the average to intermediate riders. Many people go to 7th Heaven at least once, just for the panoramic view, and then head back down an easy-out trail to the right back towards Rendezvous Lodge.
The mountain company and nature have made another view point atop the Peak Express looking south down into Garibaldi Park of the Coastal Mountains and further south yet into the Volcanic Arc of the Cascades in Washington State.
Riders have the option of several outs from the Peak Lookout. The Peak to Creek Run to the right follows the panorama west and then kind of dips, rolls and falls away dramatically into the bottom of the valley. This trail has a massive ice shield that surfaces after a few days without new snow.
Riders can also choose to go out to the left and follow the panorama to the east. The narrow donkey trail with a cliff edge to the right might keep you nervous and occupied especially because you have to maintain a bit of speed to get through a couple of flat sections.
I prefer to ski out of this area down the Saddle. But you can continue on to Symphony Bowl and then come down to the Roundhouse Lodge from above.
The Saddle is an opening magically created with sticks of dynamite and packs of explosives between two rock faces that together look like a horse’s saddle, especially form a distance. Preparation at the top of the Saddle can be somewhat counterintuitive because the longer you look at the 80 degree drop the less likely you will desire the challenge.
I prefer not to look down, but instead, kind of spend a moment contemplating the drop dead moment while waiting for any crowds to go first. Riding in the Saddle will not survive any attacks or careless interruptions from skiers coming from either the left or the right to cut in front of you.
Ride the Saddle at least twice, the first time to test the snow conditions and then the second time to ride it out all the way to the junction of the Peak Express and the Little red Run to Upper Franz’s. The Saddle is a ‘take no prisoners’ run that accumulates tremendous speed near the bottom if the top and middle didn’t already get you.
The Saddle run is concave like a horse’s saddle.
When I am all done with the Peak Express area I head toward Franz’s Meadows, the Old Man and Upper Franz’s just to the west.
A flat section before Franz’s run can be circumnavigated by edging left towards Franz’s chair where there is a little bit of a dip to catch a bit more momentum before joining up with the top of Upper Franz’s.
Upper Franz’s run is convex like a slightly deflated bubble.
Riders can survive this vertical, with legs tired out from riding the Saddle, by staying left or right, but I prefer to catch some of the snow and carve down the middle, especially near the end for the day when the run has been skied out.
I also like Lower Franz’s to Creekside as opposed to taking the donkey trail to the Big Red Express. Just for fun, you can take the tunnel to the right and end up at a junction with the black diamond Jimmy Joker the flows into the Big Red Express lift.
I also enjoy the long runs. And, I can only say as much now after suffering burning quads and aching calf muscles for the first ten days of riding.
I am usually able to ride the Dave Murray Downhill to Creekside and the Olympic to Whistler Village without stopping only after several days on the mountain. This season I have been weight training my legs for extra power since September to try to get my legs and knees to hurry up.
The Dave Murray starts just below Upper Whiskey Jack. A flat spot can be traversed with a bit of speed off of Whiskey Jack and staying slightly right so as not to get cut off by skiers shying off down the green runs to the left.
The Dave Murray starts with three or four long rolling steep hills for carving into the Toilet Bowl before turning left sharply toward the Big Red Express. One sign suggests turning sharply right but this direction will take you to a short mogul chunky steep with varying extreme difficulty depending on the time of season that’s not worth the effort.
I stay on the green Bear Cub and then crank a hard right between the people lingering at a small lip seemingly undecided as to whether to get on the Big Red Express one more time or ski out to Creekside.
This route rejoins the Dave Murray Downhill and then goes left for another fast approaching lip, but this time the lip has a huge dip designed for airtime and gaining tremendous speeds through Fall Away before a super hard left toward another flat stretch.
You have to keep some speed here as you turn sharply left to keep momentum over about 100 meters.
Try staying on an edge and keeping low away from the wind to maintain momentum on the flats. I tend to also try to find a high spot and then gradually move down as the momentum disappears just before the Carousel turn into the Weasel.
I tend to carve the After Burner just to survive into Coach’s Corner. This patch of tremendous acceleration can be seen from a cabin on the Creekside Gondola.
Visitors can definitely get a lot of variety out of a three day stay. Those people staying five days might need a bit of a plan to get the most out of the extended trip.
You will find touching all corners of the mountains on one day a bit of a time crunch, especially in the early winter with the shorter days. A complete mountain traverse might be easier with an early morning start and the longer days when the lifts close later in the afternoon during the Spring.
You might want to leave 7th Heaven for Day Three, and then take the Peak to Peak to Whistler, before taking the Peak Express, just to compare panoramic views. I believe comparing these two scenic stages in the same day might end up in a dead heat for first.
One of my favorite runs is Honeycomb on Blackcomb if you can ride the run on a fresh snow day, as the run bends and turns you in and around until bottoming out at the Excelerator lift.
The grooming crews might leave a run for the powder hounds. I have found Ross’s Gold to have been left in the most perfect of conditions after a night of heavy snowfall.
Peak to Creek can be rather treacherously quick on a good day, but almost rocket like when there has not been fresh snow for a few days. And then of course, I would try at least two Dave Murray Downhill runs, with the second one because the run is so legendary.
For Blackcomb, Ross’s Gold, Cruiser, Stoker, Honeycomb and perhaps Cougar Milk and Glacier Drive, then up and over to 7th Heaven for one last look, and then finally, from 7th Heaven, an ungroomed Cloud 9 attempt for the natural history books.
Have a great season.
