Thread: Whistler Stoke and Conditions - 2011/2012

Originally Posted by D(C)

How come? Concerns about stability? We were hoping to ski Fissile.

The N face of Fitz should fare better than other aspects as far as solar is concerned. One thing that has me a bit concerned is that N aspects have apparently been wind loaded a fair bit. The sea to sky avy forecast shows wind loading on N and E aspects, and the Whistler avy report says 50 cm in some areas.


I sent an e-mail out to my crew earlier today suggesting we play it by ear. Our current plan is still to get going early and still give Fitz's N face a try. We'll dig a few hasty pits along the way and keep our eyes open for signs of recent instability. If we aren't feeling it for any reason we'll bail and ski something off Fissile or get some mellow turns off Whirlwind.

Fissile skied well last weekend. Banana was looking like it had been hit by the sun a fair bit but NW face and saddle chute were solid. I'm on 196 Bros with Sollyfit plates, say hi if you see me.

Originally Posted by Neuro

The N face of Fitz should fare better than other aspects as far as solar is concerned. One thing that has me a bit concerned is that N aspects have apparently been wind loaded a fair bit. The sea to sky avy forecast shows wind loading on N and E aspects, and the Whistler avy report says 50 cm in some areas.


I sent an e-mail out to my crew earlier today suggesting we play it by ear. Our current plan is still to get going early and still give Fitz's N face a try. We'll dig a few hasty pits along the way and keep our eyes open for signs of recent instability. If we aren't feeling it for any reason we'll bail and ski something off Fissile or get some mellow turns off Whirlwind.

Fissile skied well last weekend. Banana was looking like it had been hit by the sun a fair bit but NW face and saddle chute were solid. I'm on 196 Bros with Sollyfit plates, say hi if you see me.

Cool sounds good. I'll keep an eye out. I have blue pants, Titans and will be on either Moment Bibbys or PB&Js with Sollyfits. This will be my first time hitting Fissile if it works out...

Today was pretty fuckin awesome. Ripped around with a big fun posse and even made a road trip to Whistler to see how the other 1/2 lives. Such a rad day for 4/20!

Originally Posted by powder11

Today was pretty fuckin awesome. Ripped around with a big fun posse and even made a road trip to Whistler to see how the other 1/2 lives. Such a rad day for 4/20!

Hell Yeah! Just got back to Seattle from a 4-day ski trip and 4/20 rocked!! The sun parted through the clouds time after time for some unbelievable turns in epic conditions. My only regret was not being able to stay to see Michael Franti play down in the village, it must have stunk down there.

Today was legit for sure! Finished my last exam of undergrad yesterday and was welcomed by a solid amount of fresh new snow and a great group to rip it with!

Originally Posted by dump

My only regret was not being able to stay to see Michael Franti play down in the village, it must have stunk down there.

The plaza was packed for Michael. I was there for the Big Air training (setting up, not hucking).
Sorry about the size)
The launch:


The kicker:


Michael Franti:

today was so fucking sick. faceshots and first tracks down NW Fissile. Blasted a soft line down Saddle as well.

I got a 100 dollar fine from the fuckin cops for drinking a beer while watching the big air

Originally Posted by xyz

today was so fucking sick. faceshots and first tracks down NW Fissile. Blasted a soft line down Saddle as well.

I'm thinking you may have been right behind us on Saddle. Was it you and another guy? We were the group of 3 who dropped in right before the light went flat, and I'm the guy whose skis took off down the hill when I was transitioning at the bottom...

Conditions were fantastic on Fissile. Light (for April), unconsolidated pow.

Originally Posted by xyz

today was so fucking sick. faceshots and first tracks down NW Fissile. Blasted a soft line down Saddle as well.

Whatever, I claimed Husume in the nude yesterday... No big deal. And a ride back up excel to glacier creek.

Originally Posted by filthyfrenchbum

Whatever, I claimed Husume in the nude yesterday... No big deal. And a ride back up excel to glacier creek.

off the meds again?!

Originally Posted by powder11

off the meds again?!

Nah got laid off, so just being myself again

Originally Posted by D(C)

I'm thinking you may have been right behind us on Saddle. Was it you and another guy? We were the group of 3 who dropped in right before the light went flat, and I'm the guy whose skis took off down the hill when I was transitioning at the bottom...

Conditions were fantastic on Fissile. Light (for April), unconsolidated pow.

No shortage of people out on Fissile Saturday. Got second tracks down summit chute. Damn that was steep.

Originally Posted by Neuro

No shortage of people out on Fissile Saturday. Got second tracks down summit chute. Damn that was steep.

Awesome. Summit is such a satisfying line! Some pics from Whistler closing day: http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...85#post3622985

Originally Posted by Neuro

No shortage of people out on Fissile Saturday. Got second tracks down summit chute. Damn that was steep.

Nice, that thing is gnarly up close. Was there any snow on the crux or is it a rocky, icy wall?

Saddle Chute, on the other hand, I found to be pure joy with little pucker factor. I'm pretty stoked on my first Fissile experience.

There were definitely many with the same idea on Saturday.

Originally Posted by powder11

Some pics from Whistler closing day: http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...85#post3622985

Nice pics. Yesterday was fun on the steeps in spite of the sludge-like snow. I'm sad Whistler's done. It definitely gets more sun in the spring than Blackcomb.

Originally Posted by D(C)

Nice, that thing is gnarly up close. Was there any snow on the crux or is it a rocky, icy wall?

Saddle Chute, on the other hand, I found to be pure joy with little pucker factor. I'm pretty stoked on my first Fissile experience.

There were definitely many with the same idea on Saturday.

Saddle looked like it had better skiing. I'd skied saddle chute last weekend and was keen to summit Fissile and bang off something burly. I skied summit chute pretty poorly (do a few jumps turns, wait, repeat..) whereas saddle I linked turns on.

The narrowest part of the crux on Summit chute was pretty much scraped clean down to an old crust. I could get my edges to bite into it, but I wouldn't want to do that with blue ice. Other than the narrowest section there was about 10 cm of decent snow in the rest of the chute. Once out of the chute it skied pretty damn nicely.

Originally Posted by D(C)

Nice pics. Yesterday was fun on the steeps in spite of the sludge-like snow. I'm sad Whistler's done. It definitely gets more sun in the spring than Blackcomb.

yeah, they used to stagger the closings, but its been Blackcomb the last few years. I don't know why. One would think Whistler would be more tourist/site see'er friendly with the Village gondi to P2P. Nobody ever accused the ops mgt of being super smart, so who knows!

Originally Posted by powder11

yeah, they used to stagger the closings, but its been Blackcomb the last few years. I don't know why. One would think Whistler would be more tourist/site see'er friendly with the Village gondi to P2P. Nobody ever accused the ops mgt of being super smart, so who knows!

If I had to guess, I'd say it mainly has to do with the fact that they spend a lot of time and money building the better terrain parks and pipe on Blackcomb. When they used to build a "spring park" on Whistler, it was pretty half ass by comparison to the highest level park.

I wish they would alternate early openings and late closings every year. It would be nice to switch it up.

^maybe, but they always end up building some stupid 1/2 assed terrain park under Jersey when the catskinner park starts to melt out.

Sorry had to delete at request.

Originally Posted by GoNads

That just happened.

glad he didn't forget his knee brace, or his hammock...

Seems like a pretty specific description.... I wonder if this has to do with the beefed up closures in the CBC area?

http://www.piquenewsmagazine.com/whi...nt?oid=2298226

Whistler Blackcomb and the RCMP are reminding mountain users to play safe for the duration of the season.

"Persons who tamper with mountain signage and put people at risk may be subject to a criminal investigation," warned Staff Sergeant Steve LeClair of the Whistler Pemberton RCMP.

"Police will not hesitate to recommend criminal charges including Criminal Negligence, Mischief Endangering Life or other appropriate charges under the Criminal Code if a person's actions harm innocent people."

Anyone caught tampering with patrol signs in any way, or who are caught in Permanently Closed areas, will be banned from Whistler Blackcomb for one year from the date of the offense.

Avalanche avoidance remains the focus of Blackcomb operations team; with 125cm of snow so far in April, the late season snowfall, deep snowpack, and fluctuating spring temperatures may result in high avalanche hazards and changing conditions on the mountain hourly. This could result in sudden closures of the alpine, especially in areas where explosives don't always mitigate all avalanche hazards. If areas are closed for avalanche avoidance issues mountain users are asked to keep out.

Anyone avoiding patrol or instigating on on-mountain chase will have their pass privileges revoked.

There is still plenty of snow on the mountain with Blackcomb receiving 1,374cm (541 inches) of snow so far this year.

Originally Posted by Clownshoe

Seems like a pretty specific description.... I wonder if this has to do with the beefed up closures in the CBC area?

Anyone avoiding patrol or instigating on on-mountain chase will have their pass privileges revoked.

There is still plenty of snow on the mountain with Blackcomb receiving 1,374cm (541 inches) of snow so far this year.

Big chase last friday (20cm new) out rescue road.

When do Spanky's and Blackcomb Glacier become beyond ski area boundary?