Whistler This Weekend: Point Me To The Goods

[LightlyToasted]

Heading to Whistler for the weekend and have never been there before. I'll only be on-snow for 3 days and I know I probably won't see most of what's out there. But where do you think I should head first and what are some of the areas on either mountain that shoudn't be missed? A point in the right direction is greatly appreciated. T'anks.

[grapedrink]

Heading to Whistler for the weekend and have never been there before. I'll only be on-snow for 3 days and I know I probably won't see most of what's out there. But where do you think I should head first and what are some of the areas on either mountain that shoudn't be missed? A point in the right direction is greatly appreciated. T'anks.

ride glacier chair and the t-bars on blackcomb and peak and harmony chairs on whistler. you can see a lot of terrain from the chairs, ski what you see, some things you might not see from those chairs that you should definitely explore:

spankys (bootpack skiers left when you get off glacier chair)
blackcomb glacier (top of showcase t-bar, short bootback)
chainsaw ridge (at the top of 7th heaven or horstman t-bar, follow cattrack behind the hut)

if you spend more time on whistler check out west bowl since you can't see it from the chairs, and flute is always fun (20 min hike). all of this stuff is on the trail map..

[dre66]

Heading to Whistler for the weekend and have never been there before. I'll only be on-snow for 3 days and I know I probably won't see most of what's out there. But where do you think I should head first and what are some of the areas on either mountain that shoudn't be missed? A point in the right direction is greatly appreciated. T'anks.

What type of terrain do you like to ski? steeps? trees? open bowls? the beauty of W/B is that whatever you're craving is there. I'll be up this weekend and it looks like the snow is gonna be sick.

[LightlyToasted]

Niiiice Grape, that's just what I was looking for. As far as terrain, steeps and bowls with a few not-super-hairball drops would be nice to mix in. Alpine forecast is indeed looking dope - I'm super-stoked to finally make it up there.

[dre66]

On Whistler:
For steeps and bowls nothing beats the Peak-to-Creek area, long laps but amazing if the snow is good. Personally I find the terrain under the new lift (Symphony) is a little too mellow (picture 2/3 of your lap being really really mellow and flat tree-skiing). Another good option is hitting the terrain under Harmony lift. Check out the horseshoes on the left of Harmony lift as you go up (There are all cornice drops into beautiful open bowl skiing) Lapping peak chair is also a great option if the line isn't too long, and the front side of Shael Slope has a "waterfall" at the bottom which offers a couple of 5-15 ft. drops.

On Blackcomb:
Personally I find Blackcomb to be the better mountain just because the lift lines tend to be shorter (that being said both mountains have sweet terrain), and if they aren't you can always head to Crystal chair for some sweet tree skiing (the best on either mountain). Grape mentioned the best terrain on Blackcomb, which is Spanky's Ladder. A lot of bowls and chutes, check out Diamond Bowl if you only have time to ski one of them (The downside, just like on the glacier is the long runout at the bottom: 5km cat track... make sure you have a lot of speed). I haven't spent a lot of time in 7th Heaven, I hear it is crowded but still amazing. (Couloir Extreme is really hyped up but pretty sweet anyway). One place i really love to ski is Secret Basin and the Cougar Chutes. From the top of peak chair turn right and traverse high, cut across the path of the T-bar and try to get between the two clumps of rocks (if you miss it and are too low you can always ski to the T-Bar). I'd recommend staying off Jersey Cream as it is crowded and most of the runs are groomers. The advantage of Jersey Cream is being able to see a lot of the terrain I mentioned (Cougar Chutes, C.E., etc.), this lets you scout it out.

Pretty much agree with Grape that a lot of the sweet terrain can be seen from the lifts. If you are willing to spend $25 go to any major retailer in the village and pick up a copy of the Whistler Guide for Advanced-Expert (don't get the Intermediate one) which will give you details on all the best spots on both mountains.
hope to see you up there.

[gg8983]

I am headed up this weekend as well for the first time and was going to post a thread similar to this. Thanks for the info and heads up.

Report is calling for 15-20 CMs on Saturday, should be pretty schweet.

(The downside, just like on the glacier is the long runout at the bottom: 5km cat track... make sure you have a lot of speed).

5k? that seems pretty f'ing far to hike back after the run.

[PulverSchwein]

no hiking bro, it be a cat track. Just a long long runout that its best to keep your speed up on.

BTW spankys is skiers right of Glacier, not left

[LightlyToasted]

Thanks for all the detail Dre.- And if any of you see some dork studying a laminated printout of this thread at the top of the chair...That's me.

[dre66]

BTW spankys is skiers right of Glacier, not left

Once you get off the peak chair turn left, ski straight, and look up... you should see it.

[PNWbrit]

Once you get off the peak chair turn left, ski straight, and look up... you should see it.

Don't you mean Glacier Chair?

[taynton]

There was a thread a while ago about top 5 or 10 things to do at whistler. The first thing is that the mountians are huge, and espessially if the light is bad, don't expect to know where you are most of the time. Its my first year at W/B, I've had about 20 days at W/B and even with the guidebook it still feels like I haven't even seen half the terrain, let alone skied it. The trail map doesnt come close to giving the mountain justice, but it does give you a general guideline for where to go/ avoid.

Runs and areas mentioned are all I can think of. Basicly if the light is good, you want to be in the alpine. If its bad, there are some options below treeline, but they are a little limited as far as steeps go, and can be tricky to find.

And agreed, Spankey's is off Glacier Chair.

[dre66]

Don't you mean Glacier Chair?

Yes I do. My bad.

[filthyfrenchbum]

7th and Harmony mid-day will be a no go this weekend with the masses or americans, but the rest should be good.
The good thing about W/B is that unless you poach permanently closed areas, it's not that easy to get cliffed out, so don't be scared to explore.
The 5k cat track is only a 10-15min effortless thing, not that bad.
And when you go to Spanky's, do not go where everyone goes (Ruby Bowl) but head skier's right to Sapphire bowl, take the short straightline (a lot less shitty than the lower entrance), and shred some pow.

I've told you too much already, so find out the rest for yourself

[grapedrink]

Niiiice Grape, that's just what I was looking for. As far as terrain, steeps and bowls with a few not-super-hairball drops would be nice to mix in. Alpine forecast is indeed looking dope - I'm super-stoked to finally make it up there.

by skiers left i meant take a left off glacier chair, all these places are marked on the trailmap anyways. don't get bogged down in details, w/b is huge, in three days you won't have time to ski 10% of the cool stuff you will see from the chairlifts and cattracks.

[grapedrink]

...

And when you go to Spanky's, do not go where everyone goes (Ruby Bowl) but head skier's right to Sapphire bowl, take the short straightline (a lot less shitty than the lower entrance), and shred some pow.

fool!

[bfree]

harmony horseshoes.

i was up there 2 weeks ago but didnt get to hit them because the visibility was so poor, you couldnt see the landing or where the cornices are 5ft and where they are 20. pretty sweet otherwise--theres about 5 of them +mckonkeys

[Super G]

hang out in front of the liquor store. You can find the goods there.

[funkendrenchman]

hang out in front of the liquor store. You can find the goods there.

Well said.

[deliberate]

I think the west bowl is the best part of whistler. I haven't done much of blackcomb. The west bowl is kindof hard to find though, and if you mess up you may end up on the bagel bowl, which blows.

To get to the west bowl take the peak chair up then start on the peak to creek trail. If I remember right, you want to take a right turn after the second significant down slope. There is a sign on the left hand side of the trail pointing to westbowl to the right, but at that point the trail is ~80-100ft wide so it is easy to miss. You will pass some cliff signs right at the lip of westbowl.

At the bottom of westbowl, you can cut left and meet up with the rest of peak-to-creek, or you can go right and end up at the red chair.

Also, if peek-to-creek is groomed it is really fun to bomb it as fast as possible. I usually don't like groomed runs because they are boring and too quick, but it is a good time bombing down peak-to-creek. There is a stream bed on the righthand side of peak-to-creek after the west-bowl area. Do not ski down it, even though it looks tempting. There will even be tracks from other skiiers on it. Do not ski down it. It becomes near impossible, very thin, high walls on either side, dead trees everywhere (on the trail), and the ground starts giving way to running water underneath. Eventually you will give up and have to hike out, which is a bitch.

[snoboy]

I'll only be on-snow for 3 days and I know I probably won't see most of what's out there.

Understatement of the ... day ... Year ... DECADE???

[postman22]

[QUOTE=dre66;1132937]On Whistler:

(Couloir Extreme is really hyped up but pretty sweet anyway).

haha don't listen to this statement. dre prob doesnt like the couloir because hawaii 5.0 makes him piss his pants in fear.

couloir will be one of the runs of your life if you hit it right. t-bars open up later on blackcomb so if everything is on standby head to 7th heaven so you can hit the couloir right away.

[Blashyrkh]

So how do you access the goods on Crystal without going down to excelerator? Can you?

[dre66]

haha don't listen to this statement. dre prob doesnt like the couloir because hawaii 5.0 makes him piss his pants in fear.
couloir will be one of the runs of your life if you hit it right. t-bars open up later on blackcomb so if everything is on standby head to 7th heaven so you can hit the couloir right away.

I will confess to a sketchy fall down couloir due to my shitty demo bindings ejecting on a jump turn. That having been said I've hit it a couple of times and when the snow is good it is sweet. Usually I find it too crowded though, and for overall quality of the lap (i.e. the 2nd half of the run ends up being under jersey cream... which isn't that fun). Just wondering what you mean by "hit it the right way"?

[filthyfrenchbum]

if you want to sound H-Core, refer to it as the Saudan Couloir

[shirk]

(i.e. the 2nd half of the run ends up being under jersey cream... which isn't that fun)

High Traverse into the Baggers and The Bite.