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  1. #201
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    Feb 2005
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    It is starting to feel like some fuckery might be afoot, for sure on the lift side of things compared to years gone by... Of course nothing but respect for the guys and gals on patrol and ops doing their job up there and full trust in the avalanche forecasters decisions. Does seem odd T-bars only no Harmony due to avalanche hazard today. Would think they must have hit every start zone from heli and hand charges yesterday/today.

  2. #202
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    Quote Originally Posted by gramboh View Post
    It is starting to feel like some fuckery might be afoot, for sure on the lift side of things compared to years gone by... Of course nothing but respect for the guys and gals on patrol and ops doing their job up there and full trust in the avalanche forecasters decisions. Does seem odd T-bars only no Harmony due to avalanche hazard today. Would think they must have hit every start zone from heli and hand charges yesterday/today.
    Ya especially with clear skies. I can't explain the whistler side at all. Though Spanky's was not a closure today and reportedly very good. Its kind of mindblowing that Blackcomb can open Spankys but Whistler can't get Harmony? Maybe they are worried about Harveys etc sliding onto the cattrack seeing as they can hit every cm of that area?

  3. #203
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    Dec 2006
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    Quote Originally Posted by nortonwhis View Post
    Ya especially with clear skies. I can't explain the whistler side at all. Though Spanky's was not a closure today and reportedly very good. Its kind of mindblowing that Blackcomb can open Spankys but Whistler can't get Harmony? Maybe they are worried about Harveys etc sliding onto the cattrack seeing as they can hit every cm of that area?
    yeah it's pretty weird, really not wanting people skiing rider's right off the ridge or ducking boundary out towards Piccolo I guess if they are running t-bars but not lift. Pretty surprised it didn't go today with the bluebird

  4. #204
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    Feb 2005
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    That’s a good guess, there have been some big slides out of Robertson’s over the years covering the cat track. With the T bars you’d have to either boot pack up the edge of KC roll where they put a don’t hike uphill or do a lot of creative side stepping above Gun Barrells to get into that zone.

    I definitely don’t think there’s any party that doesn’t want to open stuff when it’s safe. I’m sure Vail/WB don’t benefit any from paying fly-in guests whining about limited alpine on blue bird days.

    Will be up this weekend, hope things tighten up, should be good snow quality with whatever falls tomorrow.

  5. #205
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    Jun 2004
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    Pemberton, BC
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    Tbar cracked at 11 with double penetration mega line up. Harmony spinning but closed. Peak had all the chairs put away. I didn’t see much effort happening to get peak open. More snow coming this weekend, hopefully that’ll get the PWL buried deep enough to get it open, if that’s what they are waiting for.

    Took matters into my own hands today. Through 100% legitimate means, toured out to oboe. Great skiing! No whumpfing but some small slide activity. Couldn’t tell if they were naturals tho. Singing Pass is good to go. Seemed a little more scary fast than usual.

  6. #206
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    Jun 2004
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    Pemberton, BC
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    Quote Originally Posted by nortonwhis View Post
    Maybe they are worried about Harveys etc sliding onto the cattrack seeing as they can hit every cm of that area?
    I saw some bomb holes and patrol tracks in there today. No results...

  7. #207
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    Dec 2010
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    whistler
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    The no results component is super troubling. Everyone knows the monster is down there, it's just not coming out to play readily.

    Anyone remember the surf's up slide from like a decade ago? PWL, finally cracked it, 200ppl skied through it and it was starting to get moguled. Then one dude found the sweet spot and it ripped 3 meters deep or something like that. Full size 3 while open. That's the kind of shit people are worried about right now.

  8. #208
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    Feb 2005
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    North Vancouver/Whistler
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    Speaking of results

    Was on our way to East Col but were told by some (understandably) spooked ski tourers that they turned around on Spearhead Col. A bomb caused a 30 cms crack on the steeper snowslope approach to Dean's Adieu. That slope had not released so was left as hangfire on the Spearhead Col approach.

    We took that as a sign to skin back to the backcountry gates for Blackcomb Glacier and to do a lap on the Glacier
    Click image for larger version. 

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  9. #209
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    Edit better picture of crack on Spearhead Col approach. Thousands of people skin over this every year. Thousands

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    Last edited by LeeLau; 01-10-2020 at 10:44 AM.

  10. #210
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    North Vancouver
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    That's some spooky shit right there.

  11. #211
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    Vancouver BC
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    Wow that is scary stuff. Saw on Wayne’s blog there was a SA in the lakeside closure on Wednesday, and a good pic of the snowcat vehicle accidental size 3 on Blackcomb (prime rib?).

    Pic below is the Surf’s Up avalanche nickel mentions above from 2008.

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  12. #212
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    Feb 2005
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    North Vancouver/Whistler
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    Size 1.5 on ski cut off T-bars today fyi if anyone is wondering why they're not rolling them

  13. #213
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    Dec 2006
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    bestcoast
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    blowing pretty hard on whistler this morning, some decent turns to be had, although a bit firm here and there. lots of snow blowing into the VD's/GF which made for some nice turns

  14. #214
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    Quote Originally Posted by gramboh View Post
    Wow that is scary stuff. Saw on Wayne’s blog there was a SA in the lakeside closure on Wednesday, and a good pic of the snowcat vehicle accidental size 3 on Blackcomb (prime rib?).

    Pic below is the Surf’s Up avalanche nickel mentions above from 2008.

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    ugh that is fucked up.
    Blackcomb was good today, not all time but spanky's was officially open (not boundary) and it was blowing in well.

  15. #215
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    Jun 2004
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    Pemberton, BC
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    At least we have inbounds skiing well. Refills all morning until the snow stopped. And I somehow managed to get first tracks down big bang into quasar at 1230pm!

  16. #216
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    Jun 2009
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    Sounds like Patrol is on their game.
    It looks to me like a lot of patrols in training this year (seen lots more red cross jackets than usual).
    Does anyone ski Surf's Up? Looks like that area gets overlooked by the crowd.
    OH, MY GAWD! ―John Hillerman  Big Billie Eilish fan.
    But that's a quibble to what PG posted (at first, anyway, I haven't read his latest book) ―jono
    we are not arguing about ski boots or fashionable clothing or spageheti O's which mean nothing in the grand scheme ― XXX-er

  17. #217
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    Jan 2008
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    BC to CO
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    Quote Originally Posted by puregravity View Post
    Does anyone ski Surf's Up? Looks like that area gets overlooked by the crowd.
    Overlooked by many, it and Zut Zut can hold some of the deepest snow on Blackcomb

  18. #218
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    Nov 2014
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    344
    the local mtns have been purty good the last few days. we're in the middle of a decent cycle right now

    cypress snow stake:

  19. #219
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    Feb 2005
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    Vancouver BC
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    Harmony opened around 12:45 today, would've been earlier but some shitheads skinned up Encore into Lesser Flute during AC and caused a delay while they were dealt with, 365 day ban yay. I think the late opening kept people away as there was barely any line-up, second and third lap skied directly onto the chair. Snow quality was ridiculous deep blower, so much fun and they kept the chair going till 3ish. Didn't see any big results, storm snow was sluffing fast in steep trees.

    Some decent T-bar laps yesterday as well, some group put in a sidestep up KC shoulder which people were using for over an hour before patrol angrily shut it down (and then stood guard), must be frustrating this year with blatant poaching.

  20. #220
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    Quote Originally Posted by gramboh View Post
    Harmony opened around 12:45 today, would've been earlier but some shitheads skinned up Encore into Lesser Flute during AC and caused a delay while they were dealt with, 365 day ban yay. I think the late opening kept people away as there was barely any line-up, second and third lap skied directly onto the chair. Snow quality was ridiculous deep blower, so much fun and they kept the chair going till 3ish. Didn't see any big results, storm snow was sluffing fast in steep trees.

    Some decent T-bar laps yesterday as well, some group put in a sidestep up KC shoulder which people were using for over an hour before patrol angrily shut it down (and then stood guard), must be frustrating this year with blatant poaching.
    Coming soon - barbed wire fences with pass-scanning gates to identify and reprimand poachers?

  21. #221
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    Aug 2006
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    Calgary
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    Thank god for M+S tires


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  22. #222
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    Apr 2004
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    Creekside
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    I wonder if all the slow alpine openings are due to the poachers, patrol doesn’t want to open the lift with certain areas still closed because they know people will ignore the signs. So instead they keep everything shut until they are confident the entire area is safe. Maybe they need to start posting signs at the top of lifts stating the number of people who have had the passes suspended for poaching, make people think about what they might face for ignoring the signs.

  23. #223
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    Oct 2010
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    Quote Originally Posted by eldereldo View Post
    I wonder if all the slow alpine openings are due to the poachers, patrol doesn’t want to open the lift with certain areas still closed because they know people will ignore the signs. So instead they keep everything shut until they are confident the entire area is safe. Maybe they need to start posting signs at the top of lifts stating the number of people who have had the passes suspended for poaching, make people think about what they might face for ignoring the signs.
    They used to have this back in the day. I think it would be a good idea. I wonder how it works with Epic. Can they revoke full epic passes? Imagine getting your pass pulled for skiing lakeside. Who tf even goes there anyway. literally a shit traverse for 6 turns.

  24. #224
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    Feb 2005
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    North Vancouver/Whistler
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    Quote Originally Posted by eldereldo View Post
    I wonder if all the slow alpine openings are due to the poachers, patrol doesn’t want to open the lift with certain areas still closed because they know people will ignore the signs. So instead they keep everything shut until they are confident the entire area is safe.
    This year in particular a significant amount of patrol resources are dedicated and deployed to making sure runouts are clear before bombing. I speculate it's because this year control and bombing results have so spectacularly impressive and have propagated so far.

    To answer your question, that has delayed openings.

  25. #225
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    Feb 2005
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    Quote Originally Posted by eldereldo View Post
    I wonder if all the slow alpine openings are due to the poachers, patrol doesn’t want to open the lift with certain areas still closed because they know people will ignore the signs. So instead they keep everything shut until they are confident the entire area is safe. Maybe they need to start posting signs at the top of lifts stating the number of people who have had the passes suspended for poaching, make people think about what they might face for ignoring the signs.
    Hah @ the barbed wire suggestions. It does seem like some level of trust has eroded over the last few years and poaching is a bigger problem than it was. Am I remembering wrong or did they used to let people use Encore Ridge to access the park as an example of people being trusted to be responsible? Probably a combination of the November weak layers creating uncertainty (leading to longer times to open stuff at least on Whistler), plus pent up demand from skiers = more poaching = even longer times to open stuff + lower/tighter sign lines (Die Hard as an example). WB should be making it more clear though, the marketing/social media just focuses on snowfall with a sentence or two about avalanche hazard. They should educate customers that poaching = ban.

    Agree that losing your pass for poaching Lakeside is extra retarded. The thought of some dumb Aussie seasonaire getting banned mid January is kind of amusing to think about.

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