Whistler 21/22

[The AD]

Unfortunately you would need to travel around to make much use of an Ikon or Epic pass. I think all you get is seven days of lift tix at each of their member resorts in B.C. (other than WB on Epic).

Correct. The closest unlimited skiing would be Stevens Pass, WA for Epic and Crystal Mountain for Ikon.

[Huskier]

7th cracked with a nice few cm's to smooth out the crust. Snowguns trying their best but still mandatory download :-/

[The AD]

7th cracked with a nice few cm's to smooth out the crust. Snowguns trying their best but still mandatory download :-/

Nice. I was able to ski back to my condo at Blackcomb last weekend for the first two days of my trip, but by Sunday no chance I was going to attempt it. Should be good weather for snowmaking at least this week.

[Clownshoe]

FYI Singing Pass is washed out below the peak 2 peak. Approach with caution. Skis off and hiking required

[shirk]

Who has the lowdown on how to work the table reservation system?

We uploaded late morning Sunday with the two small kids (4yr and 6yr) to ski a few kid laps and eat a late lunch. Rolled up to Rendezvous a few minutes before 2pm, clearly LOTS of open tables but their system wouldn't give us a reservation saying it was sold out for the day. A bit frustrating to be told "just go try Glacier". Yeah I am standing there with a 6yr old complaining of cold toes, 4yr old that is not skiing the steep icy section off the top of Ross's Gold / Wishbone, and there are a boat load of empty tables right in front of me. It's 2pm on a Sunday well past the regular rush.

This was our first day back up since pre-Covid world.

[kevin267]

Haven't used it myself yet, but check out https://whistlerpeak.com/ they have a link to reserve on there. Everything on that website is easier than navigating epic mix or the WB website haha.

[The AD]

The whistlerpeak site is going to get you to the Tock reservation system more easily, but it's not going to help you get reservations if there are none available. It definitely seems to be set up to require you to book ahead of time, but can't say I ever tried just rolling up and looking for a reservation right then. They really should get this sorted out if there are tables available, but it won't let you reserve them.

You might just tell the person checking vaccine info at the door that you have reservations and then explain to the person who assigns your table that you weren't able to reserve anything on the site. Could work, especially with young kids in tow.

[Snow Dog]

Who has the lowdown on how to work the table reservation system?

We uploaded late morning Sunday with the two small kids (4yr and 6yr) to ski a few kid laps and eat a late lunch. Rolled up to Rendezvous a few minutes before 2pm, clearly LOTS of open tables but their system wouldn't give us a reservation saying it was sold out for the day. A bit frustrating to be told "just go try Glacier". Yeah I am standing there with a 6yr old complaining of cold toes, 4yr old that is not skiing the steep icy section off the top of Ross's Gold / Wishbone, and there are a boat load of empty tables right in front of me. It's 2pm on a Sunday well past the regular rush.

This was our first day back up since pre-Covid world.

Last season every gondola had a QR code that took you to the exploretok.com app for your phone. From there it's easy to pick a restaurant and time. I always picked a lunch time before uploading in the morning. Once you've installed the app you can reserve on the current day.

[eldereldo]

Who has the lowdown on how to work the table reservation system?

We uploaded late morning Sunday with the two small kids (4yr and 6yr) to ski a few kid laps and eat a late lunch. Rolled up to Rendezvous a few minutes before 2pm, clearly LOTS of open tables but their system wouldn't give us a reservation saying it was sold out for the day. A bit frustrating to be told "just go try Glacier". Yeah I am standing there with a 6yr old complaining of cold toes, 4yr old that is not skiing the steep icy section off the top of Ross's Gold / Wishbone, and there are a boat load of empty tables right in front of me. It's 2pm on a Sunday well past the regular rush.

This was our first day back up since pre-Covid world.

Probably it was because the resteraunts were closing as the lifts start closing around that time.

[The AD]

Probably it was because the resteraunts were closing as the lifts start closing around that time.

Just looked at the reservation site and the last rezzies are at 2:30.

[Cocximus]

Is it impossible to get from van to the interior by taking 99 or 3? Are the restrictions kinda like the covid restrictions or are they serious about them?

[eldereldo]

Is it impossible to get from van to the interior by taking 99 or 3? Are the restrictions kinda like the covid restrictions or are they serious about them?

RCMP stopping and turning people around. Pretty easy when there is only one entry point to 99 and very few to Highway 3. No idea if you tried at 1:00 in the morning if you could get thru.

[DanoT]

Is it impossible to get from van to the interior by taking 99 or 3? Are the restrictions kinda like the covid restrictions or are they serious about them?

It's essential travel only on 99 and 3. There was an additional mudslide last week on hwy 99 and Princeton residents have started a petition to keep hwy 3 essential only, in response to Big White's public appeal to open hwy 3 to non essential travel. So I am planning a Victoria to Sun Peaks trip with a 8-10hr detour thru Washington with a motel stop along the way.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...Columbia_1633_

[shirk]

You might just tell the person checking vaccine info at the door that you have reservations and then explain to the person who assigns your table that you weren't able to reserve anything on the site. Could work, especially with young kids in tow.

They had two people outside forcing people to either show their confirmed reservation or make a reservation before you could get inside to the vac check and the reservation desk.

Zero sympathy from the guy at the door while my 6yr old loudly pointing out to me his feet were cold.

Anyway doesn't sound like anyone rolls up and makes a reservation on the spot, so next time we'll have to plan ahead better.

[Clownshoe]

Mags, more info for you.

604-905-2324
Ext 1: Whistler’s boundary status (for entering/leaving the boundary for touring)
Ext 2: Blackcomb’s boundary status (same)
Ext 3: the REAL weather.

Boundary status is mostly for people returning from touring (like from overnights at Kees and Claire hut) where you might want to enter the resort area from the backcountry and patrol might be doing avalanche control. Also useful for day tours if patrol decides to do afternoon avalanche control (not often but it happens). If in doubt, give it a call. You can also always call patrol directly if you have any doubt about your travel route or if you need rescue. 604-935-5555.

Leaving the boundary is always allowed as long as you aren’t trying to leave through an avalanche area. This line is usually updated twice a day. The weather is put out by the Whistler snow safety department and is updated twice a day.

[nickinbc]

Is it impossible to get from van to the interior by taking 99 or 3? Are the restrictions kinda like the covid restrictions or are they serious about them?

I certainly hope they keep being serious about the restrictions. I'm about 2 weeks behind on mail deliveries that I assume are stuck somewhere in the Lower Mainland and the supermarkets still occasionally have shortages of fruit and veg.

If the hordes get to drive those routes over the vacation I expect they will turn into long parking lots - even if the weather isn't bad.

[eggsbenedict]

RCMP stopping and turning people around. Pretty easy when there is only one entry point to 99 and very few to Highway 3. No idea if you tried at 1:00 in the morning if you could get thru.

Had to go into the interior for work last week, cop at the bottom of the switchbacks on 99 at 4:30am was definitely not letting anyone past who wasn't very explicitly allowed on the road. Coming home on #3 at 11pm, cop was napping in his car and had a flagger pretending to check IDs grumbling about it being stupid.

[DanoT]

Had to go into the interior for work last week, cop at the bottom of the switchbacks on 99 at 4:30am was definitely not letting anyone past who wasn't very explicitly allowed on the road. Coming home on #3 at 11pm, cop was napping in his car and had a flagger pretending to check IDs grumbling about it being stupid.

I need to go from Victoria to Sun Peaks and thought about applying for a job at Sun Peaks where I used to work, and then quitting once I got there (I'm retired).....too sleazy; didn't do it; will detour thru WA instead.

[Cocximus]

SWIM has ids from both sides of the closure. SWIM could be going home in both directions. Doing it with 3 passengers might not fly that well.

[LeeLau]

20cms of low density on top of some funky melt freeze crust. Better snowpack recovery than expected. -6 and NW winds. Brrr

[nortonwhis]

20cms of low density on top of some funky melt freeze crust. Better snowpack recovery than expected. -6 and NW winds. Brrr

Do you mean stability wise or skiing wise?

[Zaeius]

What are the odds that the alpine opens this weekend with a ton of new snow forecast Friday night and steady precip through both days (all falling on a bunch of different surfaces)?

One thing is for sure - the highway will be a shit show. Might have to wait until Monday to get up.

[LeeLau]

Do you mean stability wise or skiing wise?

Both. On low angle slopes you can avoid punching thru the crust and ski the 20cms

Below the mf crust latent instabilities (at least above 1800m) are either now buried and/or rain soaked so as to no longer be an issue

[gramboh]

Lower angle slopes below Flute were great today, same with West Bowl, Monday was crusty but the apron below skied well.

[nortonwhis]

What are the odds that the alpine opens this weekend with a ton of new snow forecast Friday night and steady precip through both days (all falling on a bunch of different surfaces)?

One thing is for sure - the highway will be a shit show. Might have to wait until Monday to get up.

Its hard to tell. I would guess no saturday, possible sunday. If i was buying 1 day ticket over the next 3 days it would hands down be monday or tuesday. Im expecting full shit show tomorrow.

Low angle or ultra high has been the key since post opening weekend. Glaciers have been skiing well when there has been some vis ( I must be getting old!)