Posts tagged with “Ski & Snowboad Guide To Whistler Blackcomb”

Blackcomb Glacier is designated as a Provincial Park. This fact, and the agreement between BC Parks and Whistler Blackcomb to allow skiers access and no lifts to be built, makes for one of the most unique ski experiences in North America. Many other lines described in the Guide are limited offerings with room for one gondola’s worth of fresh tracks. Blackcomb Glacier is the exception, with room for thousands of fresh lines with options on the flanks for steeper and more committing lines. Often kept closed during storms due to mounting avalanche hazard, the glacier can open days after with all traces of previous skiers obliterated and a blank canvas ready to be painted with your turns. From the Windlip, make the call; skiers’ right to Husume Flank, skiers’ left to Winky Pop or straight down the guts like a big old Heli Ski line, there are no poor choices here.

The tips in this column and the contents of the guidebook are intended to be used by expert skiers and snowboarders only. The terrain described is dangerous and requires a high level of expertise to negotiate.

***

The second version of the Ski and Snowboard Guide to Whistler Blackcomb is a 184-page, full-color guidebook to the advanced and expert terrain on the mountains. Consider it an aerial photo-based version of the trail map. It’s designed to allow expert skiers to access the goods! Look for it at the best retailers in Whistler including Armchair Books in Village Square.

One of the most underrated runs on Whistler has to be Surprise. Ask yourself, when’s the last time you heard somebody rave about it but when have you ever had a bad run on it? An extremely varied piece of terrain, Surprise has something for everyone including cliffs, steeps, open slopes and a wide variety of shapes and features that you can use to your advantage. In the old days, the Peak Chair was a fixed-grip triple and there used to be a mid-offload at the top of Surprise. When the visibility was poor in the alpine, the patrol sometimes mandated everyone to get off at mid and Surprise got a lot more attention. Since the “new” quad doesn’t have a mid-offload you have to kind of go out of your way to get there but when you do, don’t be surprised if you have an awesome run.

The tips in this column and the contents of the guidebook are intended to be used by expert skiers and snowboarders only. The terrain described is dangerous and requires a high level of expertise to negotiate.

***

The second version of the Ski and Snowboard Guide to Whistler Blackcomb is a 184-page, full-color guidebook to the advanced and expert terrain on the mountains. Consider it an aerial photo-based version of the trail map. It’s designed to allow expert skiers to access the goods! Look for it at the best retailers in Whistler including Armchair Books in Village Square.

Yes, there really is a glacier under there! Several awesome runs drop into this bowl with some of the headliners being Excitation, The Couloir, The Cirque and The Saddle. Several years ago, the resort went to a lot of trouble to punch the blue run entry into Glacier Bowl and the results are pretty good. The Saddle provides a nice groomed run down the center of the bowl but the reason expert riders go there is for the steep (sometimes rocky) entrances into the wind-protected bowl below. Due to the shape and aspect of the bowl, the southwest winds often spares the new snow and some of the best powder riding experiences can be had here. Another positive of Glacier Bowl is that all of the runs drop you back at the base of the Peak Express. Unlike West Bowl for instance, you don’t have to ride a lower lift to get back to the alpine. Check pages 82 and 83 of the guidebook for the full beta.

The tips in this column and the contents of the guidebook are intended to be used by expert skiers and snowboarders only. The terrain described is dangerous and requires a high level of expertise to negotiate.

***

The second version of the Ski and Snowboard Guide to Whistler Blackcomb is a 184-page, full-color guidebook to the advanced and expert terrain on the mountains. Consider it an aerial photo-based version of the trail map. It’s designed to allow expert skiers to access the goods! Look for it at the best retailers in Whistler including Armchair Books in Village Square.