Whistler 2013 / 2014 - The Community Blog
Ah yeh, I can see the park working there! Let us know how it goes
Thought I’d drop a line with you guys I’ve been reading this forum for a while but haven’t posted before.
I’m doing the season in Whis too my second here. Bad start to the season as far as snow goes but they’ve still managed to get a lot of terrain open Which will be good for when the snow does come! Parks are fun also
Hey guys sorry for lack of updates. I’ve been hanging out with franklin lately and riding with him all around the place. Been really enjoying doing tree runs on blackcomb lately around crystal and cat skinner. Also hanging out to ride blackcomb glacier but that will happen in the next week or so..
One of my goals for this season has been to ride park but with the lack of snow there I’ve been chickening out with the fear of smashing myself on ice and exacerbate already painful injuries but it will happen sometime this season.
I haven’t been able to really push it on my ride breaks either just where I’m working but on the plus side to that I got made lead hand for Wizard chair which is pretty sweet!
Pics will come soon..
finney, that’s crazy. Is the snow really that bad? I actually love lapping Fitz chair when the snow is bad elsewhere. I can see the park working well there. Please take a few photos for me?
Lawso, welcome to Boardworld! 
No worries, Wilmshurst. I can understand the frustration. Use this time to improve your riding by riding the ice. How you may ask? Riding on ice means you need to be more subtle but still effective with your edges. Too much edge and you slip. Find the balance and it will actually help your riding, even for park riding such as riding rails and boxes, where you really need to get used to riding with no edging at all. When the snow comes, you’ll notice the improvement. Just keep at it.
@wilmhurst: How are you riding doing tree runs? Aren’t there like rocks and branches sticking out everywhere?
Here in sun peaks I can do quite a few tree runs and they are fine. Not amazing though yet… Anything out of bounds can be real deep cause people stay away
@skip11 yeah there are a few that are pretty much no go zones because of sticks and such but there are areas right along main runs that have quite a bit of snow in them of course it’s not untouched but still a hell of a lot of fun. The worst lot of trees I rode was with Franklin coming back from crystal chair we saw guys go for it so we decided to follow and we quickly lost sight of them and had to find our own way through the trees. I was riding my new stick for the first time too and we both had to do a fair amount of ptex that night from hitting decent rocks and tree branches.
Hahah yeah, I avoid those areas for now. Don’t wanna mess up my edges lol. Hopefully arthur’s choice will be open soon.
Great stuff finne! always nice to see yourself progressing, hopefully the snow conditions turn around for WB in early jan (& niseko too
)
Merry xmas mate
Cheers buddy, hope you had a good one too.
finney, that’s crazy. Is the snow really that bad? I actually love lapping Fitz chair when the snow is bad elsewhere. I can see the park working well there. Please take a few photos for me?
Yeah it’s pretty bad up there buddy and to make things even worse it’s raining over most of the mountain today. Freezing level is 1800m apparently. Hoping for the season to get into gear soon.
Over the past few weeks there has still been plenty to do so it’s not all bad even with the lower than standard snowfall. The snowmakers have done an amazing job and have essentially saved this season, I’ve probably mentioned it before but definitely worth thanking them again.
The big thing that has had most of us excited and also anxious about this year was the opening of the new Crystal Chair. Excited for quick laps out there but anxious about what the larger amount of traffic through there will do to it. And after the past few weeks it’s still a mixed feeling as we haven’t really got the snow out there just yet to know how it’ll affect powder days and getting multiple fresh laps out there. One thing that many of my friends have said which I’ve also noticed is that it really feels like a whole new zone out there now with the aspect of the new lift line and is taking a little getting used to along with the fact that they’ve done a fair amount of landscaping out there and widening the runs towards the bottom. The clearing has definitely made for some fun terrain on the sides of the runs with even more hits out there now.
View down the lift line from halfway
View up the 2nd half of the line
As a prank someone dropped all the peak chair ducks over at the bottom of Crystal on the monday after it opened…
Since the upper alpine lifts opened i’ve been back working up on Peak Chair and it’s been great to be up there but it’s also very strange as we’re getting all the big storm winds but we’re not getting any of the big snowfall that comes with it.
Almost 2 weeks ago I was stuck at the top from 8am-2pm waiting for the winds to die down so that we could open and it was some some of the worst weather I’ve seen up there.
We’ve also had a bit of inversion lately which has meant snowfall for the valley and nothing at the top. Managed to grab this photo off the Peak 2 Peak last week showing the snowline on the trees in the valley.
And as per Jeremy’s request here’s a quick photo from halfway down the new Whistler Park. It continues all the way down to the merge at the bottom and there’s also 3 rows of features above this point. Good mix of small jumps and jibs which will definitely be a welcome addition for the people who were waiting for the terrain garden to open. I’ve heard that they’ve also officially opened the XL park now (mentioned in the quote from Brian Finestone in my last post) so I’m keen to go have a look at those at some stage soon.
I’ve had a problem with my foot over the past week so haven’t been riding but I’m hoping that it will be all good for next weekend so I can head up on new years day as it’s always a good day up there. Hardly anyone around and always great to start the year off on a good note. Forecast is looking alright for next week so fingers crossed it’s a sign of good things to come.
Thanks for the update, mate.
Was there meant to be a photo of the park? 
whoops.. Here it is.
I won’t be riding for a while at this stage, my foot issue is still there and I’m not allowed to wear boots for a little while (doctors orders), hopefully I’ll be back up there for my birthday in a week.
Chantelle is taking my Yes Public in for some TLC at her work so I’ll jump back on that when I’m back up the hill until we get some more snow, don’t really want to run the risk of damaging the Slash as it’s already had some love taps from rocks 
On the bright side though there is some good snow in the forecast for later this week.
Shit man, sorry to hear about your foot. I hope it heals up quickly so you can enjoy the snow in the forecast.
That park looks rad. How big are the jumps? Where is that exactly? I’m trying to picture it. When you come off the chair, go right towards Crabapple but drop down earlier towards the Village?
Jumps are all smalls, perfect for people who are looking to get used to being in the air and start learning to spin with little consequences.
That shot is taken from the last steep pitch on Crabapple - each line of features is placed on the natural rollers that are on Crabapple before the right-left kinks at the bottom of the run. Basically the whole lower section of the run in line wit the top of Fitz and below is all terrain park. If you don’t want to go through it then you just take the exit from Crabapple which drops you back at the bottom of garb/top of fitz.
Foot is healing well at the moment, hoping to be back on a board sooner rather than later but can’t rush back out there for fear of another infection unfortunately.
Mother Nature finally decided to play along and gave us 24cm over 24 hours on Thursday followed by a blue bird day up there on Friday which has definitely brought back a buzz around the village. Anyone who has lived here will tell you that after a long period with no snow a lot of people definitely get into a funk - also comes around just after halfway through the season as people realise that the season is rolling by very quickly.
Unfortunately not much snow in the valley as the freezing level was a little bit above the village but none the less it’s a welcome change. I wasn’t able to make it up the mountain but from everyone that I’ve spoken to it was a very busy day up there with lots of locals making their way up and probably a large number of people from Vancouver. The Fresh Tracks Lineup went past Blacks in the village and one friend who dropped by for a drink last night said that they waited 45mins to get onto Symphony and an hour to get onto Harmony. Should also add that its the final weekend of school holidays so theres still a fair few tourists in town still after New Years etc which is definitely affecting the crowds on the mountains.
Wow, super busy. Those days are only good for a few runs haha. Good to hear the snow arrived though, and likewise about your foot getting better.
Yep, I see it now. Crabapple it is. I didn’t think they would have put the park there which was throwing me off. Michelle couldn’t pick it either. Looks like a lot of fun.