Recent content by takeahike46er

A unique angle of the Black Tusk With all the warm and dry weather as of late, I have to admit I was fully prepared to put away my ski gear for the season. After all, I already had my first beach AND lake days of the season. However, a buddy suggested doing one more tour and I couldn’t say no...

The crazy part is that 107°F was not all that exceptional by 2021 heat dome standards. Lytton BC, which is sandwiched between the Coast and Cascade mountain ranges, broke the Canadian record high three days in a row, finally topping out at 49.6 °C (121.3 °F) before burning to the ground. That...

Everything I’ve read suggests that summers in PNW region are warming faster than most other regions in the US. As a consequence, many glaciers and snowfields such as those serviced by Palmer are rapidly vanishing. When I moved to the Vancouver area five years ago, I read I wouldn’t need air...

Great skiing yesterday on Blackcomb! We’re in the midst of a heat wave locally, so all alpine aspects eventually corned up nicely. My afternoon laps in Saudan were the highlight of the day. False Face was excellent. The end is fast approaching for mid-mountain which is melting out rapidly. Ops...

I toured up Cypress Mountain after work on Friday. The north shore ski areas have been closed since mid-April, but snow usually sticks around for a month or two after closing, depending on the year. Not this year. Between the mild winter, and a warm and sunny spring, snow in the region is...

I think you raise an interesting point. As we head further into May, north facing terrain starts to soften regardless, even in BC. Preference for one side over the other might change depending on how much one values April versus May skiing. I personally have a strong preference for the former.

😆 Yeah, no. LOL. Don’t forget about Highway 86 and Sidewinder. I agree, Whistler works well for spring. I just don’t think it works as well as Blackcomb. 7th Heaven is a big reason for that along with the other minor grievances I listed. For much of the past couple weeks, north facing...

A bit closer to your neck-of-the-woods, @claurel have you done the Neve Traverse? The Spearhead?

On my bucket list. Thanks for sharing!

You would think, but it’s not that simple. Whistler stayed open later for the 24/25 season due to the Jersey Cream replacement. Personally, I didn’t find it to be a better setup overall. For one, there’s quite a bit more flats on that side used to get from A to B. With the slow spring snow...

It was a beautiful weekend for spring skiing in Whistler. The dry, sunny weather that has characterized much of April continues. Nighttime temperatures returned to more seasonal values this week, even though the days remained warm. As a result, we didn’t bother starting our day until 11:00 AM...

I actually don’t. 😆 I have an acquaintance who skis through the summer months, but I don’t know if he has a streak going. If I lived in Squamish or Pemberton, I’m sure I would know more than a few. There’s certainly no shortage of snow! However, since the mountains in the southwest BC are...

Yup, much easier access to higher elevations in WA and OR. However, there’s much less appetite for heading south of the border nowadays. 😬

I do! I’d like to get at least a couple spring tours in before I wrap up my season in 2-3 weeks. After that, good corn cycles are harder to come by and most folks head south to the volcanoes.

Saturday felt like the final curtain call for winter. After a cool week that dropped a foot of new snow, rising temperatures meant a narrow window to find remaining powder. Whistler Mountain (left) doesn’t look all that impressive from this angle Beefy snowpack on nearby Corrie Peak and...