Canada 08/09 – Whistler – Day 10

Day 10 (wow, day 10 already?) started with a small sleep-in – until just after 8am – followed by a fairly regular morning ritual. Outside it was cloudy, but not snowing or raining which was nice again. We were secretly hoping that the cloud was just low, and that with a lift or two we would pop out the top of it.

We left the room at nearly 10am, and utilised the now regular hotel shuttle to get us to the base of the mountain. We decided to start up Blackcomb, and so headed up the Excalibur Gondola to the midstation. Pip wanted to ski down to the Wizard Express and see Ben – who was working on this lift – and so we did this and had a quick chat as we waited for the lift. It was foggy as we rode up on the lift, but the run down beneath looked good – once we reached the top we turned around and returned down the hill, further into the fog.

Back up the Wizard chair, and we decided to take the Solar Coaster Express to the next level of the mountain. Up here, luckily, it was sunny with the only clouds to be seen those that we had come through – well below us now. We decided to head to the Catskinner Chair which we hadn’t been on yet this year, and looked nice from what we could see while riding the Solar Coaster. While last year we had skied a nice run just beneath the Cat Chair – next to the expert terrain park – but just skiing near the edge of this slope Ed decided that it looked a little heavy.

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From this point, we took a nice cruisey trail which although it was a green, was tricky enough in parts. It had nice snow the whole way down, and views to die for in many parts. We skied this all the way to the bottom of the Catskinner, observing the terrain park for a few minutes on the way past. This chair, being only a triple, was a perfect fit for us, but certainly took its time getting to the top of the slope. It was considerably older than most other lifts on the mountain, but gave us nice views over the valley, towards Whistler, and over the largest terrain park on both mountains. There were some game skiers and snowboarders who were launching into the air off of these jumps, and we were more than happy just watching rather than participating on this occasion.

We cycled round a few more times, before having a run through the Terrain Garden – a much more tame version of the terrain park we had seen previously. We took some photos on the way through, but unfortunately there were plenty of people (mainly boarders) using the features – we did what we went to do, and then moved on so as not to get flattened by someone out of control. Unfortunately this run took us a little lower than the previous one, and so we couldn’t catch the Catskinner back to the top – instead, we continued down to the Solar Coaster and used this lift to get us back to the top of the slope, in probably a much shorter time although the run was twice as long.

Once we reached the top, we stopped in at the Rendezvous Lodge for a bit of lunch – the usual mostly. I had been snapping photos along the way, and stopped quickly to take one at the front of the lodge before we entered. Once we got inside, I grabbed the camera just to have a quick look at some of the photos and found something weird on the last one, just taken outside. There was a strange object floating above the chair lift line – we couldn’t work out what it was just by looking at it on the camera’s screen, and so decided to wait until we got back to blow it up further. I don’t recall seeing anything, as I merely took the photo then went inside, without actually looking at the real world.

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After some discussion about what the object might be, we decided to head up to 7th Heaven, where we had been in a giant blizzard a few days earlier. The weather looked great outside now, and so we were hopeful that it would be a bit nicer at the top than it had been. We skied off, leaving at about 1:30pm, and headed down the long trail to the base of the 7th Heaven lift. The queue down here, unlike what we had seen the rest of the day, and on the rest of the mountain, was enormous. We waited a good 15 minutes before getting on the lift, and in the process, got very hot standing around in the sun.

Once we reached the top of the lift, we had a quick look over the edge into the Horstman Glacier and were quickly approached by a very dodgy looking ski patroller who offered to let us have a closer look by ducking under the ropes. I suggested that he was just trying to get our lift passes confiscated, wearing a puffy red jacket with crosses marked in masking tape, but apparently, he really was a ski patroller. Pip suggested maybe it was too cold up here for his regular ski patrol jacket.

We soon finished here and headed towards the bottom of the lift – enjoying the amazing views as we went. This was a relatively long run, and wasn’t helped by the huge number of people who were trying to share in the glorious conditions. When we finally got to the bottom, Pip was the most tired (but followed closely by everyone else) and suggested we should head back to the village. It was probably lucky we did, as by the time we skied all the way down (a long trail I might add), the lifts were already closed (3:00pm).

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Upon reaching the base of the mountain, we waited for the hotel shuttle – which was a little less organised due to the regular bus being used for other purposes today. We finally got a lift back, and relaxed in the room for a short while before heading to the pool for a quick swim. Following our relaxing dip, Pip and I did a bit more shopping before returning to the room to prepare for dinner. We had decided to go out again tonight, but had no idea where we were going. We suited up a little, and headed out into the cooler air – but certainly not cold air, at +2C.

We ended up at Blacks Bistro – where we had had lunch a few days before – after sitting down at the Irish Pub nearby and decided that it was too noisy and too ‘pubby’ for a nice dinner. The food and service was nice at Blacks, and dinner was enjoyed by all. We returned to the room where relaxed and spoke to some of those back home, and soon after headed for bed – exhausted from another day full of skiing.

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The weather was great today all in all, and it is supposed to keep improving for the next few days. If today was anything to go by, however, we may need to lose a few layers in order to prevent overheating.

Stay tuned for the last few days worth of adventures, and be sure to check out the photo gallery from today. There are a few repetitive photos, but all from different angles – and only of spectacular sights. Yes, I was a little snap happy – but who wouldn’t be with views and weather like it was?

Hope you’re enjoying the (very) hot weather – speak to you all soon.

About the Author

Scott

Web designer, graphic designer, coder, scripter, photographer, musician, performer, entrepreneur (and the list goes on) based in Adelaide, South Australia. Scott loves to experiment with new ideas, and OnSno.com is his creative dumping ground.