“I have heard some avalanche professionals say that conditions are “getting pretty scary” and they are tiptoeing around and avoiding avalanche terrain altogether. This is very good advice” - CAC Bulletin (31st Dec 2008)

Although most/all of this information is available elsewhere I figure it can’t hurt to collate some of it.

First some caveats.

1. I’m still learning all this stuff too, I’m not an avalanche professional I’m just hoping somebody might read this and think twice about what they are planning.
2. This post is fairly Whistler, BC focused since that’s where I ride most. A quick google should find similar information for your favourite location.

Common Sense

Unfortunately common sense seems to be anything but common.

• Whistler (and most/all other resorts) have a team of professionals looking after you. If you see these signs or smilar turn around! (Whistler Signage)

  

• Most resorts will have the avalanche bulletins posted at typical resort exit points. Read them and take the advice! At Whistler look in the following places :-
  • Top of Harmony lift
  • Top of Symphony Lift
  • Top of Peak Lift
• Don’t leave the resort boundary alone, if you’re alone who is going to rescue you?
• Make sure you leave a trip plan with someone so they know where to look for you if you don’t make it home
• Have the resort’s emergency phone numbers in your cell (mobile) phone but be aware coverage may be limited/non-existent
• Read the avalanche & weather forecasts/bulletins daily (if you ride a lot)
• If you’re uncertain don’t do it, live to ride another day
• Practice! A course 5 years ago doesn’t mean you’ll be able to find and dig out your friends quicly and efficiently
• Take a course, read everything you can about snow/backcountry safety

Education

• Avalanche Danger Scale
• Whistler Alpine Guides - Excellent Avalanche Courses
• List of CAC approved Courses
• Whistler Avalanche Awareness tours - A free avalanche awareness tour, the very least you should do

Equipment

Everybody in your party must have at least the following

• Avalanche transceiver/beacon (Recco does not count, you’ll be long dead before the authorities find you but your friends can find you with transceivers)
• Shovel (preferably metal bladed)
• Probe (at least 2m long)
• Food/water
• Basic first aid kit (most if not all of you should carry this)
• Map & Compass (GPS is handy too but don’t rely on it)
• Cell phone is potentially really useful but again you can’t rely on being able to call help

Other useful equipment

• Tent/tarp for shelter
• Good knife (not a pocket/pen knife)
• Simple wood saw
• Head torch (they are so small and light why would you not carry one)
• Repair kit (duct tape, zip ties, jubilee clips, cord etc.)

And last but certainly not least everybody in your party needs the knowledge and experience to use all this equipment

Whistler Weather

• Whistler/Blackcomb Weather Forecast
• Whistler Snow Forecast (mid station)
• Weather Network Ski  Report
• Whistler Webcams

Avalanche Incidents

• South Coast Avalanche Forum
• South Coast Avalanche Incidents (RSS) - Very handy way to keep on top of what’s going on. If you don’t know what RSS is take a look at Google Reader and subscribe to my blog while youre at it! 

Avalanche Forecasts (BC Lower mainland)

• South Coast Avalanche Forecast (includes Duffy Lake Road, Whistler etc.)
• North Shore Avalanche Forecast (Grouse, Cypress, Seymour etc.)
• Whistler Avalanche Forecast - Often similar to the South Coast forecast but more Whistler specific, read them both

I strongly advise you to get CAC to email you their reports

Miscellaneous

• North Shore Search and Rescue
• Whistler Search and Rescue (SAR) - This is a good but infrequently updated blog by the Whistler SAR, read everything they have written.

After a soggy and warm November December started off dry and (really, really) cold. Whistler has been seeing temperatures in the minus 20-25C range. This might not seem to bad to those used to the dry air of the French Alps but here in our ‘moist’ Pacific air it’s brutally cold. Normally I’d welcome colder air (maybe not quite this coldd though) but the Arctic Outflow pushed the normal storm track further South than normal. The upshot of this is that Vanouver got 50cm of cold dry powder and Whistler got virtually nothing.

There are upsides and downsides to this weather pattern.

Upsides

• Snow in Vancouver means we can build snowmen on the beach near our house (see our Flickr Stream for more, we had lots of fun on Xmas day!)
• The snow that did fall in Whistler was beautifully fluffy and dry, being so near the coast Whistler suffers (and benefits) from milder temperatures than the inland resorts, this tends to lead to lots of heavy wet and stable snow rather than small amounts of unconsolidated dry snow
• Not much of the mountain is open yet (Harmony, Symphony and Peak chairs are still shut) this means you don’t have to walk far to get to the ‘back country’ and a fair amount of roped off (out of bounds) terrain is very rideable (be warned there are lots of thin patches)

Downsides

• The snowpack is really weird at the moment, we have heavy compressed snow on top of loose unconsolidated snow. This has made the avalanche risk very high (no real powder missions for us )
• Getting around has been difficult to say the least. I’ve had to both dig our car out and then dig a parking space for it when we got home
• Not much of the mountain is open yet (Harmony, Symphony and Peak chairs are still shut) this means that the available slopes are pretty busy

Having said all this we’ve had a fair few powder turns and a couple of good days. Most memorably we hiked up Harmony Ridge last Saturday and had sweet mellow powder turns back down the ridge. We took a look at Kaleidoscope (again) but given the Avy risk (4-High) we opted for the conservative choice and rode back down the ridge which had 30cm+ of fresh snow on top of what looked like snow that had been groomed a few days before.
Looking at the forecast for the next week over 1.25m of snow is forecast so it looks like the normal storm pattern has been re-established and the snow is starting to melt in Vancouver so I have high hopes for an excellent January and Febuary.

• Be careful out there, remember to check the Avalanche reports before you head out of bounds or into the backcountry.
• Pay attention to posted signs and watch out for patrol performing avalanche control.
• Drive safe, we’ve seen 5 cars in the ditch (one upside down) over the last couple of weeks

Weather and Snow

Compared to last year the season opened pretty poorly, in 07/08 Whistler opened on November 17th (5 days early) with 1metre of snow and a whole load of powder, this year Whistler opened a single day early (pretty sure this was solely so they don’t break their 6 year record) with 50cm of snow. It’s been way too warm (and dry) this November.  The snow was pretty slushy, it felt much more like a spring day (in fact if it had been April it would have been a great day). Snow cover was pretty poor with rocks and grass poking out on the lower slopes.

Crowds

Wow, US Thanksgiving sure brings out the crowds! There were way too many people crammed into way too few runs. Realistically there were only 4-5 runs opened and there was a hectic mix of beginners and people who weren’t as good as they thought they were.

Saturday

We spent an embarrasingly short day fighting with the crowds and avoiding being taken out (or taking out) anybody around us. On the upside it was great to be back on a board enjoying the mountain air. It was raining lightly most of the day so even after a few hours we were pretty soaked. We headed home and I cooked souffle, roast potatoes, roast tomatoes and an apple and strawberry crumble.

Sunday

Time to escape the crowds!!! Ruth opted for an easy day of DVDs and the sofa while we scraped split-boards and dug out transcievers and shovels. Heading out it looked pretty grim, low cloud and rain filled the valley, it wasn’t looking promising. Luckily the cloud layer was pretty thin and after 200m or so we popped out the top into a reasonably nice day.

After a brief discussion about where to head

• Peak via Highway 86
• Harmony via Pika’s Traverse

we decided on Harmony because we figured Peak is long way up Highway 86 and anything off Highway 86 would be too thin. The skin up Harmony was pleasant, we’d all set off with the attitude that even if we just ended up with a nice walk it’d still be a good day, and fairly short, maybe an hour including switching to touring mode. We were all feeling out of shape and all of us had new unfamiliar gear to try out so we probably made a bit more of a meal of it than it really was, we also weren’t in any hurry.

The view from the ridge was superb, the few photos I took didn’t really capture the feeling of being out in the mountains, away from the crowds and enjoying the view. The ridge rolls rather a lot so we had some amusing “skiing” pitches where we were too lazy to switch back to board mode. I haven’t skiied for 15 years or more so it was a peculiar sensation skiing in soft boots with free heels and skins on. I managed to only end up in a heap once so I was quite proud of myself, luckily there was no photgraphic evidence!

We avoided the horseshoes which all looked pretty gnarly and rock strewn for this time of year and had a look at McConkeys, this looked feasible if we’d all been riding for 2 months (there were a LOT of rocks) but since we were all on unfamilair gear we made the cautious choice and headed a little further down the ridge to what I think was probably Kaleidoscope (weird how different everything looks with thin snow).

I actually had a few good turns! It’s true the snow was a little on the porridgey side but it’s hard to complain in November. Certainly the best riding so far this season The pitch down Harmony run was also really good (everything is relative) and we ended up just above the lift with pretty big grins! These soon faded about 3 turns down the steeper slope above the lift as we cut through the snow to rocks and grass with each turn. We ended up walking down most of this to avoid destroying our boards. The run out down Sidewinder was predictably dull and flat (I needed to use my poles, must rewax my board!)

All in all though a pretty good weekend, not as good as last year but much better than sitting in Vancouver in front of the TV. Looking forward to the next trip (tonight!!!) We also had truely stunning views all the way home!

Ignition II bindings

After a few splitboard outings last year bemoaning the incredible weight of my splitboard setup (Prior Khyber 166) I decided to give the Spark Ignition II Bindings a try.

First Thoughts

My initial impressions were mixed (and still are to some extent) although mainly positive.

Good Stuff

• The bindings are incredibly light and they seem very well designed. When setup my Khyber 166 is much lighter than Ruth’s Prior Backcountry 154
• The tolerances with the Voile system were very tight and the bindings slide on and off the pucks very easily.
• I like the pin system better than the Voile system, the pins are thicker and it seems like there is less chance of them unhooking
• The binding straps are pretty comfy

Not so Good Stuff

• The binding highback is very soft, you can pretty much bend it in half with your hands.
• Very expensive, especially once shipping/taxes etc are taken into account
• The binding is too wide for small feet although I hear narrower versions may be coming

First Trip

Whistler Backcountry (kinda)

It’s really noticeable how much lighter my board feels when carrying it, it feels more like a heavy snowboard (think 5-6 years ago) than a splitboard. Riding the board on the trails it feels stiffer and more like riding a snowboard, I couldn’t feel the inner edges at all. It felt like I could have been riding a non-split Khyber. Interestingly I couldn’t really feel the fact the highbacks are so soft. I’m looking forward to trying it out on something steeper to see if this makes a difference

Switching the board into touring mode was quick and painless (if you ignore the effort taken to pull the skins apart), I might try moving the pins to the other side of my bindings, they are currently on the strap side and the pins get caught in the toe strap. The “skis” feel much lighter on my feet even over the relatively short distance we travelled (up Pika’s Traverse to Harmony ridge in Whistler).

Switching back to board mode was equally painless. I’m hoping to get out for a longer trip as soon as the snow starts falling again!

Lines Building

Does this seem familiar?
08:00 - Start the trudge to join the lift line, this for me is where the weird mix of excitement and panic starts to build up. Excitment becuase I know I’m in for an awesome day of powder, after all I’m in Canada where the slopes are empty and the lift lines (queues) are civilised, panic because I know that while that’s mostly true every second spent walking to the lift or standing in line is a lost turn.
08:15 - Arrive at the lift praying for a short line, if the line stretches outside the barriers you can be in for a long wait, especially considering it’s at least 20 minutes to the roundhouse.
08:45 - Arrive at the roundhouse and check out the light boards, realise Harmony, Symphony and the Peak chairs are all closed or on standby, decide on a quick blast down under the Emerald chair to warm up.
08:52 - Realise everybody else had the same plan and join the lengthy line to get back to the top of Emerald
09:20 - Ouch long line, glance up at the light board and realise they’ve just opened Harmony. Strap in faster than you thought possible and head off down GS or Marmot to get to Harmony.
09:30 - After having dealt with the flat portions that curse both these runs you arrive at the bottom of Harmony to find a queue of 400 prescient people who beat you to the lift.
09:35 - Watch the first few people off the lift steal your lines
09:45 - By now almost everything on Harmony Ridge is pretty tracked but you’re on the chair!
09:55 - The tension builds as you strap in at the top of Harmony and try to decide where there may be some fresh snow left.
10:00 - Powder frenzy overcomes any rational decsion making ability you have and you head off under the lift, you manage a few cut up but fun turns as you head back down towards Harmony
10:15 - OMG there must be 600 people in the line now, where on Earth did they all come from? At least nobody is pushing

If it does then you’ve fallen foul of powder frenzy. Here are my 5 tips on how to get the best out of fresh snow

1. Don’t follow the crowds
   • Ok, Harmony is excellent and it leads to Symphony which is fun (if a little flat) but there are other parts of the mountain
   • Try, The Peak Chair, it will be busy but there is way more terrain served from this chair
   • Try, Garbanzo, if you like trees and no crowds… It’s especially good on a zero vis day
2. Don’t be obvious
   • There are two sides to Harmony Ridge…
   • If the snow is deep Emerald is too flat to be fun
3. Don’t do lunch in the Roundhouse at 12pm
   •  Take food with you, especially if you’re heading out to Symphony (the trek back to the Roundhouse will cost you time)
   • Have lunch early or late (11am or 1pm)
   • There are more places to eat check them out too
4. The early bird gets the powder
   • Be in the Gondola queue before the lift opens
   • Try Fitzsimmons Chair if the Gondola queue is long
   • Ask the Harmony lifties (nicely) when they think the lift might open, it might be worth waiting…
   • Do Freshtracks, you will have to get up very early on a big powder day
5. Learn the mountain
   • The lifts typically open in a particular order
   • Watch the light boards carefully
   • You can get into Harmony bowl (and back out) before the lift opens
   • All the trails to Harmony are flat, think outside the box…

If you’re looking for a burger avoid the obvious (McDonalds, KFC, Earls etc) and head a little off the beaten track (well off the Village Stroll) to Splitz Grill on Main St. The venue is small but they have a handful of tables and there has always been somewhere to sit when we’ve eaten there (they do takeout if you’re out of luck).

Really tasty food and you can choose from a (vast) array of toppings and dressings to customize your burger the way you like it. The frys are really good too and most importantly they sell beer!

There is a review in the Province if you don’t trust me.

Be careful out there!

My boarding lesson history is pretty chequered…

I learnt on the toothbrush at Yeovil Alpine Village with my friend Stuart, I think we had around 5 lessons (in hard boots!) before our first trip to the alps. The lessons consisted of the ‘instructor’ saying ‘this is how you heel edge’ and then disappearing to the bar, the second lesson was similar ‘this is how you toe edge’… However by the end of 5 lessons we could both almost do something you could almost consider a turn. I’m sure their instruction is better now, this was 10 years ago.

My second set of lessons was much more productive but with a similar level of actual instruction. We arrived in Meribel for our first ever snowboarding trip and decided we weren’t beginners (we could almost turn after all) so we signed up for the intermediate lessons. We spent our first day falling over in the rain before our lessons started the following day. When we arrived at the meeting  point we started chatting to the other people in our group. Much to our horror we discovered most of them had several weeks snowboarding under their belts (we had several hours at best),  we were starting to suspect we may be a little out of our depth. This fear was quickly confirmed when the instructor showed up and took us straight to the top of the mountain and down a red run.  Somehow we survived and ‘improved’ fairly rapidly, at this point kick turns were the only way…

The third bout of instruction came several years later when we discovered McNab we signed up for their Advanced Technique Clinic where we were taught to snowboard ‘properly’. The instruction was mostly excellent (especially from Tom (RIP)) and consisted of starting again from scratch and building up from J turns back up to carving thinking much more about weight distribution and boarding from the feet up rather than kicking turns and using our upper bodies to initiate the turn. It took me a long time to break all the bad habits I’d picked up and really get to grips with this way of snowboarding, in a lot of ways it felt like a big step backwards.

Following on from our McNab trips we had a number of lessons with Tom and Rob from RTM which were always worth while (and a bargain too), I highly recomend you check them out if you find yourself in the Three Valleys (Meribel, Val Thorens or Courcheval)

Recently we’ve been taking advantage of the various season ticket promotions and the Discover Whistler Days (40% off lessons). So far the quality of instruction has been superb!

Reasons to take lessons

• You can cut the lift lines (not to be underestimated on a powder day)
• Your riding will almost certainly improve
• You’re probably not as good as you think you are
• You’ll discover new places to find powder
• It works, the people I know who take lessons have progressed further and quicker than those who haven’t

Problems

• Finding quality instruction isn’t always easy (although I think North  America/Canada have a much higher average standard)
• It can be expensive

We’re certainly going to have more lessons as the season progresses, we’re thinking about doing a freestyle camp (2 days)…

Do you take lessons? If not why not? If you do, any recomendations??