Photo by TylerIngram

I’ve been seeing a lot of Tweets like these and its getting me excited for winter:

@Mt_Seymour: We have 7cm of snow and counting! – Nov 6
@CypressMountain: Snowing all day! Opening as soon as we have enough snow! – Nov 10
@GrouseMountain: Today’s snowfall pics: http://tinyurl.com/yfyl6rd – Nov 10
@WhistlerBlckcmb: Wow, check out the forecast! Between 45-70cm expected by Monday! – Nov 12

So here’s a look at these 4 mountains, when they are opening, and what, if any, will be the impacts of the Olympics this winter season for them. Starting up the Sea to Sky and working east:

Whistler/ Blackcomb

Whistler Opening: Saturday, November 14
Current Snowbase: 95cm
Blackcomb Opening: Thursday, November 26
2010 Olympics Impact:

During the Olympic and Paralympic period, which begins January 25 for course set up, over 90 per cent of terrain will remain open. The only closed runs will be those in the area of the race course on Whistler Mountain along with the training runs on both mountains. During the Paralympics in March, over 90 per cent of the terrain will also be open with only the race course and training runs closed on Whistler Mountain.

Whistler Mountain Run Closures (January 25 to March 27)

• Dave Murray Downhill, Wild Card, Jimmy’s Joker, Upper Franz’s

Whistler Mountain Run Closures (January 30 to March 27)

• Bear Paw, Tokum, Crossroads

Whistler Mountain Run Closures – other

• Bear Cub (February 1 to February 28), Raven/Ptarmigan (February 1 to March 21), Crabapple (February 1 to February 17)

Blackcomb Mountain Training Run Closures (January 29 to February 28)

• Springboard (riding the Solar Coaster Express, which is open to the public all season, will provide phenomenal views of Olympians training on Springboard), Lower Cruiser

For a complete look at 2010 Olympic impacts, including parking, go here: http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/olympics/index.htm

Cypress Mountain

Opening Day: Friday, November 13 (Easy-Rider Chair and Cross-Country Area)
Current Snowbase (Mid Mtn): 45cm
2010 Olympics Impact:

I posted earlier on what looks like will be a hugely impacted experience, you can review the impact summary here. But basically, parking seems like it will be chaos, the Eagle Chair will be off-limits the whole season, and there will be no public access from February 1 to March 8. Along with this, Cypress recently announced blocking access to Cypress Provincial Park during Feb 1 – Mar 8, and some trails for 4 months! (More info here: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/cypress/). This obviously has a lot of back country goers quite mad.

Grouse Mountain

Opening Date: TBD Friday, November 13 (Paradise Bowl and Greenway Chair 4pm)
Current Snowbase: 50cm
2010 Olympic Impact:

This is an impact I can dig. During the Olympics, Feb 12 – 28, Grouse will be open 24 hours a day! I went on a midnight snowshoe trek last year and it was great. This is when insomnia is fun!

Mount Seymour

Opening Date: TBD Friday, November 20, 9:30am
Current Snowbase (summit): 45cm
2010 Olympics Impact: None

Enjoy the season!

Related Posts:
• Backcountry Skiing Access During The Olympics
• Cypress 2010 Commemorative Season Pass – Worth It?
• Whistler & Blackcomb Open This Week

Tags: Cypress,Grouse,Olympics,Seymour,Whistler
Categories: Snowboarding & Skiing
2 Comments »

In recognition of the 1 year countdown to the 2010 Olympics, Grouse is celebrating in style. The resort will be open for 48 straight hours next weekend (Feb 13 – 15). I think it would be awesome to be shredding the mountain at 3am looking down on the city lights or taking a moonlight snowshoe trek. Hopefully we can get some more fresh snow by then too!

As a kick-off to the one year countdown to the world spotlight shining on Vancouver, Grouse Mountain will keep its winter operation open for more than 48 hours beginning Friday, February 13th and going all weekend long. The adrenaline rush of snow sports will not cease even in the wee hours of the morning!

For those who have ever wondered what it would be like to carve down a ski run as the sunrise frames the city in front of you, 48 Hours of Winter is the time to find out.

During this time all the regular activities you enjoy at Grouse will be open including snowboarding, skiing, ice skating, snowshoeing, zip-trekking, and it will also coincide with the Yeti Snowshoe Racing Series.

Check the event page for details on exact hours for each activity / facilities.

Related Posts:
• Gearing Up For Winter Fun Pt. III
• Cypress Also Due To Open Tomorrow, Seymour At Anytime
• No-Fun-City At 1 Year Olympic Countdown?

Tags: 48 Hours,Grouse,Skiing,Snowboarding & Skiing,Snowshoeing,Yeti
Categories: Events
2 Comments »

Race #2 of The Yeti – Canadian Snowshoe Racing Series is coming to Seymour this Saturday, Jan 31.

The Yeti™ Mountain Snowshoe Series was founded in 2001 by Marc Campbell (formerly Cooney) and Rick Carty in response to an ever-increasing demand for managed outdoor adventure. It is Canada’s first mountain snowshoe series and is open to participants at all skill levels, from beginner through advanced level athletes, who want to be outdoors and having fun.

Named after the Abominable Snowman that roams the Himalayas, the Yeti™ started its first season with three races, two on Mount Seymour and one on Cypress Mountain, each with both 5km and 10km courses.

The next 2 races of the series are at Grouse (Sat, Feb 14) and Cypress (Sat, March 7)

Related Posts:
• Gearing Up For Winter Fun Pt. II
• It’s Snow Time!
• 48 Hours Of Winter At Grouse Mountain

Tags: Cypress,Grouse,Race,Seymour,snowshoe,The Yeti
Categories: Events, Snowshoeing
1 Comment »

This weekend (Jan 10 & 11) the AdventureSmart team will be at Grouse Mountain for Avalanche Days. They will be there to provide information on outdoor safety and snow awareness, and you will be able to participate in survival demonstrations. Meet them there between 8:30am and 3pm.

Whistler is hosting the GORE-TEX ™ Deep Winter Experience Jan 9 – 18. Check out the website for a list of events, including a photo challenge. On Jan 11, and 14-18, there will be complimentary Avalanche Awareness Tours:

Complimentary Avalanche Awareness Tours are run jointly by the Whistler Blackcomb Ski Patrol and the Whistler Sports Injury Prevention Program. Please register in advance through the Blackcomb Daylodge Guest Relations desk, or call 604.938.7759. Tours run 9am-3pm, weather permitting. Meeting time is 8:45am at Blackcomb Daylodge Guest Relations.

Dates January 11, 14-18, 2008
Tour Price Complimentary
Meeting Time 8:45am
Meeting Location Blackcomb Daylodge, base of Blackcomb

Related Posts:
• Whistler & Blackcomb Open This Week
• More Avalanche News: Whistler Report & Risk Study
• 2009 Turkey Sale & Swap

Tags: AdventureSmart,Grouse,Safety,Whistler
Categories: Events, Safety
5 Comments »

No doubt you’ve seen and heard about at least a few of the local accidents that have happened recently, mostly involving avalanches. I thought I would compile a list of articles about the incidents, and some other related articles that have come out in follow up to the tragic events, which discus causes and prevention among other things such as why humans take risks. My heart goes out to all of the friends and families of those who were not lucky enough to escape with their lives in these accidents and I hope they take solace in the fact they died doing what they loved. These events and articles should create safety awareness about respecting ropes, boundaries, avalanche warnings, and the like, and remind you to be prepared for the worst even while inside park boundaries. Also take note that good percentage of the people who got lost or caught in avalanches recently are experienced outdoors men/ women.

Whistler: Things started off Dec 16, with one tower of the Excalibur Gondola partially collapsing, injuring 12 people. Then, on Dec 22, a 17 year old died while snowboarding in an roped-off run after hitting a boulder, despite wearing a helmet. On Christmas Eve, a 37 year old male suffered the same bad luck, this time while skiing on an open run. If all that wasn’t enough, Whistler/ Blackcomb had 3 avalanches over a two day period Dec 31, and Jan 1, claiming 2 more lives. Both were in areas roped off due to avalanche risk.

Seymour Mountain: On Dec 15, a boy scout was air lifted off the mountain after injuring his knee while snowshoeing. On Dec 25, North Shore Rescue (in their usual greatness) managed to find 3 lost skiers while looking for 2 (that’s an 150% success rate!). You can read the blog post from their website for the full story and the CTV article. Next, in a truly amazing story, a lost snowboarder spent 3 nights on the mountain before being rescued. With no one aware that the man was snowboarding that day, the rescue mission started 2 nights after his car was discovered to be abandoned in the Seymour parking lot.

Cypress: Two snowshoers are lucky to be alive after one fell 50 meters off a slope on a nighttime outing, and the other became stuck trying to rescue him in mid-December.

Lynn Valley: A 16 year old girl fell 4 stories down an embankment in Lynn Creek and suffered a serious head injury on Dec 30. She went to the hospital in critical condition but I was unable to find out how she is currently doing.

Fernie: This obviously wasn’t local, but tragically 8 snowmobilers lost their lives in an avalanche while 3 were able to dig themselves free. There is a Globe and Mail article that discusses how modern technology of snowmobiles allows avid riders to access tougher and more isolated terrain than ever before, elevating risks of accidents.

Grouse Mountain: After all this, on Jan 1, four people ignored ski patrol and ducked boundary ropes, launching a rescue mission. Their response is that they did not need rescuing and a lifetime ban from the mountain is too harsh.

Other related articles worth reading:

• Highly trained unpaid volunteers key to search and rescue operations across Canada – These people have a sometimes rewarding, sometimes incredibly frustrating ‘job’. They deserve A LOT of credit for what they do as volunteers.
• Backcountry skiers and snowboarders: reckless adrenalin junkies or naive victims?
• Humans take risks because that’s what we do.  – While it’s easy to be angry at those who took the risk of knowingly going out of bounds, or not paying close enough attention to avalanche warnings, or…etc, etc, etc… I think this article does a good job of putting things in another perspective.

Well, that oughta be enough reading for a while, but please learn from these stories. Now that you’re all scared and/ or depressed, I will find some more uplifting stuff to post about later I promise!

Related Posts:
• Missing Snowmobilers Found Alive In Sicamous
• Search And Rescue Volunteers Consider Quitting Over Lawsuit
• 3 More Killed In BC Avalanches

Tags: Accident,Avalanche,Backcountry,Cypress,fines,gonodla,Grouse,rescue,Safety,Seymour,Whistler
Categories: News, Safety
7 Comments »