Got into Whistler yesty. Bluebird day.

Did a couple runs on Whistler (where on my first ride up in the gondola, some boarders sparked up a joint!), then headed to Blackcomb.

There was a dusting of fresh snow. Conditions were great. Though I managed to take a wrong turn seeking 7th Heaven... ended up WAY above my head in an advanced tree run (I think it was Bark Sandwich). Avoided the Sonny Bono (barely).

7th Heaven has amazing views and lots of wide open runs. Then hiked up along a ridge to do the massive bowl of BlackComb Glacier. The hike is not so good for those who fight vertigo. Gotta lug skis on narrow path by insane drop off.

The bowl was really nice. some untracked areas left.

The beer reward at teh end of day broke the bank. The Irish pub gets $9!!! for a pint of Guinness.

Today I plan to hit the blue glades on Whistler... which I hope are closer to my tree-avoidance skill level.

mm

$9 CANADIAN??

Dub-Lihn pub is a great place, I'm sorry I didn't get to Whistler this year, my No.2 at work wound up needing surgery so I had to stay at work. I love Whistler, and heard from my friends I missed a great time.

Blackcomb Glacier is awesome. Wonder if the ice cave right under the end of the Glacier chair was open this year or the entrance was snowed over. Amazing place, eh?

$9 Canadian => $9.05 American

Including GST, which can be pretty onerous...

Oops, had euros on my mind for some reason.

Wow... That would really be expensive! About 15 a beer?

Sounds like San Diego...

OK...
Much better news on teh beer front today. $6.25 Canadian for a BIG English style bitter at the Brewhouse. It's not right at end of trail... so mebbe that's why I didn't have to take out a mortgage to buy a couple. MMM.

Weather more Whistler-esque today (according to the locals). Cloudy, flat light, hard to make out the snow surface. Plus legs like jello.

Spent most of morning in the Symphony Bowl. Did a few of the blue glade runs. That was fun. Then the clouds rolled in and I did a couple runs around the Harmony lift. There are some really scary looking drop-off along the edge of the Harmony Ridge trail. I didn't even want to peek over. If it's a double-diamond here...

We might get some snow tonight! WOO WOO

So where do I find this ice cave?

There was a kind of strange little hobbit-hole of a tunnel we had to go through from the t-bar to get to the Blackcomb glacier. It wasn't really ice though. Man, that hike along the ridge had a high pucker factor too.

Mangy, the ice cave is right underneath and a little bit to the right of the lift line of the Blackcomb Glacier chair. As you unload, you can either walk to the glacier entrance, get to the tow to the glacier or come down. If you come down and turn right, you skirt the cliff, and right before you go under the lift line, the cave is there. The old timers know where it is. I'm linking some pix: The first one is of the lift near the cave...

[image]http://web.mac.com/bottal/Kalalau_Trail_Hike/Whistler.html#0[/image]

The second is the entrance to the cave


[img]http://web.mac.com/bottal/Kalalau_Trail_Hike/Whistler.html#2[/img]

And the third one is me inside of the cave.

[img]http://web.mac.com/bottal/Kalalau_Trail_Hike/Whistler.html#1[/img]

Well.... How does one link images to the post? First time doing it... Am not afraid to manifest my lack of knowledge...

Not sure how to use your links that you have posted there. You have to have them hosted so that the address to the image ends with a .jpg, .gif, etc.... If you don't want to go through that I can do it real fast for you. Just email them to me and I can take care of it

Thanks a million. Just sent them to you

No problem...

Thanks David... Mangy, please note the pix. There were signs outside doing the legal disclaimer, but many people going in and out. And there were signs inside too... That cave has been there for several hundred years according to the ski patrol.

Sweet.
It dumped like mad today. Still coming down. Visibility not so fabulous, so I ended up taking one of the guided tours of Whistler. It was kinda fun. A bunch of old fogeys (and this not quite so old fogey).

But the guide had some nice tips on avoiding lift lines and hugging trees to get better visibility.

Got to hit a lot of virgin spots today. About 6 inches of kinda wet snow. Really nice!

We going snowshoeing to dinner tonight. Fondue. I hope it's good. And sadly, tomorrow we head to Vancouver.

But out itinerary takes us to Tahoe on Feb. 24. I hope they getting snow too.

mm

Hey MM, wonder which restaurants you tried at Whistler when you were there... Such an ample variety!!!

Well,

We didn't hit that many restaurants... were kinda dragging at beginning of vacation so hit the hay early most nights.
Though we did the snowshoe trip ending at a fondue dinner at the chateau whislter. It was fun, though overpriced.
Whistler ain't cheap!
I'm not sure if anyone else has posted this before... but a good way to get up there from Vancouver is the snowbus. It's about $40 roundtrip, plus you can add on discounted lift tickets. Check it out at http://www.snowbus.ca/snowbus/_cont/bookstep1.aspx

Also, the Victorian Hotel in Vancouver is pretty cheap and about an 8 or 10 minute walk to the bus pikcup. A great restaurant in Vancouver is Gyoza King. It's Japanese food. Pretty small and fills up fast. I'd suggest arriving fairly early.

mm