Thursday Report for Dec 15, 2011

Over the last week or so we have been cruising around on harder snow on skis. The groomers have been doing a pretty good job on the runs. Lots of nice sunshine.
Rick and myself had a free ski lesson with Nadio (Level 4 instructor) the other day. He gave me a few things to work on. See tip below.
Tuesday we were hosted by Nicklaus North for a sleigh ride, drinks and appies. They have the lowest prices on beer and wine. Beer for $4.25. Try them out if you want a new place to go for a drink or dinner. They will pick you up and drop you off back home for free if you go for Dinner.

Sleigh Ride on the Nicklaus North Golf Course

Last night I went for Apres at Doc Brannigans in Creekside. For $10 you get a good sized delicious pizza and a pint of beer. Can't beat that deal. This is on every Wednesday. It was pretty packed with all of the old time locals there.
The dry spell is over as we received 8cm of new snow last night. This made me get back on the snowboard again. Took a tour of 12 into the Blackcomb Glacier today with Dan leading. Conditions were not bad with a little powder on top of harder snow and the visibility was fine. Still a lot of rocks on the steeper runs like Spanky's so I would wait for a few more big snowfalls to go in there.
We are now using the Flaik system like the kids do to track our runs, speed, vertical etc. on our tours. Not sure it worked today so we might have to work out the bugs.

Blackcomb Glacier tour group today (email me at gorgeboardhead@gmail.com if you want a full size copy)

Rising above the clouds today On the Solar Coaster Chair

Tomorrow, Friday, the Symphony Chair is opening for the first time this season. Should be a bit of untracked powder over there.That would make all lifts open on both mountains by Dec 16. Not bad.

Looks like snow right though Monday although no major accumulations. Better then nothing though.

Nadio's Ski Tip
The downhill ski always trails the uphill ski. Your shins should just feel the front of the boot and your knees, hips and shoulders should line up with the tips of your skis. This will keep your body down the fall line and be balanced in the midpoint of your skis. Hope I explained that correctly.

Amazing video of Josh Dueck who was paralyzed from the waist down from a skiing accident. http://youtu.be/k2FNNK2ggr0

Video made from Matthew Nelson's (Ross's son) Helmet Cam on Whistler. http://vimeo.com/33351786

Some items of interest.
1) Super demo days this weekend on Whistler
2) Fire and Ice shows start up this Sunday again.
3) Fresh Track Breakfasts on Whistler start this Friday.
4) Free Avalanche Awareness Tours every day on Blackcomb at 12:30pm. Sign up at the Ski Patrol in the building next to the Mountain Host Hut.