Thursday Report for Mar 16 2017 for Whitewater, Red and Whistler.

I am back from the Powder Highway. We had a great trip with Revelstoke being the highlight. After Revelstoke we skied at Whitewater for one day with very heavy new snow. It was quite busy as they let the kids out of school on a Friday because of the snow. Lots of interesting terrain for a small hill and very ancient chairlifts. Whistler's old Olive Chair is here. We then skied Red Mountain at Rossland for 2 days. There are actually 4 mountain there. Red, Granite, Grey and Kirkup (cat skiing). One or two of our old Black Chairs are there. I think they joined two of them together as the chair is quite long. The snow was drier especially on the North facing slopes. We were very impressed with this ski area even with the older lifts. Lots of steeps and nice glades. They groom a lot of black diamond runs which are very fun. We went cat skiing up Mt Kirkup for $10 and had fresh untracked snow. Sort of like going back in time here. The Rafters Bar upstairs in their daylodge was like the old Dusty's. A live band, lots of old wood, and lots of people having fun. The best part was that on Saturday and Sunday we skied right onto all of the lifts with no lineups and got a table in the bar. Took a tour with Mountain Host Greg and he showed us some secret spots.

Back to Whistler we had a warm front move through on Tuesday which was a little wet so only skied in the morning. Wednesday was better with a combination of powder, crust, hard pack and wet snow. It was not a bad day. Today we had some new snow so the high alpine was pretty good. The Blackcomb Glacier had nice powder with no hard base underneath. The visibility was not the best, but I have seen much worse. I found the last run of the day down very tough on my snowboard as I was hitting a lot of hardpack. Hope the groomers can start working this hard stuff out.

The pass prices have been announced for next season so go to www.whistlerblackcomb.com to check them out. Looks like you can get an Epic Pass which is good at all Vail Resorts and for a little more you can get a Whistler Pass that gives you discounts on food and other retail at Whistler and 50% off at other Vail Resorts. A seniors Whistler Pass is still available. Also a 5 or 10 day Edge Card.

Looks like more snow for the next 3 days with below freezing temperatures and then sunny weather and cooler temperatures.

Blackcomb Glacier tour today with my new tail gunner host June.

The mysterious man in black, that never falls. was seen putting his skis back on in the trees the other week.

Wow, even people from Hawaii drive to Whistler.

The Powder Highway Crew on The Upper Arrow Lake Ferry heading to Nelson. Brian, Michael, Joanne, David, Susanne and me.

Bridge over the Kootenay Lake at Nelson taken while eating breakfast.

Old chair at Whitewater.

Daylodge at Whitewater.

One of the runs at Whitewater.

David with a great local beer named Face Plant. He actually did one that day so it was appropriate.

Red Mountain where they were hosting an FIS ski race and where Nancy Greene learned to ski.

Great apres bar called Rafters at the base of Red Mountain. 2 Ontario snowboarders, a Red Mountain Host, Michael and David.

Our Snow Cat on Mt. Kirkup.

Looking down on Rossland and Trail from the top of Red Mountain.

A perfectly groomed black diamond run on Grey Mountain and this was in the afternoon.

Looking over at Granite Mountain.

Our untracked cat ski run we are about to go down.

Some wildlife on the highway between Lillooet and Lytton an the way home.