December 15-17, 2004,SunPeaks,SilverStar,BigWhite

Well, Jill and I found all the fresh powder - it's in the BC Okanagan. We spent the 13 and 14th at Whistler and Blackcomb in less than ideal conditions. It appeared that Blackcomb had used the Zamboni machine with their winchcat on selected trails. Every year, we attend the Warren Miller film and besides getting an early season "fix", we get the free coupons for Sun Peaks, Silver Star, Big White, Apex and White Pass. Being retired ski bums, we travel to BC and ski in uncrowded ski areas before the Xmas crowds. The coverage at Sun Peaks, Silver Star and Big White were fantastic. Each morning we had an inch or two of new over groomed and packed powder slopes. We rode the lifts with our free tickets. If you want to tour in the backcountry, the coverage is excellent. <br><br>Here's a brief coverage report by area:<br>Sun Peaks has all their lifts and terrain open. The only terrain that appears scratchy are the double black runs off the lower section of the Burfield chair. Otherwise, you can ski just about anything. Silver Star was a cruisers paradise. Great coverage off the six pack and Summit chair. We did not ski Attridge but coverage looked good. The Powder Gulch Express has some of the best steep glade and cruisers around and the coverage was also good which is unusual for early season. Big White was running all their high speed lifts with great coverage. The Gem Lake Express was open but I believe it is still a bit scrathcy. The Alpine T-Bar had good coverage although windblow. The new Cliff chair was supposed to open this weekend and had good coverage to the reservoir.<br><br>If the current snow drought continues in the PNW during the holidays and you need a ski fix, the above areas have an abundance of snow, unfortunately you will not be alone.<br><br>Zap

Zap, a friend and I did the same trip starting at Apex and going counter clockwise.  Apex had decent coverage, hardpack and no one was on the mountain.  Are you the guy I ran into (literally) at Sunpeaks?  Attridge (Silver*)was excellent by the way.  Next year I'll post and see if we can get a group together for lodging and what not.  Would anyone be interested?  FYI $20 bucks to see WM's film and you get (5) lift tics (above+White Pass), (1) 2 fer 1 at Whistler, and some store dicounts.  Not too shabby if you can take advantage.

Leg, we didn't see you but I think next year we should try to coordinate the trip. We have a campervan so we have "our condo on the hill" wherever we travel. We did not stop at Apex this year because they usually are a bit low on snow in the early season. They have some great terrain and very few folks during the week. We have used the "freebies" from the Warren Miller film for years and it is a great deal. Even used the $25 REI coupon on on my Scarpa Matrix boots. The coupons can also be used in late March if spring skiing is of interest. We'll be in the Sierras again this year so we used the tickets early.<br> <br>Zap