October 20, 2001, Black Tusk Microwave Area
10/20/01
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I was not going to try this one again but, after getting some good beta from the good folks at Genuine Guide Gear who had been up testing stuff the day before, we headed for the Microwave Tower Road (Cheakamus Lake Turnoff, don't turn right to the dump, but stay right after you start running parallel to the river) after a leisurely 8am North Shore departure. We got right up to the gate (which is surprising for this time of year) and skinned right round to the north side slopes of the Tusk. There were a lot of folks out (about 11-15 vehicles worth) and the big North facing slope was looking rather like a heli-run by about 2pm in the afternoon. There was great coverage - 20 to 40cm/8-15 inches over existing summer base but some warm overnight weather had created slightly tricky turning conditions which became easier when I did up my heel bails for the second run(!). There was lots of skiing to be had - we must have got in around 3000 ft of vertical by the time we got back to the car including 2 long straight runs. The front side of the towers was pretty crunchy, though, and there were some big hammerheads from snowmobilers that we had to ski through. The road was skiable too but it was a bit of a rock slalom and I'm sure I gave my boards a bit of an inadvertent stone grind on the way out. With freezing levels down to the Whistler Village (2200 feet) - I think we will be looking for other terrain this weekend - the alpine roads won't be driveable unless there's a big thaw. Weather was surprisingly unsettled - we had clear visibility to the Tantalus and Garibaldi for a while (with a high 5500 foot cloud deck, some flat light and a total whiteout which left us a bit perturbed! Generally, though, it was one of those bright but obscure sunscreen and shade days.
Jonathan
Jonathan
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