April 2, 2017 Whistler

We arrived early at the Creekside area and parked the van right near the Whistler Kids area for oversized vehicles. It is a short walk to the gondola. We picked up our tickets from Guest Services using our Mountain Collective Passes. This is their last year with Mountain Collective now that Vail is the new owner. There were a few inches of fresh snow overnight. We were in the first pack riding the Big Red Express. As we neared the top of the lift, I saw that the Peak Express lift was open. We skied down and took the singles lane, and we saw the first group going down Whistler Bowl – young legs. We went to The Saddle which was deserted. A First Tracks group got there before us, but we also made 'first tracks' down in the powder. OK, it was boot-top snow, but it was nice and light. We then headed towards the Peak lift again, but there is a huge lineeeeee, even for the singles. So we went down Franz and the middle part of the trail was “firm” – we needed to stay high. Harmony and Symphony have better snow, but the weekend crowd is a huge. Plus this was the last day of Spring Break for kids from the Vancouver area. As the morning became warmer the snow improved, so selecting the trail that changed from powder to frozen then the great groomers to slush was the plan. We had nice parts of runs and then some not so fun parts. The Dave Murray trail was the classic groomer with a firm icy surface and frozen ridges, screamer turns, and then a finish with slush. At the base of the Creekside Gondola I had a “sneezing” fit; I've never before had that reaction to something in the air nearby – possibly tree or shrub pollen, spray, etc. But I started sneezing the minute we got there, and it didn't stop until I got in the van. There is a “bad karma” tree (or something) near the Creekside gondola at this time in the Spring.