Dec 3, 2006, - Cowboy Ridge, Whistler Backcountry

Three of us did the Musical Bowls tour to Cowboy Ridge on Sunday, Dec 3, 2006. From the top of Harmony Express we traversed over to Flute. Skied down Flute Bowl, lots of tracks from Saturday but also lots of untracked powder. Skinned up and skied the trees down to Singing Pass, did two laps on Cowboy Ridge and went home. We saw very few people which was kind of surprising but also welcome.

The powder from last week was still well preserved, especially in the trees. The temperature was rising all day and on our last run on Cowboy Ridge the powder was noticeably heavier than in the morning. Still lots of fun.

Avalanche wise: saw some very minor sluffs on very steep slopes. Pole testing down to about 40-80 cm did not find any layers and overall the stability seemed quite good. No visual or aural warnings observed.

Just in case you want or need to know:
Symphony Express is set to open on Dec 15, 2006.
Backcountry pass is C$ 37.01 + GST = C$ 39.23. This basically gets you a ride from Whistler village to the top of Whistler via either the Peak Chair or Harmony Express and, hopefully, one ride up on the Symphony Express.

A few pictures from the trip:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/runningclouds/sets/72157594406455696/