February 23-27, Whistler/Blackcomb, BC

First time up there, and I must say this is a true ski resort. With over 8000 lift accessed acres, we still only skied about 1/2 of the 2 mountains in 4 days. We were supposed to do the Spearhead, but weather and avy conditions made us turn to Plan B, which was not a bad plan at all.

Friday: Arrived at resort around 10am and got on the Gondola towards Peak Chair @ Whistler at 11am. Friend from Tahoe had some prior experience up there in 2000 so he showed us the Peak to Creek run, the glades that ran 3000' down to the creekside gondola, and Big Red. Once my legs started to burn from the fresh pow, I landed my left rib into a dead tree limb that stopped me in my tracks face down in the snow. After realizing that the vacation was not over, and it must only be a bruise, we skied until 330 or so and then retreated to our night of tent camping at the Riverside RV park. It was damn cold, but the main lodge was very nice with full facilities and only cost $6 per person/night. We then retreated to the Longhorn Bar at the base at Whistler Village and enjoyed some burgers and the waitstaff.

Saturday: Had a great breakfast at the RV park (muffins are huge) and then got to the ski area around 9am and met up with my friend Tom that spends about 60+ days/year at Whistler. We went up Peak Chair, Red, and a few others throughout the day. Found some more good glades in his personal stashes on the backside of Peak. Fresh snow still falling throughout the day, but vis was pretty much a problem the entire day. We got to move into Tom's condo that evening at "The Aspens" right at the base of Blackcomb with a ski in/out feature. The jacuzzi(s) and pool were also a nice feature. The Ski valet service was quite nice!

Sunday: Fresh Tracks Day. Up at 6am and cabbed it to Whistler. Waited in line for about 30 minutes before we headed up the Gondola and chowed on Breakfast and got to the line as they dropped it. About 6" of fresh all the way down to Red. Ran that a few times as well as the Emerald Express and Garbonzo chairs. The grommers were fast and rooster-Tail-ish, totally dreamy!

Once the crowds arrived, we made our way over to Blackcomb. Up the gondola and then up Glacier Express to the tbars. Had never riden a Tbar and can honestly say I dont like them. But the Showcase Tbar had just been repaired after a groomer had ran one over or something like that. We hiked up a short bit towards the Blackcomb Glacier where some toured or booted up towards the col, and we just pointed them down and headed down the valley in sweet pow on gentle slopes. The cat track out was long and takes forever, but we made our way back up a few more times and ran some groomers and glades before calling it a day around 230. Devin and I hot the jacuzzi and then the Rock Climbing Gym where all the hot women congregate. That was a fun night. Needless to say, my legs were in a whole lot of pain since I had never really skied 2 days back to back, nor 3....and the 4th day was coming up fast.

Monday: Headed back up Blackcomb and hit the tbars once again. Made our way to Couloir Extreme and diced our way into the entrance......................

<More to come later, this f'n board keeps timing out and deletes my posts and this is my 3rd attempt>

Got a full set of pics up now from 3 photographers
climbwashington.com/reports/whistler022307.asp

as well as a TR from a Brit site
adrenalintrip.extreme.com/forum/viewtopic/1/203003?siteid=1&0