An Early Winter Surprise!

November is usually a great month for watching movies, catching up on crafts, reading good books and trying out those new recipes you've been saving for a rainy day - all in anticipation for the ski season to start. Sure enough, Mother Nature called for an early winter this year. It's only mid-November, and the mountains already have the snow coverage you would expect to see in January! Whistler-Blackcomb opened this past weekend, two weeks early with a record early season base. That recipe is just going to have to wait.

Even the backcountry in the Squamish is good to go. But we weren't the only ones to realize that - Remembrance Day saw a full parking lot at Garibaldi Provincial Park, just up the road from Quest. But that didn't stop us from reaping the goods! The clouds parted and the sun peeked out, exposing a marvelous winter wonderland totally unexpected for this time of year.

And it ain't stopping! Check out the Whistler forecast below:

Whistler Alpine Recreation Forecast

Alpine recreation forecast for the South Coast Mountains issued by Environment Canada at 2 PM PST Monday 16 November 2009. The next mountain forecast will be issued at 5 AM Tuesday. Synopsis.. A very intense front will remain stationary over the South Coast giving heavy snow and strong winds through Tuesday morning.

Whistler - Blackcomb.

Tonight..Snow heavy at times. Blowing snow. Alpine low minus 5. Snowfall accumulation 20 to 30 cm. Freezing level lowering to 1000 metres. Mountain top winds southeast 60 km/h gusting to 90 increasing to southwest 90 gusting to 120 around midnight giving near zero visibilities in snow and blowing snow.

Tuesday..Periods of snow. Alpine temperature falling to minus 7. Snowfall accumulation 5 to 10 cm. Freezing level 900 metres. Mountain top winds southwest 90 km/h gusting to 120 giving near zero visibilities in snow and blowing snow. Winds diminishing in the afternoon to southwest 30.

5 Day Trend.. A series of frontal systems will move across the South Coast through Friday.

Extended forecast for Whistler - Blackcomb. Wednesday.. Cloudy with flurries. Snow beginning late in the day. Snowfall accumulation 15 to 25 cm. Freezing level 1200 metres. Thursday.. Periods of snow. Snowfall accumulation 25 to 35 cm. Freezing level 1200 metres. Friday.. Snow. Snowfall accumulation 15 to 25 cm. Freezing level 900 metres.

Copyright 2009 Environment Canada.

How the time flies!

view from the top of Joffre Lakes

Time flies when you're having fun... I guess that explains where the summer went (and why I haven't updated my blog in ages)!

Looking back, this past summer all seems to be a blur of mountain biking, rock climbing, hiking, gardening, visiting the farmer's market, swimming at the local lakes, BBQing and away on island weekends and friends' lake cabins (...plus getting ready for the 100 students we welcomed in the Fall!). Not a bad way to spend a summer!

Squamish town center

East Indian festival in Squamish - celebrating Guru Arjun De Ji with loads of free, tasty food.

Quest summer students enjoying dinner on the residence balcony.

Nothing beats a summer weekend at Savary Island, BC!

Savary is also known as "BC's Hawaii"

Climbing at the base of the Grand Wall on the Chief

at the top of the Chief

kite boarding at the Spit in Squamish

Mountain biking in Squamish (kiting and biking photos courtesy of Sabrina Horak - thanks Sabrina!)

Squamish was also just featured in the New York Times last week: http://frugaltraveler.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/near-whistler-a-place-to-play-for-less/?ref=travel. Uh oh - the secret's out!

Squamish Summer Solstice

I love the long nights this time of year. After work it feels like I have another entire day in front of me! We've been taking advantage of the long sunny days these past few weeks by getting out climbing, hiking and mountain biking most evenings. You can even kiteboard into the evenings on the windy enough days.
Diedre: 7-pitch climb up the Apron of the Chief - super popular route, but we had it all to ourselves in the evening!
biking in Crumpit Woods
Kiting at the Squamish Spit One evening we even pulled off climbing "Rock On" a 6-pitch 5.10a classic on the Chief just before the rain and darkness kicked in.
Gorgeous Squamish granite I have to go up this?

Nothing beats Gelato Carina's in downtown Squamish on a warm summer's day (Mango yoghurt is DELICIOUS!)

Catskiing with Backcountry Snowcats

I managed to pull off a 2nd catskiing trip with Backcountry Snowcats on the Hurley Pass north of Pemberton this winter, and the weekend did not disappoint! We had an epic weekend of pow and sunshine. I think the video and photos say it all:

Backcountry Snowcats from Grant Baldwin Videography on Vimeo.

Squamish Bouldering Co-op

Squamish has a new bouldering co-op that just opened this past winter. Squamish residents finally have a place to keep in climbing shape over the winters and rainy days! The space is located in downtown Squamish and is 1600 ft and 16 ft tall. Membership goes at $500/year, with drop-in rates and student rates also available.

Every time I've been so far, I run into Quest students! Apparently they are regulars. Yah Quest - rock on!

Bella Coola

Bella what? Bella Coola is a small town on the central coast of British Columbia known to be an isolated wilderness paradise. Although it's not quite in the 'Environs' of Squamish, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to post this incredible video Jamie made from his trip up there the other week... another tough day at the office!

WAITING for snow

'Waiting' seems to be the theme for this winter. Sure, we've had the random 10cm days, but no major storm has come through yet to cover all the rocks that are usually covered by Christmas. Hmm... I hear the iceclimbing conditions have been pristine in Squamish this winter...

I was, however, fortunate (VERY fortunate that is) to get invited on a 2-day Backcountry Snowcats trip up on the Hurley Pass! This snowcat operation is located over an hour snowmobile-ride north of Pemberton, and little did we know that the powder has been hiding on the Hurley this whole time. Check out our video:



I'll admit it was pretty hard to go back to resort skiing after the epic powder runs we scored with Backcountry Snowcats, but I guess I shouldn't really complain that my local hill is Whistler Blackcomb. Zipping around the resort was pretty fun, but by the end of the day we were itching for the untracked turns we had experienced the weekend before. We decided to hike over to Corona Bowl for a fun backcountry lap:



I still have faith that the snow will come in March and April - just you WAIT!

Has Ullr abandoned us??

I unfortunately haven't had too many exciting stories to share from this season, as it has, well, been a fairly dull winter for us skiers. We did get pretty spoiled these past few winters, so I suppose a less-than-epic winter was bound to happen.

While the rest of the Pacific Northwest was getting hit hard with all the snowstorms in December and January, Whistler somehow managed to stay magically dry. We therefore kept our eyes open for what was happening at other nearby resorts, and heard that the snow had found its way to Mount Baker down in Washington. We therefore bolted down south of the border for their opening day, and wow, what a good call! Mount Baker is only about a 3.5hr drive from Squamish, and well worth the drive. Here are some photos and a video from the Opening Day at Baker:

Since then, we’ve been making the most of the season with the minimal amount of snow that we have received at Whistler Blackcomb. The avalanche danger has been incredibly high the past few months, so we had no choice but to take it easy and stay in bounds in avi-controlled areas.

The Peak Chair and the rest of the alpine on both mountains finally opened two weekends ago, and it’s been great having more terrain to ski. We also finally rode the new PEAK 2 PEAK gondola spanning the Valley, connecting Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains. This new gondola just opened in December 08 and has broken all kinds of records, including ‘longest unsupported lift span’ at over 3km, and it’s also the highest lift of its kind at 436m above ground at the highest point. Two of the 28 cabins even have glass bottoms! We should have waited the extra few minutes for the glass bottom – maybe next time. PEAK 2 PEAK is definitely not recommended for the faint-hearted!

At least the weather has been sunny and gorgeous these last few weeks. Some keen Quest students have been taking full advantage of the good weather, and getting out climbing most days! Yep, you can actually climb outdoors in Squamish in January believe it or not!

And the good news is that Winter 08/09 may still have hope – it snowed 25cm over the past 24hrs, so let’s pray that Ullr and all the other snow gods keep sending us more of that fluffy white stuff!!