Last Updated: Feb. 6, 2010
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Saturday, February 6, 2010

El Nino pow @ W/B - Jan. 16-17

Judging by the record crowds as of late and not to mention playing host to the 2010 Winter Olympics in a matter of days, one might laugh hysterically at the suggestion of that oh-so-popular ski resort north of Vancouver as having financial difficulties. Isn't it ironic then that Fortress Investment Group (owner of Intrawest) is looking to auction this particular asset to the highest bidder? This certainly explains the curtailing of staff and operations we've experienced the past couple of seasons. Apparently not even Whistler/Blackcomb is immune to the world of big finance.

But while cash is tight these days, winter has at least shown some occasional generosity. Yes, the media sure likes to sensationalize the absence of snow on the North Shore Mountains (specifically Cypress which will host the Olympic half pipe event for starters), but the mountains along the Sea-to-Sky highway have fared relatively well this season. Latitude and certainly altitude makes a big difference in an off-season such as this. And so with that in mind, we hedged our bets on a rare bluebird blower day and ended up nicely in the black.

A classic line - Agata drops in Coulior. Buttery toe-side slash on the apron below Coulior. Oh yeah!  Another please! Agata havaing fun with the rime plastered rocks. Agata halfway down Excitation. I like Whistler Coulior.
Dropping in Excitation. I also like Little Whistler. The next day brought stormy weather and another healthy dose of fresh and somewhat heavier snow. Agata enjoys the free refills on Blackcomb's Overbite.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Dolomiti - Dec. 19 - Jan. 3

Marmolada's Punta Rocca from below the true summit.

Between the 12 hours stranded in Frankfurt on the way in and the two days stranded on the way back, you'll forgive my unembellished recount of the Italy trip this time around. The stunning gross incompetence exhibited by the Frankfurt airport and Lufthansa airline staff to effectively manage the several hundred poor souls hopelessly stuck at the mercy of German inefficiency and non-hospitality is NOT something I'm liable to forget anytime soon. And why our board bag arrived three days late in Verona and seven days after we returned to Seattle still baffles me. I suppose we should be happy we got the bag back at all. In any case, I could easily dedicate this entire report to how awful the trip to and from Italy was this year, but I won't. Suffice to say that I'll never set foot in that godforsaken shithole of an airport again!

more...

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Gray Falls (ice climbing) - Dec. 12

Being the non-ice climber that I am, I couldn't let the mid-December cold snap slip by without so much as a swing of an ice tool or two. Ok, all jokes aside, when the snow gets so bad for sliding then it must be great for climbing, right? With that in mind, I joined Tod and JB for a day out on ice of the vertical variety. Inspired by recent reports of a newly discovered 3-tier icefall tucked 5 or 6 miles up Ingall's Creek Valley, we decided to go have a look at the so called Gray Falls for ourselves.

Approaching the first tier ~WI2, with second tier visible behind. JB solo's the second tier while Tod follows close behind. Tod climbs a steeper portion of the second tier ~WI2 or 3?. Fat, plastic ice and facing the warming sun made for a very enjoyable day. JB makes his way up the third and final tier only to get treed like cat and having to wait for Tod and me to...um...er...rescue him.
Tod at far left comes to JB's aid and together we finish the route ~WI3 or 3+ for a couple moves. Looking up the rambly upper portion of the falls after the third tier.  We all solo'd this part then walked back down snow dusted slopes (lookers) right of the falls.


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