Yesterday I flew to Denver, then Seattle and then drove my ass up to Whistler. I landed in Seattle at 9:30pm and arrived in Whistler by 3:30am. It was quite a journey to make it but I was dedicated and with a 4-pack of Red Bull I made it.
I’ve been to Whistler-Blackcomb many times, when I used to live in Seattle it was a trip I made a couple times a year so I’m familiar with the mountains and the village.
Today I woke up with 4 hours of sleep in a friends condo here in Whistler. Most of the people I’m staying with are snowboard.com friends including Joe, Mike, Kendra, and Karmel. We’ve hung out before and had good times and definitely this trip is about good times.
We headed up to ride Blackcomb for the day. Since we were on the mountain before 9am…it was a bit icy and hardpacked conditions. Every snowboarder coming down the mountain, you could hear in advanced as they scraped on the ice coming down.
Kendra saying hi to the camera
You can see most of our group in this photo in the reflection off Joe’s goggles
Joe made sure to tell us there is a reason no one gets up this early in the spring…multiple times in the morning as we realized it was too early.
Joe was our tour guide for the day…showing us the mountain
Joe taking a small rock drop showing off his skiing skills
Even with riding with a group of 8-10 for the day, we managed to stay together and make laps all day without losing anyone.Conditions were hardpacked in the morning and slush in the afternoon. The sun was shining most of the day with the peaks only having small amounts of winds.
Some of our group just hanging out taking a break from the long runs.
The Orage Contest was going on throughout the day, fun to watch the skiers huck it.
Looking up at the view
Looking at Whistler Mountain from Blackcomb
Caught some of the guys riding down after a lap on 7th Heaven.
While our group took off on one of the runs, Kendra and Mike stayed behind. They met in Whistler 2 years ago and have dated since. So it was only appropriate that Mike proposed to Kendra on the mountain in Whistler. I snapped this shot right after they re-joined our group. Everyone is giggling.
Chris and Karmel
It is a small world. After eating lunch, I walk outside of the Glacier Creek Lodge and see the owner of Powder Pursuits back in Steamboat Springs! I gave a big hug to Chris and said hi to the rest of the stafff. They are here in Whistler for their annual company trip. It was awesome to see them and such a small world. The funny thing is later on at one of the bars I ran into Gorio who is the Evo buyer, he’s also in Whistler this week. We had some good talks about gear for next year. Definitely one of my favorite people to talk to about snowboards and bindings.
Moselle came and joined us for some beers as well. She kept missing us on the mountain today.
The Big Air competition was in the base of the village at the end of the night, so we went in to watch for a little bit before heading out to dinner.
Village busy with people waiting for the comp to begin
One of the riders
I snapped this photo of Mike doing his dance moves while Chris in the background has the best look on his face