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| New Snow | 11 cm | 7 Day Snow | 13 cm | Snowbase | 139 cm |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine Temp | -11 °C | Valley Temp | 0 °C | Conditions | Powder |
What a way to wake up – look outside the window to see a glorious bluebird day shaping up and a layer of fresh snow on the ground. I looked up the WB site and saw a recorded 11cm and went ‘Yippee!’ Since I had slept in a little, I basically skipped the morning routine and headed out the door.
I managed to find some nice fresh lines around Red chair and the Creekside gondola. The snow was nice and dry, almost too dry as it was barely perceivable. Even though the temperature was supposedly Zero in the valley, the snow quality was consistently good all the way to the bottom, at least until 1pm when I had to come down due to prior commitments.
Peak 10cm DayThe alpine on Blackcomb opened earlier than on Whistler, and I was tempted to take the Peak 2 Peak across. I was also keen to wait for the Peak chair, and check out the Peak to Creek run, which had been groomed recently. Peak to Creek with fresh snow on top of a groomed surface is one long, fun, run !! I decided to hang around for the Peak chair, which wasn’t long.
I was tempted to do a quick run down the front, which looked superb (as you can see in above picture and below video) – however I decided I wanted to be among the first into Peak to Creek, so I headed around the back. It was not a bad choice. Peak to Creek was awesome on both my first and second run, plenty of freshies to be had 
There was still a few pitches that were more moguls than flat, but the majority of the run was epic !
I only managed 3 runs of it, as my legs were starting to feel the burn, and I had places to be. So I called it a day, with plenty of fresh powder still left – and no lift lines. The picture below is the Peak chair on my second ride – 11cm bluebird day and no line. I always laugh when I see people saying how busy Whistler is – they are generally the people who come during a holiday or long weekend…..
Peak chair line on powder dayClear skies, fresh dry snow, what more could you want ? Okay here is video of someone who must’ve been near the front of the line for the Peak chair, as they were getting back to it as I was on my first upload.
Definitely today was great. Still a few spots where the fresh snow was on top of some sketchy terrain – Harvey’s in particular – but overall a great great Monday.
Dude, what’s a bluebird day? :S
A Bluebird day (or Blue Bird Day) is a clear, bright, sunny day. It is supposed to be used only when there was a snowfall the previous night, but most people refer to any clear, sunny day as Bluebird – regardless of any fresh snow.
I think it originated because those are the days you will most likely see Bluebirds (the bird) out and about.
So has Peak to Creek now been groomed top to bottom? I was there last Wed and only the very top was done then it went to temp cat tracks to the mid point. From there they didn’t open the rest and you had to go Hwy 86 cat track. It was really dissapointing.
It hasn’t been groomed ‘completely’ from top to bottom, as some of the pitches still had a few moguls on them. Overall, a very long (1500m vertical or so) mostly smooth run.
Also, the actual ‘Peak to Creek’ runs starts below Highway 86, and once you start on it, you are committed to going all the way to Creekside. I am presuming you followed a sign pointing the way to the start of it, but it was closed (which it was until recently).
Great site you’ve got here. Your updates are far more useful than the official WB snow reports!
Just to clarify about the comment above, correct me if I’m wrong but Peak to Creek does start at the peak, doesn’t it (hence the name)? It’s broken into Upper and Lower portions. Highway 86 is the cat track that connects Peak to Creek with Franz’s. I think Upper Peak to Creek used to be Highway 86 so that’s probably where the confusion comes from. When they opened lower Peak to Creek a few years back they renamed the top part to have one continuous run from top to bottom so they could claim their record for “longest intermediate run in North America” or whatever it is…
Kyle, you are right. I guess I haven’t had a good look at the trail map for a few years now. I always thought the trail around the back of the Peak chair was Highway 86, with Frontier Pass thrown in there, but now it is Peak to Creek right from the top.
In fact, looking at the trail map, the whole region doesn’t look right…..the groomed run cuts in between West bowl and Bagel Bowl, but the map shows it on the skiers left….
Thanks for correcting me, as far I was concerned, the run called Lower Peak to Creek, is the whole run ……but it is a little different to as shown on the map.
No wonder people get lost when the maps are wrong….
Yeah exactly, the trail map is just wrong there, and the on-mountain signage doesn’t help much either. There’s one sign at the top that identifies it as “Upper Peak to Creek,” but there’s several along the way that still say Highway 86. Plus there’s the big “Welcome to Peak to Creek” sign, which is at the start of lower Peak to Creek. I don’t think they could make it more confusing if they tried…
Hi Greg, sorry i havent been in touch as i have had serious computer issues while here. I managed to score the 2nd chair out at 7th heaven on monday and i probably had one of the best days on the mountain i have ever had. Snow was beautiful(up to knees in places) clear skies and hardly a soul out there. Still keen to buy you a beer greg.
Greg, many thanks for updating us.
Am heading out the last week of Feb (Feb 24-Mar 1) and first trip ever to Whistler.
It seems (from reading) that snow condition off-piste is good all things considered. Any comment on Spanky’s & bowls and some of the trickier entrances on Whistler?
Hey Simon, I have heard from a few people that 7th Heaven was awesome a few days ago (and still is, just not fresh anymore). Glad to hear you got a part of it!! I will be at the Cinnamon Bear Friday night watching the game, if you want to try and catch up.
James, the conditions are a lot better than earlier in the season, still we have a very shallow snow base (compared to normal) and as such, the entrances to a lot of the trickier/steeper lines can be fairly sketchy.
Everything is open, so feel free to explore them, just be careful as there are quite a few rocky areas that normally are not….