I left work at 5 sharp and got a call from Tim at 7. Friends from TIFF are in Whistler - there's an open-bar and a free bed. We arrive in Whistler by midnight.
The party is lame and the bar is anything but open ($16 drinks!), so we tailgate a little and end up climbing things in the heart of Whistler village. I lead a nice easy stemming route up an ostentatious man-made waterfall. But Tim stole the show when he nailed a wicked first-ascent of a crimpy boulder problem on the textured wall-paneling within a stairwell.
We hit the slopes early, greeted by clear skies and cold winds (-17 degrees at the peak and windy). We were in Whistler for 8cm on Tuesday, but no snow since then and now it's pretty caked. We manage to find some good stuff when we climb up Spanky's Ladder (top left) into the bowls on the wind-loaded side of Blackcomb. Best runs of the day were all here.
First big wipe of the season happened here, too. I got stuck in a steep narrow chute and tried to inch my way down rather than climb out (or ski it proper?). I eventually lost control as the chute gradually became a cliff, and I slid on my back head-first down the rest of the chute. Trying to stop myself resulted in three end over ends. I popped into Tim's line of sight at about this point; he saw me slide another 15m on my face before I finally arrested myself (Mr. Barranco will please note my diction). Snorted a lot of snow, but walked away unscathed.
Tim took a potentially nasty fall at high speeds during a 1:1 race when the route dropped off sharply with little notice. Attempting to slow himself, he hit the lip of the drop-off sideways. Yard sale.
Whistler closes at 3 (outrageous for $90!!) so there was plenty of time to hot-tub at the hotel with our TIFF friends. We were joined by a bachelorette party from Seattle + cool Icelanders. We ended up in a bar with the entertaining folks from TIFF late into the eve.
Then a 5am wake-up to get Tim to work for 7:45 in Vancouver.
The sabbatical has begun.
[Pictures to come]
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