This week has been another incredible week. The snow has kept coming all week resulting in riding conditions that have been as close to perfect as I can ever remember. This has also meant a lot of hiking to get to the best runs. I have hiked Spanky’s Ladder a good few times and this has allowed me to ride Ruby Bowl, Diamond Bowl and Sapphire Bowl. On Friday I finally got to hike The Chimney but I will tell you more about that in a minute. I have also ridden several lines, such as Wonderland and The Cake Hole, which involve hiking to get out rather than hiking to get to them.
Last Sunday (before my last post) was a fantastic day, but it was outdone for me by the riding on Wednesday. Snow past my knees on some of the runs (the ones out of the patrolled ski area), dry snow because the temperatures are colder than usual for the end of March, new runs because some of the runs can only be done when there is a lot of snow around, dropping cliffs (because the snow is soft when/if you crash) and more trees that you would find in Robin Hood’s garden. Can’t really explain just how good it feels to ride this stuff. But I am very glad that I chose to stay for an extra four weeks, otherwise I would be writing this post from whichever friend’s house I had happened knock on the door of. Instead I am writing this post from my new room upstairs in the Brio house – and now I have enough room to store all my clothes and a double bed. Although the mattress is softer than a Hugh Grant romantic comedy.
So back to the Chimney. Fridays are normally a more chilled out day than the rest of the week, with less emphasis on what we need to learn and more emphasis on charging around the steep runs that Whistler has to offer. All morning Anthony took us to crazy out of the way runs and we got fresh snow for most of the day. Then in the afternoon I got the opportunity to ride with a couple of the coaches just for fun. After doing a few cliff drops on Fraggle Rock (yes that really is the name of a run) the others who were riding with us called it a day. So I headed off with coach Dave and coach Lisa to hike the Chimney. The Chimney is the toughest hiking I have done since I took off my crampons in Chamonix. Although nothing crazy, it is a steep, narrow path up hill and you have to do it with a snowboard in your hand and only your snowboard boots for grip and you can probably get about 1/5th of your boot into the snow to get grip. So if either you or any of the people above you miss one of the footholds, you will all be tumbling down the mountain. Anyway…after this hike (which is not far at about 10mins in total) we rode Grey Area right next to a PC (permanently closed) area of the mountain. Then we hit Molly’s Reachwhich is a steep chute – the entrance to which is slightly to the skier right and if you missed your turn you would tumble over a pretty big cliff. After receiving instruction from Dave (“you can’t miss your first turn, after that the chute’s not too bad” was his full briefing) I took on probably the scariest run of my life. It seems that as my skills improve I am able to take on ever more dangerous and death-defying terrain. Cool. It definitely lets you know that you are alive.
The sun is supposed to come out next week so I shall take my camera out and try to get some new shots.
…Let the music play, down at Fraggle Rock
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