My wife had an injury this summer, so we didn't do too much hiking and ended up cycling more. There are a lot of longer trails in Whistler that we have yet to make. They are definitely on our to-do list, but haven't made it all the way up there yet. Hopefully next summer will be having as great weather as this year had, so we can make it up The Tusk or some other nice trail.
Whistler last Saturday. Conditions were perfect with new snow having fell overnight and both Symphony and Harmony Bowls completely untouched.
We had to wait an hour for the Harmony Express to open due to crews working to mitigate avalance danger, but boy were the runs perfect. Hands down, the best runs of the year! People were so excited that they were screaming of joy when coming down the untouched pow runs. Never seen such enjoyment!
We were the first to the ski Harmony Ridge and it was perfect. Symphony Bowl still waiting to open in this panorama (see how untouched it is!).
There was a lot of people and runs detoriated quickly on afternoon.
Hundreds of people queuing for the Symphony Express. Took us half an hour to get onboard and many people chose to walk up!
i as well had one of the best days of my life during that week. I love Whistler. Luckily i live here. Let me know next time you're up here, we can go for a ski
Thanks guys! I take these photos just for the sake of the beautiful scenery we are surrounded with in this province. Just happy that those cell phone snaps turned out well and you are enjoying them!
Took a day off on Friday to go skiing in Whistler (Blackcomb side). Fourth time up there this year and it was worth it. The amount of snow they have there is crazy and they have been able to groom many black runs that you rarely see groomed. Excellent dry snow above 1000 meters!
This is what it's all about: sun, great snow and empty runs.
With the purchase of a 5-day Edge Card one gets two free summer days up on Whistler. Two weeks ago on the first June weekend the weather was perfect with temperatures of up to +34C predicted for the valley, so we decided to drive up there to check it out.
Upon arriving in Whistler the day was already hot and summer was at a full swing in the valley.
Up on Whistler mountain it was a different story though and it felt more like early sprint.
All kind winter equipment is up on display for the visitors which is quite interesting.
Peak 2 Peak was also running so we decided to take a return ride to Blackcomb.
Just beautiful.
Long way down...
Blackcomb is melting quickly, but lots of snow still remains.
The real reason for visiting Whistler was to see the legendary Whistler Snow Walls. More photos of them in part 2 soon.
And here's part 2 from our trip to Whistler two weeks ago. The reason for us driving up there was to check out the amazing giant snow walls on Whistler Mountain in every spring.
The reason for snow walls is a service road up the mountain that the crew has to open for performing summer maintenance for sky lifts. It follows the a ski run called Pika's Traverse which is an easy green ski run down the mountain.
Even though it was over +30C down in the valley, the weather on the mountains was cool and breezy. The snow is also so cold that it cools the air even more so dress warmly!
The further one walks, the taller the walls rise.
During winter this green run is so easy and fast to ski down, but it's a different story heading up. It's a fairly steep and exhausting climb!
The risk of avalances is still possible - in June!
Looking back where we came from.
On a beautiful day the views are out of this world. The Harmony Bowl area in the picture is one of our favorite ski areas in Whistler. Blackcomb Mountain on the opposite side (connection over the valley via Peak 2 Peak gondola, see my previous post).
Last winter Whistler received 12.34 meters (485 inches!!) of snow which is only slightly more than on average. Up here most of the snow is still intact and here is where the biggest snow walls are also located.
It is incredible that all this snow fell during this past winter and all of it will also melt away during the summer. It's quite a transformation in landscape during a year!
I have no idea how they plow the route through this section and how long it takes... Crazy Canucks!
Finally on top!
Black Tusk in the background is a famous local landmark. This was an amazing place to enjoy the warm weather for a moment. Just be aware that it is really bright up there and sunglasses are a must!
I highly recommend checking out the giant snow walls if you are in Whistler around end of May and beginning of June when the ski season has just ended and the service road opens. It is worth it.
Even more spectacular snow walls can be found on Mount Baker, WA where they receive world record amounts of snow and the walls are 7 meters tall still in August. The only thing to take into account is that the road to the parking lot on top doesn't open before July due to so much snow. It's still a nice trip and doesn't require hiking like in Whistler.
For sure we enjoyed our day and happy to hear you liked my photos. It is worth checking out some spring, but now three weeks later the walls are likely much lower than in the photos. All of that snow should be gone by August.
It has been years since we have last been camping, so it was very exciting to head up to Birkenhead Lake some 60 kilometers north of Pemberton.
Our camping place was exactly as shown in the website photos. Nice, private and green.
Fortunately modern tents are easy to put up.
Such a joy to be sleeping outside.
Time for a camp site dinner.
Unfortunately Saturday was a cloudy day, but we still headed out cycling along the lakeshore trail.
Our night was rather cold, but luckily Sunday turned out to be a nice and warm day. After waking up we hiked the short Goat Trail to a lookout of the lake below.
Birkenhead Lake itself looked so much more inviting in the warm sunshine.
Drive back to Pemberton had some beautiful summer vistas. It's incredible how more rugged the mountains get north of Pemberton.
It was a short ad-hoc trip, but we really liked our experience and are already planning on going camping soon again. Too bad everything nearby has been reserved for the whole summer, so we need to try getting a FCFS space. Hopefully it will work out!
Went to Bowen Island and Squamish this weekend with my camera that is not nearly as good as Klazu's and walked some significantly less steep trails. Some photos:
Somehow I hadn't done the sea to sky gondola until now:
Nice job Pinion! We're hiking the Sea-To-Summit on Friday so looking forward to seeing it again! Agreed, top of Sea-to-Summit is nicely done, my only complaint are the food offerings, pricey and terrible, hope they improve it soon as we're typically starving but the time we finish. The beer, however is good!
Back in August we did a gorgeous day trip to Whistler with our friends. Here are some photos from the trip.
On the way there we did few stops along the way to photograph the sights.
Tantalus Range is always worth a stop right after Squamish.
Once we made it to Whistler, the town was really busy with bikers and summer tourists.
Up on the mountain the views were amazing.
Making our way to the summit chair lift.
Finally at the summit!
What an amazing summer day! Whistler is currently in process of building a new suspension bridge summer attraction across this gorgeous view. I am sure the tourists will love it once it opens next summer!
The program of our day was to do the Half Note Trail which is a beautiful hike around the Whistler Mountain.
We were surprisied how much snow there still was along the trail, which had actually opened only a week earlier!
Symphony Bowl is skiing paradise in winter, but in summer it looks so vast and barren. I can't wait to ski down there in couple of months!
Finally we made our way back through the famous snow walls. Even though they were only half of what they are in spring, they were still 5-6 meters tall and an impressive sight. There is no chance that all of the snow will melt before it starts snowing again...
And there you have it. Whistler is just an amazing summer destination for anything, like a simple day hike.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Klazu
Wow, what an impressive photo! The upper-right-hand side looks like the oil-based paint-by-numbers kits I had back in the 70s!
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Thanks guys! We were indeed very lucky with how clear the weather in Whistler was and this was just few days before the smoke covered Metro Vancouver for 10 days. Would have been a completely different story few days later, as you will see in another photoset from me soon...
Quote:
Originally Posted by s211
Wow, what an impressive photo! The upper-right-hand side looks like the oil-based paint-by-numbers kits I had back in the 70s!
Yeah, I also like how different color different soil is being. And the patches of snow give nice contrast too. The vantage point in the photo is also great, giving a great sense of scale.
Did anyone else make it up to Whistler already? We went today to begin the ski season, motivated by the huge snow dump they got on Wednesday.
We were there 45 minutes before opening time, however we were far from being the first.
Conditions were packed powder which made for an amazing early season day. I have never seen such conditions this early which is very promising. Only Whistler is currently open with Blackcomb opening next Friday.
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Always nice to get some acknowledgement for the effort taken. On Canada forum only random Flickr photos get comments from people...
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