skiincy

Thursday, checkout was at 12 so we put the baggage in storage and went skiing. I skied my atomics and I’m glad I did. They’re a bit wider underfoot and made floating down Whistler Bowl more fun. I skied the runs off of Peak Express including Whistler Bowl and Peak to Creek. my legs were burning. On my way down from Peak to Creek I saw a lil’ reading rainbow 🌈 while @Schifis in Dubai looking for a lamp with a genie, I was looking for a pot of gold. after the top to bottom, leg burn .. I did the Whistler Bowl. It was fun but the pitch was steeper than I usually like. Glad I did it though. At one point, it was super foggy and couldn’t see anything. ROTD was Grand Finale / Doom & Gloom in Whistler bowl although I about shit my pants. Had The Rolling Stones song stuck in my head 👅 skied from morning through 3pm. I rushed down to the bottom. Freshened up. Got my bags, heated up some ‘noods, and lugged my bags to the 4pm shuttle. again, the skylynx shuttle was clean and easy. Unfortunately it was full so I didn’t love sharing a seat. the views on the drive were incredible. If I were to do it with a bigger group than just me & brother, I would definitely rent a car to see the sights along the way. got settled into a hotel near the airport. Brian’s flight was at 8:30am on Friday and mine was 7am on Saturday morning.

Wednesday night, I went to Crystal Lounge. Kinda funky to find but it’s right next to Old Spaghetti Factory. i liked the scene. It was chill but cozy. Thanks for the recommendation @toast21602! we got salads + nachos. Salads were good. Nachos were ehh. Then we came back for 2nd dinner and got wings since they were $0.10 (I think) Followed by hot tub life.

On Wednesday - Got the day started and my brother was scrolling Reddit. He saw this guy at Whistler when he was on peak express yesterday. The entire chair lift was hyped for him yesterday. Check out this link below! Reddit - Whistler skiier On Wednesday morning, I started up on Excalibur Gondola - Excelerator lift. The Tbar wasn’t open yet so we were doing laps on the Blackcomb side for a bit. When it opened, we headed over to Glacier Express. It had a sign that shows the length of the line and visibility which I really think is wrong 🤷🏼‍♀️ Did the TBar. Met some guys from West Chester & Hershey in line. This was probably the longest line of the trip. Hiked up a short bit and looked down at the Blackcomb Bowl. I take a similar pic at every resort so I had too 🤷🏼‍♀️ It was fluffy, deep, and you could really float. It felt like the backside of Snowbird on a powder day. The snow in Blackcomb Bowl was amazing and the ROTD. Loved it ❤️ We stayed to the right, kept our skis high, and hiked went down. It was wild. I overheard a guy show how much it’s receded in recent years… yikes Continued to ski down and bounce around on the Blackcomb side. it was humbling and yet another awesome day in Whistler.

When was the last time you were at blue? a few of us have a free buddy pass if you want to check out Blue Mountain this season. if you’re cool, it’s a good scene.

Woah.

Totally but I have no idea what I paid either. i logged into my epic account and went to order history, and it only shows I paid a $50 deposit which I know isn’t right

I saw that on a Facebook group. The ads on the page make me think that pop up ads are going to start besides live2skiski2comparepasses, who actually remembers how much a pass cost? The field is a flat $350 but if you got the full pass, it could have been over the $350. the guy who made it graduated college in 2000 and is a financial analyst. who knows. Maybe he’ll start an online forum for skiers next.

I was looking at the Ikon details and it’s interesting the Alta & Snowbird seem to have partially separated. A trial separation? It’s not a full on divorce but they must have had different values or demands. with the full Ikon, you get 5 days at Alta Snowbird with the base Ikon, you get 5 days at only Snowbird (no Alta) also Solitude is still unlimited on ikon but Brighton has limited days. The negotiations must be 🔥

Skied the Blackcomb Glacier and checked out the ice cave today.

Yeah so cheap and still good Yeah! Went to crystal lounge today (Wednesday) again. I have to draft todays write up about the glacier. The Blackcomb Bowl and glacier was amazing.

Tuesday I woke up and was so excited to have my skis and my low light goggles. My legs were on fire from Monday. The heavy snow and the piles of ungroomed terrains / moguls made my legs jello. Skiing Whistler might be the complete opposite of somewhere like Deer Valley. I haven’t seen an inch of cord at Whistler. My legs felt trashed … like I just ran a marathon. But like a normal person who is sore after a marathon. Not like how Atomic continues to run and ski after a 50k race. So … Tuesday morning — I returned my rentals and grabbed breakfast at Gone Eatery. I had a chai latte and mushroom breakfast bowl while I took some work calls. I took the Whistler gondola up and chatted with Schif who is in Dubai and was drinking with one of my college friends. i saw a sliver of blue sky on Tuesday. I would love to see the full view. I started off on Whistler side and tried to find my brother. He was on Peak Express and I asked if I would like it. My brother described the Whistler Bowl off the Peak Express chair as “the cliffs are steep and deep. And the slopes are butt puckering scary. Visibility was nonexistent when I went down. Huge powder moguls and steep slopes. It’s legit butthole puckering terrain.” The above pic is looking at Peak Express. So … i continued to explore parts of Whistler. I was surprised by the snowballs rolling down the sides. In Colorado, it typically signifies that something is about to slide. Blue sky? Don’t worry. The visibility was variable throughout the day. By 12pm, it was back to low visibility. I went in for a quick lunch and to get my charger. Had a protein shake & headed back out. By 2pm, it was big Flake energy at the top. Then raining mid mountain. And slushy and misty at the base. I was soaked as I skied back down. My brother went back slightly earlier. He hit up the Olympics museum and said it was smaller than the one in Park City. He went to Pizzeria Antico and got margherita pizza that was on happy hour. Odd that they gave him scissors to slice his pizza with….. I missed happy hour but wanted to try a different pizza. I popped into Pangea for a Butternut Squash flatbread with feta & spinach. The Pangea hotel was weird. It looked like a WeWork for recent grads in China who like skiing. But the flatbread was delicious. The cocktail menu was full of ineundos like Citron My Face. i opted for a beer and kicked ass at Connect Four.

the rules are here. I assume your vaxxed? they check vax cards everywhere. https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/flying-canada-checklist/covid-19-testing-travellers-coming-into-canada It’s not that bad. Just more rules than I prefer to have in my life. If your fully vaxxed, you have to schedule a test at like CVS. You’ll likely get results within 24-48 hours. CVS opens their testing schedule 14 days out. - 3 days before you arrive to Canada do a covid test at a place like CVS - 2 days before you arrive to Canada … do another test at a place like CVS (just in case you don’t know how to count like me or something goes awry.) - if you don’t have your test results before you leave, there are rapid test places but they charge you for it (they don’t bill through insurance). you have to download the ArriveCAN app and you upload your vaccination and test results there. when you check in for your flight, the desk agent will ask to see your vaccinations, covid test results, and ArriveCAN code. When you go through customs, you have to show your vaccinations, covid test result, and ArriveCAN code again. After customs, I was randomly selected for yet another PCR test. I must have taken like 4 PCR tests. Ha. I was such a negative nancy 🏆 ——————- when I flew in Canada the rule said “Proof of a valid negative molecular test taken within 72 hours of your scheduled flight’s departure time to Canada or your entry to Canada by land or water” then if you had a connection, the wording was confusing. They basically check when you first arrive into Canada. I had two questions. (1) do I know how to count? I thought … 72 hours from my connection? Or when I arrive in Vancouver? And do they factor in time zone? Clearly, I over thought it and took an extra test the day before I left (just in case) (2) will I get my results in time? With a PCR test, the time to get a result varies. In December, it took 5+ days. Fortunately, turn around time is like 24 hours now. I was prepared to get a rapid RT-PCR from vybe and pay the $150 in case I didn’t get the results Hope that was helpful!

I was just thinking about that too … March 21st was last years party.

Check out outerrange.com in Frisco. Cool scene- good food. another PASR recommended it and me & Schif checked it out last month 👍🏼

Testing requirements for Canada loosened on Monday too..

End of a season party - ski chair race?

If it was $1,000 to ski in Pennsylvania, I would find a new mountain.

Today Woke up at 7am hoping for my skis but to no avail … i began my journey to rent gear. Unfortunately places didn’t really open until 8. i went to Spicy Rentals to get rental snow pants, helmet, skis and boots. I didn’t love the boots but I was a fan of the Volkls. Would not recommend ever going into a ski rental shop… I skied the Volkl Secret 92. It felt smooth and it felt like they naturally maneuvered the mountain. After the hoopla of rentals, I had peanut butter & banana for breakfast then scooted to the gondola. The inversion was thick this morning. The lines were crazy short but I knew people were on the mountain. I stopped in for a quick bathroom break on the Whistler side and I saw a billiojion people in line for food. Would 100% not recommend eating on the hill. I skied from 10-closing and most of the lifts. My goal was to mostly get a feel for the mountain. The place is huge. there was 6” of fresh snow in the past 24-hours. It was a lot of ungroomed soft powder that was tracked out. Visibility was tough so it was hard to determine when my knees would suddenly be in my chest as I flew over surprising bumps. Here’s a pic to show the visibility. Took the tourist pics by the Olympic Rings and Flags. weather improved but it was so variable depending on where you were on the mountain. Crazy how the weather changes drastically on the long runs. my last run was on red express lift at 3:25 and had a nice long run down. It was snowing and the visibility improved slightly. It was snowing up top and raining down below. as I approached the bottom, you heard the music pumping. The DJ was rowdy. The bar tenders came out with alcohol bottles with flames on them. People were dancing on the fire pit tables. I really felt like it needed some Grilled Steeze dance moves. Walked back to the hotel. The room is on the first floor, so I flung myself over the patio fence and crashed. For dinner, my brother got food at the crystal lounge. Someone recommended it on Reddit. A bit tricky to find but great happy hour. We eventually met at Tepley’s and had the chicken parm sandwich and some drinks. The sauce was a bit … seasoned? it had a kick. It’s definitely was not a bland sauce. Would 100% have it again. i stretched. Hot tubbed. And then my skis arrived ❤️ overall, great day. Started out a bit frazzled but I had low expectations with the missing skis. not sure the ROTD because I really didn’t look at maps much. I just pointed skis down the hill and went for it. It was awesome to meander a new mountain. Epic Mix told me 13 lifts and about 25k vert. Tomorrow - I’m hoping to check out some of the recommendations that toast and others wrote about above.

No skiing yesterday but here’s a recap about getting here Yesterday, I arrived to Canada. I had a layover in Toronto and did customs there. the process was a bit annoying. You needed to take a PCR test within 72 hours of arriving into Canada and have your results. So when I got this from CVS with messed up dates, it became a whole thing. Luckily I caught it before leaving Philly and took some extra PCR tests just in case. Arriving into Toronto, I was randomly selected for another PCR test. when I got into Vancouver, handled the baggage drama but everything else went smoothly. Grabbed snacks from the 7-11 and booze in the airport. Went to level 1, met my brother, and took a shuttle to Whistler. the seats were comfy, smooth ride. Definitely recommend if you’re interested in an alternative to a car rental. Cracked some beers and ate 7-11 taquitos like all classy people do. Arrived in Center village and strolled to the hotel which was super close. I’m We got settled then walked around a bit. We ended up getting drinks and burgers from El Furniture Warehouse (menu) i got the mushroom Swiss burger with fries. It was $7 which was a steal. Seriously cheaper than frozen food at The Grocery Store. And the cheapest on mountain food I’ve ever had. I didn’t love the bun. Too many seeds. But everything else was great. Would definitely go ahead. Very confused by their cocktails. i thought I was ordering a regular margarita and then she told it had wine in it. So I said no thanks. She then offered “bull dog style”. all a bit weird but I went with it. Definitely would not get this again. Music playing was 1990s rap — biggie, DMX, ice tea. Felt like this place could also be in fishtown. as we strolled through the village checking out the other places, I felt like I was on a college campus where you just hear music pumping in a distance. Overall, super impressed by Whistler.

Air Canada. I guess it’s been happening more often because they don’t have the ground support to transfer luggage. @Justo8484i think I learned my lesson and will travel with boots in a carryon next time. I have the receipts - definitely. I rented volkls, boots, helmet and ski pants. I loved the Volkls. Didn’t love the boots but it was doable. I heard they reimburse “reasonable” amounts. So I bought a new pair of hestras too and hoping to slide in that reimbursement😂 bag is finally moving … so hopefully it’ll be here soon

Yeah! Sounded like an exciting game! Skis still not here …. Waiting on rentals ….

This morning, I woke up at 6:30am. Ate some leftover dinner for breakfast. Left my house at 7am and was at the baggage drop at 7:30am. I got there at the same time as the Halifax Thunderbird Lacrosse team was checking in. I listened to their stories from last night in Philly … sounds like they like to have a good time. They’re playing in Vancouver on March 5th next. I had a layover in Toronto and saw my luggage leave the plane but my luggage had other plans. It made its way on a different plane. i packed a carryon but all my ski gear is in my bag that’s definitely not here. Positively? It seems like all ski gear that went from Philly to Toronto to (what’s suppose to be) Vancouver got redirected in transit and is on the next flights. I’m on a shuttle to Vancouver. sounds like they’re going to drop my ski bag off at the hotel around 1am. (Fingers crossed)

I haven’t seen a PASR magazine cover in a while but this is a top story 😂

You think it'll be full?

Sweet! @toast21602- Have you ever skied to the ice cave? Good to know about Creekside and Spanky's Ladder. I've been watching the weather. Looks like wind is about 3-5 MPH and they're calling for snow, likely 1-3" most days.