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With the snowpack in southwest BC continuing to be low for this time of year—especially at or below treeline—my buddy and I headed to the Mt. Baker sidecountry on Sunday where base depths of 90”+ and quick pow laps are easily accessible. What was supposed to be a few inches of snow overnight...

Some fluffy pow and sunshine in the Coq! Could use a bit more snow below treeline, but coverage up high is good. The Coquihalla area gets a lot of snow, but it is of the drier variety—similar to the Okanagan region to the east. With lots of fun zones easily accessible from the “highway it’s a...

Here’s to hoping the triple dip La Niña delivers the goods to the region this season! In the meantime, the snowpack is a little anemic compared to last year at this time, especially at and below tree line. Trail counts at Whistler are reflective of the early season conditions. Thankfully...

The final leg of the 542, just passed Mt Baker ski area, closed yesterday. I managed to squeeze in a visit Sunday before additional snow shut the road down for the season.

Yesterday in the backcountry adjacent to the Mt Baker ski area. A highlight not only because it was my first tour since completing my AST1 and getting all my gear, but because any day with a clear view of Shuksan is a treat. Mt Shuksan from Artist Point. There's a bathroom, road and parking...

I’m new to the sport, so I have very little to compare the region to, but I feel very lucky to live in BC. It blows my mind how much riding there is in close proximity to Van and the metro area. There’s at least 4 trail networks less than 10 minutes from where I live—all of which I can ride my...

Poor choice of words on my part. None of the passholders are the problem. The extremely high demand on these select days is the problem, and my observation is that it's not just the hardcore accounting for the traffic spikes on these dates. With Vail resorts selling more and more tickets in...

From what I’ve observed locally at W/B, holiday periods aren’t the issue. It’s those random, big powder weekends (or when there’s snow in the metro area) when things really get ugly. Finding a way to limit a subset of the ticket/pass holders on these days could address the perception that their...

Agree, it’s not an easy problem to solve, and to be clear—I don’t think the full Epic Pass holders are the problem here, but rather all the other flavors of passes offered. Perhaps institute reservations for the lower-tier pass products? Or a pass system where days are valued based on demand...

Next season’s prices have been announced with small increases across all their pass products, but otherwise no substantial changes: https://www.denverpost.com/2022/03/21/epic-pass-price-increase-2022-2023/ I think it’s a missed opportunity to try and address the crowding that’s damaged their...

Yeah, the housing prices are nuts here. In places like Squamish it’s especially crazy. I’ll be lucky if I can find afford anything larger than a small box in this area. I’m selfishly hoping for the housing market to crash.

I live in Coquitlam. It’s a city a short drive/Skytrain ride away from Van. Whistler is about 2 hours away—equivalent to doing a day trip to the Catskills from the city—so I mostly do that. If I can get a good deal on lodging, I’ll sometimes stay in Whistler, but on this particular trip I...

My apologies. I got a little carried away. I’ll break this out in a TR.

Sometimes the best days aren’t the deepest days, but the ones where fresh tracks are easiest to come by. Waiting for the Peak Express to start turning for the day. A series of storms delivered light accumulations all week. It wasn’t enough snow to bring out the powder junkies, but it all...

After a brief pause, the parade of storms is back on with light to moderate snow in the forecast for most days this week. I’ll definitely be taking advantage of what could be the last week of winter conditions. Sunday was great. I spent most of the day in Body Bag Bowl as part of my AST-1 where...

Nice photo

Yup! At the top of the bootpack. The second photo is Diamond Centre (which is just beyond the sign posts in the center of the first photo). The third is at the bottom of Ruby looking towards the Blackcomb glacier.

W/B received a much needed reset this week, with recent snowfall finally burying the hardpack/ice that's been a persistent feature since mid-January. Anything off-piste had been unskiable for the most part due to repeat freeze-thaw cycles and a lack of new snow, but conditions have improved...

I’d imagine conditions at Crystal and Baker are pretty rough right now—if they’re anything like the conditions at Whistler. We are going to need a significant amount of snow to bury the crust/icy snow off piste.

A “solution” to a problem you never wanted in the first place!