(Note: this is the first post I'm writing on my new computer! I'm excited, even though the final product won't be any different. The process should be though! Hurray for new computers!)
Here's the new gondola tower that broke. I wrote about it in this post. I don't know the exact day that things got back up and running, but people are using it now and it's back in full operation. I would have thought that public outcry and various regulations would have prevented this lift from opening up before next year. I was wrong.
These shots are from yesterday. 34cm of snow fell, which is about 13in. That's a lot! One of the shots is from the bus station, where I was waiting for the bus at 6:30 in the morning. The other is from the Whistler Skiers Plaza, at the base. The line-up is huge!
Everyone is hoping to get one of 650 "Fresh Tracks" tickets that allow you to go up the mountain early, eat breakfast, and ski the fresh snow before the rest of the lifts open. On big mornings like this, you have to be up earlier than everyone else in order to get one.
You can start buying the tickets at 7am, and begin uploading on the gondola at 7:30. I took this picture at about 7:10, so the tickets would have just begun being sold. The mountain opens to the public at 8:30, so that means you have less than an hour to hit the fresh snow.
In 2004, my first winter in Whistler and the worst snow season in history, I bought a Fresh Tracks ticket. It had snowed about 20cm the night before, and since it had been a terrible season, this was a very rare occurrence.
About half-way up, the gondola stopped for an hour. The gondolas hold about 7 or 8 people; six sitting around the sides, and one or two standing in the middle. I was one standing in the middle, as our gondola cabin bobbed and swayed, just above the season's first good snow dump.
When they finally got it working again, it was past 8:30 and the rest of the lifts had opened to the public. My Fresh Tracks ticket had not gotten me first access to the powder, but got me up the mountain after everyone else instead.
At the top, they gave everyone a free day lift ticket as payment for our suffering. With my season pass, I didn't want a free daily lift ticket...I wanted the fresh snow!
It's snowing right now, and has been all week. Finally the mountain is getting the snow it needs to cover all the rocks. After a slow early season, the snow is picking up, and that's good for the mountain.
The skiers and snowboarders in this town love the snow! But the drivers don't like it. It makes working more difficult and stressful. Whenever I look at the forecast, I look at it like a driver, not a snowboarder.
Hopefully there's no snow tomorrow, since I've got quite the drive tomorrow. I'm going to Seattle! It should take me four and a half hours each way under ideal conditions. We'll see what actually happens.
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