Whistler 2006 – A 20K Day
Saturday finally brought the brilliant blue skies to Whistler. It was glaringly bright outside and we scrambled for the sunscreen after downing our breakfast of blueberry pancakes provided by Heather and Beth.
The group voted to ride Blackcomb on Saturday since the weather was so bad on Thursday. We actually uploaded and left our shoes at Whistler base so that we could return there for Apres Ski. It was a glorious day to ski – we immediately went to the top and started skiing laps up on the glacier under ideal conditions. The locals just kept echoing what we were feeling.. “The conditions are perfect!” – “The conditions are perfect” – “The conditions are perfect”, and so forth.
Mark and Beth near the top of Blackcomb
Once again, we finished the day on the western “Seventh Heaven” slopes and made it to the very top just as they closed the lifts. We skiied from the top of Blackcomb all the way down to the base of Whistler in one long run. I’m not sure how far that is, but it’s 5000 vertical feet and it has to be several miles.
I also made a funny observation.. we ski things in “Minnesota Units”. Most ski hills here are between 300 and 350 vertical feet – so that’s how far we ski between breaks. We go down about 350 vertical feet, then stop and wait for people to catch up. Strange..
Beth and Heather at the top of the Glacier Express on Blackcomb
We went straight to the Garibaldi Lift Company (the GLC) for our Apres ski so that we could hear the Hairfarmers – the best live band in Whistler and the band that played at our wedding in 2004. Unfortunately, everybody else wanted to see them also and we weren’t able to get inside until just before the last song. That didn’t stop us from enjoying our Kokanee and nachos on the patio outdoors, though! Dinner on Saturday was at Caramba! – a woodfire pizza and pasta restaurant in Whistler.
Total vertical footage on Saturday: 20,800