On The Mountain

Note: Please excuse the sarcasm in these captions. I just have too much fun writing them! The conditions were variable and less then ideal, but were not as bad as I'll make them sound below.

	Aaah, nothing like Whistler in August... sorry, March.
Fred is thrilled with anticipation, and then reality sets in.
	No, this isn't trick photography, this is Whistler! Summer at the bottom, winter at the top, some sort of slushy thing in the middle!
The gondola station and lodge at Whistler. "Hey hoser, could you point me to the washroom? Fer sure, eh."
	Just when you want a picture, someone steps in the way. That's the "Black Tusk" in the distance.
And that's the same person's arm in the left of this picture. Get out the way! The black tusk is an old volcano.
	The view from the summit.
Another picture of the Black Tusk. No person in the way this time, just my own poles. Doh!
	There was even snow below the tree line!
Day 2, on to Blackcomb. Everyone was excited and then we saw this...
	One of the lines down the front of Blackcomb. The trail is in the left of the picture. But why take the trail when there's a nastier route down? See the small chute in the middle of the rock face? That's the preferred trail of the Upper Cape Ski Club. And yes, Fred led the way.
"Welcome to Blackcomb Glacier" Not much of importance listed here. "Poor conditions, rocky ski-out, experts only, not recommended, etc" Who's up for it? Oh, what the hell... can't be too bad, right?
	This cool looking rock formation marked the entrance to Blackcomb Glacier.
The hike up to and into the Glacier. Turn left for the glacier and sure death or turn right for the groomers.
	The top sign reads "Avalanche Prone Area" yet the bottom sign reads "Blackcomb Glacier OPEN!"
Tom Peterson takes one last look at yet another warning on his hike up.
	The crew treks around the worst of the drop-ins. The glacier drops off to the left.
There it is... Blackcomb Glacier. The locals told us this is skiable year round.
	The glacier is on the backside of Blackcomb and out of radio range of ski patrol.
The conditions that day were terrible - a crust that grabs at your skis. Here's Tom Peterson working his way down.
	I took this at the top of Blackcomb's gondola. Whistler is in the distance. Most of us downloaded on the gondola from here. Some trails were open below this point, but were not recommended.
The view from the Blackcomb summit.
	Seventh Heaven
Another view of Whistler from Blackcomb.
	Seventh Heaven is one of the nicer areas at Blackcomb.
"Thin cover"
	"Experts Only" This trail was steep with bumps the size of Volkswagons. Miss one and you'll likely take out everyone on the adjacent T-bar.
Standing at the top of the trail mentioned above. Below is the bottom half of the T-bar. Even the T-bar was rated as "Experts Only." The final 50 feet or so was straight up. Make one mistake and you'll tumble all the way to the bottom seen here.
	Day 4 - Back to Whistler (Day 3 was rained out). This is the "Top of the World" - 7,160 feet.
Off in the distance is a huge glacier. Our guide told us that people occassionally heli-ski there, but the glacier is riddled with crevasses. It's also one of the few glaciers left that is growing, rather than receeding.
	Fred and I hiked up to enter this bowl, hoping for the best. We didn't make that mistake twice. Leaving this bowl involved a gruelling uphill hike out.
Don't catch an edge, or you're in the drink!
	A short breather from my hike out resulted in this picture.
Fred: "See that cornice?" Tom: "Yes Fred." Fred: "Let's try it." Tom "You first." I was hoping he was kidding... he wasn't.
	After the drop-in, we were at the mercy of the frozen bumps.
See how the sun shimmers nicely on the "packed powder?"
	Colin and Fred get ready to drop in.
Occasionally we found some nice areas that actually had snow. Yet another drop in followed by bumps.
	Ummm....
See the fresh tracks through the powder? Me neither. I see frozen tracks through frozen snow.