Cousin of Beagle

Last Saturday May 2 on Blackcomb was my last day of the season. It was day #71. When you're driving by Squamish, you might see me in the water!

Yup, I agree. Classic concussion symptom. I had a concussion about 1 1/2 weeks ago. Had a CT scan within 90 minutes of impact. My noggin survived. If you haven't been to the hospital, you should go now. The dead Richardson refused medical help.

Met at Starbucks at the parking lot at 9:00. BlueB, CarvingScooby, Crucible, Ruwi, GabrielH, and myself. Since we're civilized human beings, we hung out at Starbucks because it was a Sunday morning! It was sunny today (unlike yesterday morning), which made for a long lineup for the small blue tram (the larger red tram was closed for maintenance). We waited from about 10:00 to 11:15. Conditions were soft 'n squishy snow (which I like). I wore a t-shirt. Grouse snowfone reported 10 degrees. Good snow coverage too. The occasional bare spots were well marked. Rock boards weren't necessary. I was on my 3 month old 2009 Prior 4WD 169 (my only carving board I own). Rode Expo, The Cut, the bump runs off the Peak, etc. Some of the guys (not me) rode the back runs off the Olympic chair. Left the hill around 2:45 to return to the Starbucks at the bottom.

Grouse FTW!

10:00 was sunny with clouds and softpack. Hardly anyone showed up, so there was plenty of rock star parking by the lodge. I did 3 runs down Collins, but can only remember 1.5 runs. Fell on the second run, landed on my helmeted head. Don't remember the third run at all. I'd be in the middle of a one minute conversation, then find out it was actually a ten minute time lapse. It was like on that TV show "Lost", where the characters would be transported into the future! CT scan at the hospital was negative. Back is sore, so I'll skip today. See you at Grouse next weekend!

Got there for 9:00. Hard packed. Plus really awful grooming. There were three inch curbs everywhere. Plus huge chunks of snow. Some runs weren't groomed all the way across, leaving the sides ungroomed. Maybe they had a really big end of season party last night, and the groomers were loaded. The Canadian National team was on PGS. They had gates set up. But they were only there for about an hour or so.

Got myself a Grouse Y2Play pass. Don't know if I'll get a Cypress pass, which go on sale in July. Cypress is open today (rain though) & tomorrow, then they take a break for two days, reopening Thursday for the last weekend. Full privilege pass holders can take a buddy for free for the last four days. However they'll only have Lions & Sky chairs open. Right now I'm waiting for wind. Models are saying 23 knots at Boundary Bay today, so maybe some windsurfing.

Was @ Cypress Friday morning too from 9:30 to about 12:30. Today's weapon was the Prior 4WD 169. Mostly Collins & Panorama. Did Crazy Raven once, and also Midway. Warm. Wore sweatshirt. Snow got sticky around 11:30. Was also @ Cypress Wed, Tue, Mon, Sat, etc., etc., etc. Actually I'm there a lot! Last week thursday was about 12" pow, which was fun. The weapon of the day was the Dynastar 3800 163. So Cypress has announced next year's pricing: $259. The entire mountain will be closed for the entire month of February, as well as the first week of March. I'm considering buying both Cypress and Grouse passes. How's Seymour for carving?

April 13 Easter Monday. It may be extended to Sunday April 19.

Got a new pow board: Dynastar 3800 - 163 via Blue B. I mounted up Ride strap bindings (they're about 8 or 9 years old). 27 degrees front, in the back inserts. 15 degrees back, in the middle inserts. The inserts have 3 positions. Zero bias. I weigh 165 pounds, 75 kilograms. This morning was 12" - 24" of heavy pow. Sunny too. The board behaves and feels like a freestyle board. But unlike my Burton Vapor 157 (all mountain freestyle), the Dynastar does not pearl. I can lean forward and charge without cartwheeling. Even on cut-up runs, the board slices through without incident. Funny. Two guys asked me about my board. One guy asked if it was a race board. Another guy asked about the notch tail. I stayed on the Raven chair. Raven 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 all had deep stuff. Nicely filled in. I fell at the bottom of Raven 5, and a mini avalanche buried me. The guy behind me said it was awesome! In the afternoon, the wind was approximately 35 knots, with the occasional gust to 40 knots at Locarno (Jericho) Beach. I was on a Naish Wave 69 litre board, and strongly powered on Hot Wave 3.7. A pretty fun day.

I checked out Lower Coyote 7 once. Then I rode Black on Black for the next 90 minutes. It was filled in with 2 feet of snow. Yeah, I'll check out that pow stick of yours.

Raven #4, aka Black On Black, had 2 feet of fresh snow this morning. Heavy snow though. And foggy. Went out on a Burton Vapor 157. Pearled a lot. Gonna try setting back the bindings for the next time. I need a pow board.

On Tuesday and Wednesday there was lots of fresh. Got there for first tracks both days. Tuesday's dump was about 12". Not super dry, but pretty good. Wednesday was about 18" of slightly drier snow. Spent most of the time on Raven #1 and #2, aka Crazy Raven and Coyote 7. Coyote 7's bumps were almost filled in, which made for comfy cruising today. The Prior 4WD 169 with hard boots surfed well. Who says the Spring Equinox is arriving soon?

Got my gas money. Have you? http://www.cypressmountain.com/new.html This morning was sunny and springlike. A little bit of crunchiness over a soft layer.

I have size 6.5 EEEE (quadruple E) feet (US sizing). Length 245 mm, width 100 mm. So my feet measure Mondo Point 24. Got 2009 UPZ RC10 size 25, because size 24 didn't have enough volume (according to my bootfitter). I had both pairs of boots for comparison. Bootfitter still had to stretch them out approximately 1 inch wider. No, I'm not exaggerating. Comfy. Also tried Deeluxe Track 700T (last year's model), but bootfitter said it was a no-go.

My UPZ RC10 boots are a little too stiff. Dan Yoja at UPZ boots suggested I remove the bottom spring, so I tried it. Much flexier. However, the post has a little ridge that sometimes catches. I'll continue with this setup for a little longer. This morning was cold, about -8. Lots of new fluffy dry snow. Hero softpack corduroy. Overcast, so the light was a little flat. Saw another carver on Rainbow, riding goofy. Don't know who it was.

Today was the SBX finals and HP training.

Got this email from Cypress: ================================================== Dear Cypress Mountain Alpine Season Passholder, As you are aware the 2009 World Cup competitions are currently underway at Cypress Mountain. As part of the preparations necessary for the 2010 Olympic Games, VANOC is conducting operational testing with a number of its functions. Cypress Mountain and VANOC acknowledge that these events have created impacts on the availability of terrain normally accessible from Eagle Express for a period of three weeks due to the build of the Ski Cross and Snowboard Cross courses. We have not been directly involved in the planning of these events, however Cypress Mountain has consistently worked to protect the interests of recreational skiers and riders. At our request, VANOC has agreed to provide eligible passholders with a $25.00 PetroCan Gift Certificate (1 per season pass) in consideration of any inconvenience that you may have experienced. Eligible Passholders include anyone who purchased a Gold Unlimited, Gold, DayNiter, NiteTimer, OneNiter Season Pass or Adult Lesson Program holders. You may claim your PetroCan Gift Certificate by reporting to the Cypress Mountain Guest Relations Office in the new Cypress Creek Lodge with your Season Pass, anytime after February 18 th. VANOC has also facilitated special access to be a spectator at any of the events for Season Passholders – if your pass is valid at the time of the event you can ski or ride to the viewing areas and show your pass for admittance. VANOC and Cypress encourage you to participate in the activities and competitions this weekend. We would like to express our appreciation to Passholders for accommodating the impacts on your normal skiing and riding activities and with this fresh snow we look forward to an excellent second half of the season. Best regards, Cypress Mountain

Lots of pros on the hill. This morning, they were taking practice runs on the boarderX. Pipe still out of commission. Saw a few hardbooters freeriding. I plan on being there every day until Sunday.

here's more

Took a few pix.

Showed up for 9:00 chair with my Burton Vapor & soft boots, expecting ok pow conditions. Instead, got 25cm of extreme North Shore Wet Cement. It was raining too, so goggles were useless. Did three runs down groomed Rainbow. Off-piste, was crusty wet cement. After 30 soggy minutes, went home. In fact, a lot of people called it quits. I think tomorrow will be soft-pack hero corduroy. Good for the Prior 4WD. Forecast is for dryer conditions. I will take my SLR camera for the Thursday, Friday, Saturday FIS World Cup (assuming the weather cooperates). If I see you guys on the hill, maybe we can do a photo shoot.

Took Monday & Tuesday off from riding. Was too tired, and had to do errands. This morning (Wednesday) was soft pack hero cord. Increased the angles by 2.5 degrees to 45 & 35. At first, it felt like crap. Then I noticed the boots weren't flexing forward enough. Either the forward lean angles were too much, or the cuff was too tight. After adjustments, it felt ok. PGS is closed thanks to the two upcoming FIS world cup events (ski and snowboard). Halfpipe is closed (when is it ever open? What an embarrassment. If you like riding pipe, there are only 2 pipes serving the entire Lower Mainland, and both of them are always closed. Even Toronto has a choice of about 10 or 15 pipes, all in different sizes). These events will probably give us a good indicator of how impossibly busy the Olympics will be. Perhaps a 2009/2010 Cypress pass is out of the question. Met tele-bum. He was on fat rocker tele skis.

I broke my foot windsurfing a few years ago. They made me wear an Aircast, which costs a couple of hundred bucks. They might make you wear one too, and they look cool, with the robotic pneumatic pump. Plus you can put a Kessler sticker on it. There are plenty of used Aircasts on Craigslist.

How did you get your boot off?