BlueB Posted December 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2013 I'll be there tomorrow for instructor's training... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cousin of Beagle Posted December 8, 2013 Report Share Posted December 8, 2013 Not crowded on Saturday. Will be there today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted December 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 (edited) Instructors training again, this time successful... :D Snow crew made decent job, better cover then 2 weeks ago and good quality snow (cold temps helped). Yet, lots of rocks were showing by the upper park bypass, at Maille Ricker... Crowd was a lot less then 2 weeks ago. very cold in the morning and it snowed for about 2 hours! People: Tony with friends, Rod, Perry with kids... Toys: My old Limited with duck plates in the morning, Pure Carve Maverick in the afternoon. I've put some shallow gauge in the Mav, ouch! Yet better Mav then my metal babies... Hit few jumps on the Mav too, to the delight of fellow instructors... I've got my staff pass now, god to go any day. We should see lots of white stuff coming down, tis week :D Edited December 9, 2013 by BlueB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted December 10, 2013 Report Share Posted December 10, 2013 I have a day to ride in Vancouver on Friday 20th December.... I guess I should see how the weather and the snow cover is. I was planning on using public transport to get from/ to the airport - I've done that to Grouse before, and I think there's a bus from the same place which goes to Cypress if that looks like a better option. Any tips/ advice welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted December 10, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2013 (edited) Hey Phil, Would be great to meet you on the hill. I'll try to make a plan to ride that Friday, 10am to 1pm. To get to Cypress, by Cypress shuttle: http://cypresscoachlines.com/ Alternatively, I could pick you up and drop you off at Lonsdale Quay, but it would be a short day, see above. If you decided to go to Grouse (which is about half the size of Cypress), you can get to the gondy by public transit. Edited December 10, 2013 by BlueB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted December 13, 2013 Report Share Posted December 13, 2013 Thanks, sounds good. Cypress is where I'd like to go this time, if it's ridable. The bus from Lonsdale Quay sounds fine: [TABLE] <tbody>[TR] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Lonsdale Quay Departures[/TD] [TD]8:30a<wbr>m, 10:00am, 1:00pm, 3:15pm, 5:15pm[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Cypress DOWNHILL Departures[/TD] [TD]4:30p<wbr>m[LQ,PR,V,RC], 7:30pm[LQ,PR,V]<wbr>, 10:30pm [LQ,PR,V,RC][/TD] [/TR] </tbody>[/TABLE] I'll be doing full on jet lag, and it'll be my 1st day of the season, so a short day is what I need - the 10:00 out of Lonsdale looks like my best shot assuming I'm there until 16:30. If you do happen to be driving past/ near Lonsdale, I'd be delighted to scrounge a lift (and bring coffee etc) - I'll be the guy with the Kessler and probably a camera or two... I'll PM you my mobile number, although calls on it are horrendously expensive (you have to pay two premium rate international calls, one from BC to the UK, and the other one back from UK to BC, just to call next door...). Texts may work and are expensive but not crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted December 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2013 Sent you my cell No and a bit more info, by email. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted December 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2013 (edited) Nothing too exciting to report... Springlike conditions in December... Luka and me on skis, Tony and a friend on softies, an extremely tall h/booter on a freeride board (I have not seen him for few years, but before he was known for pushing through the lift lines) and another guy riding something like a very short and narrow BX board with completely blunt nose/tail and one of those monstrosity Rurorc helmets... Still only Eagle and Easy Rider chairs open. Loose small rocks everywhere. Ah, I felt too sorry to take my Metrons to the rocks, so I took the Head Monsters. They suck... Luka was on his last year's skis too. Edited December 16, 2013 by BlueB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted December 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 Damn, first real dump of the year and I'm siting at home with flu and big work project... :( Enjoy, Phil! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted December 21, 2013 Report Share Posted December 21, 2013 Sorry to hear that - but today was a great first day of the season from my perspective. Sooo... you can get to Cypress via the SkyTrain/ Waterbus/ Bus. They have changed the Waterbus terminal so you can get there underground from the SkyTrain stop now, you don't have to walk along the street and back into the station any more. The bus for Cypress goes from a slightly different place to most of the buses at Lonsdale Quay: to find it you have to walk through the bus station to the far end, then turn right, past a couple of car park entrances, to a cafe called "Bean Around the World", which serves way better coffee than the major outlets and their pastries are better too. The bus for Seymore and Cypress stops outside there: both have the names painted in big font on the side so it's easy to work out. The bus takes about 40 minutes from there (it took longer to get back in traffic). There's only one bus back, as far as I can tell. Cypress... only two lifts were running - the beginner hill and one faster quad. That's basically one run when it comes down to it, and no off piste as there's obviously not much depth out there - lots of alders visible. They were discounting the lift tickets to $40 something presumably for that reason. It was the first decent dump, and a Friday afternoon, so quite a few people were out, but the lift queues were bad only at the end of the day (15:00 or so - not the end of their day, they run floodlit too). There were lots of boarders - possibly because the demographic is young. No alpine. I was asked a few times about my board. It's a small enough hill that I was stopped a couple of times when I was waiting for the bus by people who wanted to know about my board, as they'd seen me riding the hill. Conditions were chopped up crud on a solid (probably artificial) base - perfect for a slalom board to rip past everyone. I still don't get why people ride those slow boards, but it's all good... The runs are short enough that my "first day of the season" legs could make them without stopping, so not huge. Overall I'd say a perfect place to warm up day. I'd expected artificial snow and rain. 15-20 cms of fresh on an artificial base is 100% better than that, and the Kessler SL is the perfect board to rip runs with lots of slow-moving fashionable snowboarders on them. Boris: I hope you're over that soon: those guys definitely need more hard boots and race boards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crucible Posted December 23, 2013 Report Share Posted December 23, 2013 Damn, first real dump of the year and I'm siting at home with flu and big work project... :( Enjoy, Phil! You ain't missing much bro- even with the dump of snow we just had, conditions on Cypress, Seymour and Grouse are still marginal,as in "Only use your rock board" marginal... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgassizSkidder Posted December 23, 2013 Report Share Posted December 23, 2013 Here in the valley, Hemlock is still closed :(:( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted January 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2014 As no one seems to be riding/posting, here's one from a "bunny hill" in Tamarindo Beach, Costa Rica. Happy new year Guys! Ride-on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uberhucker Posted January 1, 2014 Report Share Posted January 1, 2014 New Year's Day update! Very dodgy conditions,(get it ?) JJ IS GETTING NARROWER,at least there was no crowds. as you'll see my bartenders made my day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaz Posted January 2, 2014 Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 Hey guys, I heard it's lack of snow there... but we got tons of snow in Ontario. Runs are so short, it's not a mountain, it's small hill, however enough chilly wind and snow and runs are hard-packed almost icy. It's been good condition so far. It's -18 degrees now. My toes will freeze during riding tomorrow. This is MSLM (Mount St. Louis Moonstone) where Bruce from Coiler rides. These guys are who I ride with. I miss Cypress carvers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crucible Posted January 3, 2014 Report Share Posted January 3, 2014 Today was truly awful- heavy rain and sleet at Grouse, which melted off what little base the snowmaking machines have been producing on the North Shore. It's been the most marginal conditions in the Lower Mainland in 30 years, and I've kept good logs... Meanwhile, the rest of Canada has been experiencing epic snowfall dumps and frostbite worthy temperatures... about the only decent place to ride locally has been either Mt. Baker or Whistler Blackcomb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charliechocolate Posted January 9, 2014 Report Share Posted January 9, 2014 Looks like the spell is broken. Cypress is opening Lions later today, but only Collins will be open. Let's hope the temps hold and the precip keeps coming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted January 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2014 I'll go tonight with Luka. Will post a report. Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted January 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2014 (edited) Evening ride, Luka with ski club, me on the Pure Carve... Well above expectations! Lots of white stuff came down (fricking blizzard on the way up the mountain). It was quite moist, so got compacted into very carvable surface. Not a single rock spoted. JJA formed some push piles with hard base showing through here and there. All other runs were buttery. Lions (Collins only) opened. I expected thin cover, but no, not a single rock. There is a narrow place at the upper part, where the slope goes slightly uphil, just before Mike's Corner. Panaorama was great. Midway out of commission again, as it seems thay stripped the snow to use it at Collins... Crowd not bad at all. At about 6:30pm it rained just a bit at the Lodge, but already 50m up the chair - snow. I'm waiting for the 9:30am report to confirm no rain, then going again :) It seems that the rock boards have finished their duty, I'm taking something better today... Edited January 10, 2014 by BlueB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crucible Posted January 10, 2014 Report Share Posted January 10, 2014 Maybe now I can use something on the North Shore besides my rock boards.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted January 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2014 I did it again, 11 to 1:30am ride ;) Well, well, well... These yahoos didn't bother to groom (or groom much) on JJA, so it wasn't too plesant, but still somewhat carvable. Panorama was really compacted by the skiers and sweet. Only one small brown spot showing all the way down, just before the split to the lodge. I didn't bother with Collins this morning. Not very many people. Toy for the day: Coiler Chubby. As I felt a bit tired, I fiddled with bindings every 2 runs. Boy, I forgot how micro-adjustment can improve/change the things in alpine! Over the years I developed a bit of set-and-forget attitude... --- Just checked the website - it's snowing again! Maybe this huge rainfall on forecast would end up as a huge dump at the local mountains? Cross your fingers, brothers! --- Fun situation of the day (Have to post it to the "Lift Line" thread too): After the ride, I needed to ask few questions to Bill, our Private Lessons Supervisor. I was wearing my private jacket. We were standing by the Private Lessons sign. A young instructor approached and shook my hand: "Hi, My name is..., I'll be your instr..." Bill: "Not this guy - he can teach you!" Instructor: "Ummmm....?" Bill: "This is Boris, the hardboot instructor!" :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted January 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 Where the hell is everyone?!? Come on, gys, the conditions are getting good! On the way up the mountain, it snowed all the way dow to the view point -promissing. Brought Luka to the ski club, 9am, and proceeded to play. Spectacular morning, lots of new snow, smooth groom under the fresh top. Pretty fast snow too. Best of all - hardly any people all the way to lunch time! :) Coiler AMT 177 performed like a champ. I mounted the bindings spot-on, no fiddling was required at all. After lunch the numbers picked up and steeper stuff bumped up. The snow stopped and fog rolled in... Yeah, not nearly as nice as the morning... Later it started snowing again and cleared up a bit. We left at 3pm. On the way down, the snow turned to rain as high as the lower parking. However, when I checked the website upon the return home, it was still snowing at the base. --- In the afternoon, I got taken out from behind. I hope it's the last one for this season :( It happened on the lower, widest part of Panorama, while there were 4 people on the entire section! The guy came straightlining and hit me on the exit from my toe side. Luckilly, I chended the edge already, so he hit the bottom of my board and just a bit body (or hand?) to body. Still enough to knock me over, but the a-hole didn't fall and carried on bombing without even looking behind... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted January 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 Night session... Yuck, sugar on ice... No big crowd. Good vis. My dad came from Europe this afternoon and came to Cypress right away, to watch us a bit and to chill out at the lodge... I'll put him on skis this Sunday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cousin of Beagle Posted January 18, 2014 Report Share Posted January 18, 2014 (edited) I was there Thursday night too, as well as Tuesday & Wednesday nights. Found deeper "sugar" on bumps beside the terrain park on upper Maelle Ricker. Good for practicing moguls. Lower Horizon still has rocks. Edited January 18, 2014 by Cousin of Beagle Cypress Rules! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted January 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2014 Much nicer to ride in the day... No big crowd in the morning. Some "sugar" on top of hard pack, but it built up later. Mostly sunny, or high overcast. Odd small rock on Collins and Panorama. Big brown patch on Lower Ricker... Some ice here and there... "Death Cookies" on JJA. Luka went with ski club. We also brought my dad to ski, after about 5 years break. Sad to see that he can not bend his knees almost at all (knee replacements coming up for sure), yet he still can do it. But, getting up after a fall is another story :( I rode the Kessler BX 168n in the am, boy I forgot how nice is that board! Got chased by a group of Polish skiers, to ask about the board and tell me that they haven't seen anyone snowboard that good in Canada ;) Also saw and chit-chatted to Bob the ski carver, Yoshi and Rebecca. Few people asked about Roy's prolonged absence... Skied in the pm... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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