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Western Snowboarding

This category contains 137 posts

VANOC Resorts to Straw at Cypress

There is likely a straightforward answer to this question, but I don’t know what it is: why did the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee (VANOC) decide that Cypress Mountain, which is located in Vancouver, would be a suitable venue for any ski or snowboard events? Are they not aware of how warm the weather can get [...]

Lessons From Whistler: I Had It All Wrong

It took 150 centimetres over the past week – yes, that’s how much it snowed while I was in Whistler – to show me that Whistler is an incredibly gigantic mountain area with so much terrain that you never have to do the same run twice.

Heading Home From Whistler

I’ll have a full report when I get home. In the meantime, enjoy this photo from a spot on Whistler Bowl near the Christmas Trees area. Given the low visibility at the time, we turned around and dropped into a bowl we were familiar with instead!

Photo From Whistler: Whistler Bowl

Whistler Bowl, a massive powder bowl that leads to a surprisingly empty valley of snow. We’ve been spending a LOT of time in here.

Whistler Shredding Day 1: 70cm of Fresh In The Alpine. And It Hasn’t Stopped Since.

“I’ve never seen conditions like this before.” That’s a statement we heard several times Saturday from locals up here in Whistler. Initially, Steve and I were worried we had missed the big pow day. After all, we arrived Friday night, and Whistler had received about 40-50 centimetres of snow the night before. While we knew [...]

Cypress Mountain Closes Ahead of the Games Due to Rain

This ain’t good. Cypress Mountain, which will host freestyle skiing and snowboarding events during the Olympics, has closed due to rain. You can read the details here. The move sounds precautionary – I’m sure that as an Olympic venue, they will have plenty of snow on hand – but it’s still not great news one [...]

Ski Resort News: Intrawest in Talks Over Missed Debt Repayment.

Financial websites are abuzz after Intrawest’s reportedly missed a $524 million (USD) loan repayment on Wednesday. You can read the details here. Intrawest partially or fully outright owns many popular ski resorts in North America, including Steamboat, Ontario’s Blue Mountain and Whistler Blackcomb. Vancouver’s Olympic Organizing Committee has said the issue will not effect any [...]

Today Is World Snowboard Day

Today is World Snowboard Day, which is being celebrated in 32 different countries via more than 130 events. I’d never heard of such a thing until scanning the newswires this week, but it seems like a neat idea. Maybe next year we can put together a feature ahead of time. World Snowboard Day was first [...]

Return to Whistler: 2010 Edition

Well, I just can’t seem to help myself. I’ve booked yet another trip to Whistler. This will make it the zillionth year in a row that I’ve decided to head to this world-class ski resort instead of somewhere else. Steve and I will be heading there in Mid-January. I swear, this was going to be [...]

Post 700: How Echo Mountain is Bucking Industry Trends

Hey, it’s post 700! Although we haven’t been as active the past 12 months or so we still plan to stick around. So thanks for coming along! Our 700th post is just a quick link to a recent article on Colorado’s Echo Mountain, a relatively new ski area that’s kicking ass and taking names despite [...]