PaulB

Not quite true anymore, but in any case, a free heel is a lot more forgiving on the knees in a cartwheeling yardsale than a non-releasing fixed heel would be. The 404s have a laterally releasing heel, but not a releasable toe. My advice would be to not mount the 404s, and keep an eye out for a used pair of modern AT bindings, preferrrably Dynafits. If you don't find any in the next month or so, you will definitely find some in the fall.

Stay away from Whistler the weekend of April 22/23 as the two races at this event will be the exact opposite of what you have described.

In a similar vein, the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Committee has been putting the squeeze on businesses in BC which have any variation of the word "Olympic" in their name. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/s...alSmallBusiness

I've only driven it in the fall when there was a bit of snow, but in general it was in good shape. For winter/spring access, it probably depends on if there is any active logging going on. If there is, the roads may be plowed, but the various gates may be locked. If there isn't, things probably aren't plowed. The Chilliwack Forest District road conditions page classifies it as "seasonally deactivated".

Lots of good info and some recommendations here.

Re-visit this related thread.... you might want to set down your drink first.

Even for the really fast folks (4-5 hours), they'd be cutting it close to catch the second ride before the uppper lifts closed. I'm pretty sure I've read/heard that many of the "X times in a day" events on the Spearhead involve slogging back and forth between the East Col and Singing Pass, with a final run down the Singing Pass trail. The proposed challenge was to ski the Spearhead one day, and the Neve the next, or vice versa.

Well, six of us (three going each way) did the traverse on Sunday, but none of us climbed Garibaldi. At midday, my group was just getting up out of Ring Creek and onto the Bishop Glacier. The other group was starting the climb from Sentinel Bay up to the col below Glacier Pikes.

Nope, G-ROC couldn't get anyone to step up on Saturday.

The Neve was in fine condition this weekend with lots of people doing overnight and day trips. Ring Creek is well bridged, as are crevasses near the Sharkfin. The Garibaldi Lake trail is very icy in spots. Most people were hiking up it rather than skinning. Skiing down it by headlamp was not pleasant. Full snow coverage starts at about the 2km mark. With high clearance and good tires or chains it is possible to drive to within a few hundred meters of the Rubble Creek parking lot. The road up to the Diamond Head parking lot is currently in good shape, and easily driven by any vehicle. The trail up to Red Heather meadows and on to Elfin Lakes is well packed down by snowshoers.

That's some high praise coming from a pilot with Don's experience. Not sure that he does long line rescues though.

The snow is gonna be hard, so you won't have to worry about trail breaking, but it's gonna be cold. Garibaldi should be in prime climbing condition, but it might be worth taking crampons in case the snow is too hard to kick steps.

Jordop & I saw people climbing at "The Office" last Saturday. Didn't look too bad, but I wouldn't have paid $38 to climb it.

From the Feb. 12 Whistler alpine forecast:

Sail from Vancouver to Knight Inlet, climb Waddington and sail back to Vancouver. I think this has also been done by kayak for at least one of the water legs.

I seem to recall reading that Barry Blanchard and crew called EC for a forecast while bivied high on Robson a few years back. "Hi we're on Mt. Robson and are concerned we might die in this storm. Can you tell us what our chances are?"

Jim is also a solid ice/mixed climber if anyone's ever looking for an ice guide.

To put things in perspective, on a scale of 1 - 10, the skiing at Whistler right now is around 11, while the ice climbing potential between there and Vancouver is probably around 1.5 (or less). Take advantage of the snow conditions and ski until your legs can't take it anymore.

You can read through this ongoing thread on Telemarktips.com to get a feel for conditions in the Whistler & Duffey backcountry. Some good bits of info here as well.

A guy in my office is a good enough sailor (dunno exactly what he does onboard) that he regularly gets flown back and forth between the coasts to work on various race boats. A couple of summers ago in the Tantalus Range I met a guy from Whistler who was on the Alinghi when it won the America's Cup in 2003. He was climbing for a couple of days with his girlfriend before flying down to San Francisco for a race that weekend. If you're good enough, it sounds like a fun gig.

1600m (5250') seems to be the magic number around Whistler right now. Light and fluffy above that, heavy and thick below. Low valley conditions are still pretty marginal. Skied Flute & Oboe today, and conditons were still superb.

More importantly, how far are you from Mugs & Jugs?

For anyone looking to head north, the Whistler backcountry has been fantastic lately, and there's more snow on the way.

Possibly, no one knows what happened to the bullet after Chuck Norris deflected it with his beard.

Any ascent is best done while skis can be used for the bulk of the approach, either from Elfin Lakes or Brohm Ridge. The standard routes require only an ice axe and a rope, maybe a picket or two.