Pemberton Ice cap

Made it home from an all time Europe trip. All reports are that the avalanche stability and the snow in general is terrible. So I set out with a bunch of the Pemberton crew for a little recon trip up the Rutherford.The temps have been holding steady around plus 10 in the alpine even thru the nights but we still managed to find a lot of pretty good snow. Put on over 100kms and ended up hanging out on the porch of the Whistler heli sledders airstream trailer. By far the best view of any trailer park. Forecast is calling for more of the same weather, unfortunately I might have to head back over to Europe.

new sled wrap

Every year Whistler’s Pique newspaper runs a survey for the readers to choice their favorite, restaurants, bar, servers, athletes etc. This year I was voted favorite adult ski pro. Thanks to everyone who voted. This is how the article reads.

Part of the reason that the TWSSF is such a success every year is the fact that you’ll find more pro riders in the Sea to Sky than anywhere else on earth. As expected, dozens of athletes got multiple votes in this category but the winner is the master of big drops Dan Treadway. He’s been banned from the mountains on a few occasions forventuring into Permanently Closed Areas-potentially deadly areas for lesser skiers. Talk to anyone who’s been here long enough and they’ll tell you a Treadway story, usually something they saw on a chairlift and day and that they couldn’t believe. Other pros to get multiple votes include Mark Schroeder, Tom Prochaska, Rob Boyd, Jen ashton, Rick Perolli, Hugo Harrison and Mike Douglas.

We’ve heard that just on the other side of the Swiss alps, it’s been dumping. Hard to believe as 5kms away it’s been clear and cold. Damian and I have been fooled by this before as often it warms up soon as the storm departs from Italy. Friends in Gressoney say that it’s been snowing for a week and is supposed to clear for a few days. So it’s back on and off the train and on and off again. We pulled into the 20km tunnel at Grand St Bernard as the sun was coming up, still no new snow. We arrived to a winter wonder land as we emerged from the tunnel. It was like we left Switzerland and came out in Alaska.

just a few of our bomb holes

The mountains are caked in fresh pow and there are spines formed on places that have been rock for at least the past 20 years.

as good as it gets

 As we get closer to Gressoney the snow keeps staking up. We’re a bunch of kids running around the parking lot getting ready to board one of the many lifts that access the valleys of Gressoney, Champo-luc and Alanga.

Phil Mier with one of the greasiest moustaches ever

The snow is even better than we could have expected. Blower pow and some of the most diverse terrain I’ve ever seen. We planned to spend a day or two here but the snow is way to good to leave, so we stay and ski!

Svere Lilliquists car. this never gets old

My Swiss adventure has brought me to Engelberg. We were welcomed with open arms to a great new hotel owned by a cool group of Swedes. It’s called www.skilodgeengelberg.com The place has a great atmosphere that caters to young ski bums but also has a classy feel with amazing food.

Matty Richard squezing oranges for breakfast

 The snow isn’t the best so it’s been a bit of a lifestyle shoot. We made it into a monestarey for some cool photos. Engelberg tourism hooked us up with an evening of fondue and hot tubing in this place located half way up the mountain. It sleeps 45, has 2 hot tubs, dining room, a wedding chapel and is made entirely of snow and ice. It turned into a wicked party that ended with us skiing a freshly groomed 2000ft vert run in the moonlight. The skiing, mountains and parties make this place one of my favorite in the alps.

I’m in Switzerland travelling on a Rossignol shoot with Damian Cromwell and Matty Richard. We arrived to 35cms of new snow in Verbier and sunny skies. Figured we’d take advantage of the clear skies and start shooting asap. It was fun as there has been no snow back home in Whistler so we hadn’t been off the ground on our skis yet or really skied pow. Every turn and air ended up with the rest of the crew laughing. It was the busiest weekend of the year so most popular runs got skied out quick so we spent our time hiking for our turns.The beauty of this place is that you don’t need to hike far for long untracked runs. It’s been snowing all year here to the valley so the runs can be as long as 9500 verticle feet starting on huge alpine faces to sub alpine bowls and ending up in farmers fields. There’s nothing quite like skiing over here. It’s a sport and a history lesson all in one.

I was on my way to Switzerland to ski with Damian Cromwell and Matty Richard. We almost made it but as we came in to land in Geneva the runway closed because of snow and ice. We were pissed not to land but as we started back for Amsterdam, it sunk in that we are headed to Amsterdam for New Years. All I can say it’s everything you’ve ever heard and then some!!!