Perhaps
no other mountain resort in the world can boast the sheer magnitude and
scope of improvements that
Whistler Blackcomb has delivered over the past 40
years. And as we celebrate our anniversaries in the
upcoming 2005/06 season,
we're keeping up the
tradition!
For those of you
who ski and ride Whistler Blackcomb on a regular
basis, you'll
be thrilled to see some of the changes
we've made to terrain this year. Moving
thousands of
cubic metres of materials around the mountains –
taking material
to create better fall lines through
some zones, and adding that material to other
sites
to widen runs and gathering zones – is what our
expert crews have spent
the summer doing. When the
mountains open, these improvements will help you
navigate more efficiently and enjoyably through some
of the more popular spots on
the mountains.
For those of you
who'll be visiting Whistler Blackcomb for the first
time this winter,
then enjoy! We've been working
hard to ensure your experience here is world class,
in every way.
BIGGER AND BETTER
FAMILY ZONE.
Families and
beginners alike will absolutely love Whistler
Mountain's
BIGGER AND
BETTER
FAMILY
ZONE.
With its increase in size and move to Ego Bowl, it's
creating a better experience for families and
beginners . Plus traffic flow will be
better this
year as access to the terrain park and the Family
Zone has been
separated, ensuring that everyone can
head to their own favourite spots safely.
TUBE PARK
TUBE PARK.
Get ready to have
a blast - day or night - in Blackcomb's new
TUBE PARK,
opening December 16, 2005. Complete with 6-8 lanes
rated from green to black
diamond, and accessed via
a new tube-friendly, carpet-style lift, the TUBE
PARK
is expected to go off this winter! It'll offer
family fun for all ages – whether young
or simply
young at heart – and will include a concession stand
and fire pits to
warm cold fingers and toes. It's
located just above Base II by Parking Lot 8, and
will be accessible via the Excalibur Gondola long
after the lifts close to skiing
and riding.
IMPROVED TERRAIN
FEATURES
MAINLINE
Everyone will
enjoy the
IMPROVED SKI-OUTS
on Blackcomb Mountain with wider
runs and more
gradual slopes that will help to ease end-of-day
traffic. For example,
60,000 cubic metres/2.1
million cubic feet of earth, plus 20,000 cubic
metres/706,000 cubic feet of rock has been moved
from
MAINLINE
to widen and
grade. Plus, major work has taken place
on
EASY OUT
to improve the terrain for
Ski and Snowboard School
and beginners.
EASY OUT
HARMONY RIDGE
HARMONY
RIDGE
has been widened and graded, the landing zone
(gathering area)
at the top of the
JERSEY CREAM
lift has
quadrupled in size, and the bottom of the
BLACKCOMB
GLACIER
(before you reach the Blackcomb Glacier Road – don't
get too excited), has been smoothed out and
widened to create a much better
experience.
JERSEY CREAM
NINTENDO
TERRAIN PARK
riders will be stoked to find out that this zone
will
open way earlier this year. The material
removed from
EASY OUT
has been moved
to this zone and dirt table tops and
various other features have been built already.
According to Blackcomb's Grooming Manager, this zone
will open with just a foot
of snow on it!
TERRAIN PARK
Over on Whistler
Mountain, the top of the
RED CHAIR
gathering zone has been
expanded in size and is four
times the width that it was, plus skiers/riders will
be
encouraged to ski off the right side from the top
of the chair directly down to the
PEAK CHAIR.
UPPER WHISKEY JACK
is wider this year and is now 35
metres/115 feet
wide from just 12 metres/39 feet wide, and we've
already told you
about the great improvements to the
Family Zone.
UPPER WHISKEY JACK
All these
improvements will benefit all ability levels of
skiers and riders as they
explore our mountains. For
those craving more extreme adventures, don't worry,
we haven't taken away any of your fun. There are
still dozens of steep, tight chutes
to navigate
down, cornices to launch off, tree glades to
explore, and natural
features to hit to your heart's
content.
ADVANCED
SNOWMAKING
To improve your
early and late season mountain experience,
ADVANCED
SNOWMAKING
technology as well as increased capacity will be in
place on
Whistler Mountain by November, including
the addition of automatic guns to
improve snowmaking
efficiency.
-
Whistler
Blackcomb purchased 10 new automated snow
guns, the latest in snowmaking technology.
-
Quieter
models of snow guns will be installed near the
Timing Flats residential area at the Whistler
Mountain Creekside base.
-
The snow
making water reservoir located at Whistler Peak
has doubled in size to 20 million gallons of
water.
-
Snow guns
installed in Ego Bowl on Whistler will extend
the early and late season skiing/riding in the
Family Zone.
PEAK RESERVOIR
Our snowmaking
crews have been busy testing equipment and got the
guns fired up for the first time on September 21st –
the earliest date ever. We're primed for winter! Are
you?