After a day of good spring skiing inbounds at Whistler it was time to stretch the legs and get in some vert in the backcountry. With another fresh skif of snow and sub zero temps maintaining in the alpine things looked promising. The plan was to upload the Whistler Village Gondola at 10:00 then swing over to the Peak Express which tops out at 2,184 metres. From there we decided to head on over past Harmony and Symphony Bowls and then exit the resort to Flute Bowl. The travel was easy thanks to a solid but not hard surface with fresh snow on top. Once on top of the Flute Ridge we skied down to the valley and ascended Cowboy Ridge. Here we were greeted with full-on views of Fissile (which I am told is still a long ways aways and looks much closer than it actually is). After a lap down Cowboy Ridge my tour guide Vince informed me that it was prudent that we make our way back to the Whistler Village Gondola prior to the mandatory 4:00 download time. 

Vince, incidentally is the writer of Backcountry Skiing Canada’s ‘Whistler & Area Ski Touring Guide’. He’s also a long time Whistler local and a pretty great photographer as well.

With inspiring views of Blackcomb's 7th Heaven, Black Tusk and surrounding mountains the ski tour was well worth the effort, not to mention the crust-free spring turns. While the lower elevations did have some challenging isothermic snow the upper reaches of the ridges felt like mid winter skiing with a soft 5cm atop a soft layer than made for fast travel and fun turns. 

So if your legs are still craving some backcountry turns you have until May 18th to get out enjoy the backcountry before Whistler Mountain closes their winter operations. The forecast is calling for nothing but sunny skies the next few days which will make things even more enjoyable out there.

To view our route have a look at our Backcountry Skiing Canada Garmin Connect page here.