Suddenly, out of nowhere, some more snow arrived. After a few days of depressing slush, we woke up on Friday 25th to discover that there'd been 14cm of new snow overnight. Not only that, but the sun was high in the sky and there wasn't a cloud in sight. Dawson and I took the 09:30 bus into the village and went up the Whistler gondola.

We began by traversing below the reservoir next to the Peak chair to get to Franz's Meadow. Rather than dropping down towards Franz's chair, we stayed high and rode through the trees towards Highway 86. Halfway there we were stopped by a ski-instructor, who wanted to know where he was!

We found some great snow on the descent down to the Highway then rode down to Red, jumping off the hits to the side of the run. At the top of Red I went in search of deeper powder, so left Dawson, who wasn't convinced by the fresh snow. I set off to do Goat's Gully, but was distracted by the jump at the junction of Dave Murray and Bear Cub then the spines on the following corner and the side of the run, and realised too late that I'd missed my intended route.

Peak showed no sign of opening when I went up Red, so I dropped down Dave Murray again and dived down Goat's Gully. The snow there was OK, but a little heavy, as the day was warming up.

I did the run down through the trees to the left of Orange Peel and on across Jimmy's Joker, then took Red up again and decided to queue for Peak. I arrived near the front of the singles queue at 11:45, at which point the chair seemed almost ready to go. Unfortunately an avalanche control charge had misfired and there were only 9 patrollers out on the mountain, as no-one had expected the fresh snow. As a result, it was actually 12:45 before the lift opened.

I was on the 9th chair up, and proceeded with the usual plan of ignoring Shale Slope, heading straight to the West Bowl. I straight-lined down Frontier Pass as far as the steep pitch leading to the Justice Drop-in, put in a few turns down there, then followed the little path off to the right. There were two ski-tracks on the path, presumably belonging to patrollers, but both turned back at the cliff. I dropped in over the ridge and rode past the rock dividing the Cockalorum gully from the second one in, then paused and looked down the gully. Admiring the lovely fresh snow, I thought how lucky I was to be there, set off, and promptly started a large avalanche.

Starting on my toe-edge, I crossed the gully once and turned onto my heel edge. I crossed the gully a second time and put in another turn before realising that the entire slope above me was accelerating down the gully. I began swearing loudly, whilst concentrating on digging in my toe edge. I was in the middle of the gully, being dragged down the mountain by the weight of the snow, but was managing to avoid tumbling, so carried on braking. After a slide of about 30m I started to slow and was relieved to see that most of the snow had passed me. Eventually I came to a halt, and sat there for a few minutes watching the snow tumbling down over the rocks into the bowl.

I wasn't sure of the safest way to proceed, but eventually traversed out of the gully and into the middle of the bowl where the pitch was a little less steep. The run down the face of the bowl wasn't actually that good, as I kept hitting avalanche debris from previous days and the icy layer under the fresh snow. Things improved in the shallower run-out from the bowl and by the time I reached the Highway I was quite pleased with the run. I was also very pleased with the fact that I was still alive, considering how the avalanche could have turned out.

I did another lap on Peak, riding down Surprise, under the chairlift. The snow was as unstable there as in the West Bowl and the avalanche debris was hard and uneven. Back at Peak I decided to try something a bit different - Piccolo.

My logic was that the slopes on Piccolo were less steep than those on Whistler, so would be less liable to avalanche. I rode down from Peak and cut off piste, traversing across the flat area towards the start of the Piccolo. The snow was quite quick, so I managed to get further than normal before I came to a halt.

As I strapped my board onto my bag for the hike, a skier pulled up alongside me. He asked if I had a beeper (slang for an avalanche transceiver) and whether I was alone. I had to admit to having neither a transceiver nor any friends, but rather than telling me how dumb I was, the skier asked if I'd mind partnering him for the hike.

We set off up Piccolo and chatted a bit on the way, then paused for a break at the top and me up with another couple of skiers. The skier I'd met at the beginning of the hike took command, analysing the snow conditions as we proceeded and telling us which route was best. Rather than riding down the boundary fence as I have done in the past, he guided us beyond the fence into boundary bowl.

The route to the fence was OK, but as the day was getting on, the snow had a bit of a crust. The pitch of the slope was not steep enough for avalanches to be a danger though, so we raced down and regrouped at the fence.

Dropping away to the right of the fence was Boundary Bowl. Our guide, Miles, told us we should do the slope one at a time. One of the other skiers went first, setting off a few minor avalanches, then Miles followed. I went third and set off another large avalanche and paused to watch it falling away below me. I joined the other two at the bottom, away to the side of the slope we were descending.

The fourth member of the party then set off, slightly to the left of the tracks we'd left behind. Just as the slope began to get steeper, he set off an enormous avalanche. The three of us down below were not in the path of the avalanche, so watched in awe as tonnes of snow roared down the mountain.

After that, the day was a bit of an anti-climax. There was a long, slow traverse out from boundary bowl, then I said goodbye to my backcountry friends, took Harmony up and rode down Pika's Traverse, back to the relative civilisation of the Roundhouse.

I met up with Dawson there for bite to eat, then we rode down through the terrain park to Olympic Station and downloaded.

It was Bob and Matt's last night in Whistler, so we ate out at Gaitor's, moved downstairs to the Boot for an hour or so, then headed into the village for a few drinks in the Dubh Linn Gate. When that closed we paid a final visit to Tommy Africa's, then ended up back at the Palace, where we joined by some of our Whistler friends.

Dawson and I went up Whistler on Saturday 26th, after a morning recovering from the party. The sky was clear again, so we took the Peak chair up to the summit of Whistler and burnt down Saddle. The snow was pretty good, so we took Peak back up and turned right down Frontier Pass.

I turned off the run to take a few pictures of Cockalorum and the Justice Drop-in, while Dawson carried on down the groomed piste. Having got some good shots I carried on down slightly then dropped into Bagel Bowl and met up again with Dawson back on Highway 86.

We hit the park next and spent a while there, hiking back up to do the park benches and box-rail a few times. The visibility was pretty good, so we took turns filming each other falling off the jumps.

After lunch at the Roundhouse we rode down the hit-run, filming a few more jumps, then finished the day with a run down the Rollers on Coyote.

To my amazement, there was more fresh snow on Sunday 27th. The website said 6cm, but high up there was considerably more.

I began with the hit run. The visibility was pretty bad, but the snow was unexpectedly good, so I decided to head higher up the mountain and see what the snow was like on Peak.

I wasn't convinced that the snow was deep enough for the steeper slopes of Cockalorum and the Justice Drop-in, so I rode past them and on into Bagel Bowl. The snow there was deeper than I'd seen lower down on Dave Murray and much better than I'd been expecting. Even on the steeper slopes, where I was cutting through the fresh snow, it didn't feel hard - the snow from previous days seemed to be soft underneath, and on the shallower slopes in the run-out the snow was deep enough to avoid hitting anything below the powder.

On the way up Red I noticed a curved box-rail had been installed in the new summer park by the T-Bars. I'd been planning to try the one in the intermediate park later on, until it struck me that it might be the same rail. I did a quick run through the park to see what was left, and found that the only things left were the rainbow and a straight box-rail. The curve had gone.

With the park in ruins and fresh snow on Peak, I changed my plan and headed back up to the summit. Having found nice snow in Bagel Bowl I tried the slightly steeper slopes of Cockalorum instead. I dropped straight down the gully and was amazed by how good the snow was. The visibility had cleared enough for me to see the entire bowl, so I flew down enjoying the snow. The run-out from Cockalorum is much longer than that from Bagel Bowl but had great soft snow the whole way to the exit ramp. By the time I hit the cat-track I had the usual West-Bowl grin.

I paused for lunch at the Roundhouse and bumped into Mike, then headed straight back up Peak. I tried Cockalorum again but traversed out into the bowl and had another great run down through the bowl. On the way, I looked up at the Justice Drop-in and began wondering whether the snow might be deep enough to give that one final go.

I needn't have worried. I stopped just after I'd dropped over the edge and stuck my hand in to measure the depth of the snow - there was at least 20cm of powder on top of the hard base. Encouraged, I slid down the hill slightly, past the rock dividing the two gullies and into the second gully. As I arrived, most of the snow beneath me departed - another West Bowl avalanche. Luckily there was no-one below, and I watched the snow tumbling harmlessly over the rocks below.

I traversed out into the bowl and had another great run down, then did another lap, taking the Justice Drop-in again and traversing slightly further. By the end of my fifth lap of Peak I was feeling pretty tired, so I headed down through the remains of the park and on to Olympic Station to download.

Back at the Palace I began the mammoth task of packing everything up, ready for departure the next day.