{"id":924,"date":"2008-09-02T12:49:26","date_gmt":"2008-09-02T03:49:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2008-09-02\/924"},"modified":"2008-09-02T12:49:26","modified_gmt":"2008-09-02T03:49:26","slug":"a-short-wet-trip-up-whistler-mountain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2008-09-02\/924","title":{"rendered":"A Short, Wet Trip Up Whistler Mountain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 31 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1000 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nLong-term Parking<\/span>\nsnow-grooming equipment parked for the summer, at the top of a mountain<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The first day of our trip to Whistler (in British Columbia, Canada) a\ncouple<\/span> of weeks ago was beautifully sunny, but arriving sort of late, we\ndidn't do much but appreciate our great room<\/a> at the\nhotel. The second<\/span> day was mostly overcast, but we got in a nice bike ride<\/a>, some kid play for Anthony<\/a>, and\na walk<\/span> around Whistler Village.<\/p>\n\n

It rained all day on our final day. We had some<\/span> time to kill between\nchecking out of the hotel and the train ride home, so we took the 25-minute\ngondola ride to the top of Whistler Mountain.<\/p>\n\n

Many people told us how super amazingly beautiful it was up there on a\nnice<\/span> day, but on a rainy<\/span> day, well, the lady at the ticket counter told us\nthe conditions at the top with a “do you really<\/i> want to do this?”\nlook. We had the<\/span> time to kill, so we did....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 17 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>50 sec, f<\/span>\/3.2, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nReady to Board<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The luge, bobsled, toboggan, (are any of these real sports<\/i>?) and\nthe downhill ski events for the 2010 Winter Olympics will be held here,\nbut in the summer, it's a mecca<\/span> for downhill mountain bikers.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 38 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>10 sec, f<\/span>\/3.2, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nTwo Bikers Ready to Hit the Slopes<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

There were lots of mountain bikers, but few tourists like us. The attendant<\/span> cleaned the seats of our gondola before we got in.<\/p>\n\n

The gondolas were steamed up on the inside, and covered with\nrain splatter on the outside, so there was essentially no view. What would\nhave certainly been beautiful on a nice<\/span> day was left to our imagination. I tried<\/span> to take a few<\/span> shots through the foggy windows, and here's one from\nearly on (320 meters above, and 1.3km away from the start) that actually\ncame out much better than I would<\/span> have expected.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/3.5, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nLooking Back<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

By pushing the “Black Level” in Lightroom up to the max, much of the\nfogginess went away, and as a result,<\/span> more detail can be seen in the photo\nthan we could see at the time.<\/p>\n\n

The caption I used for the photo above – “Looking Back” – is\npretty boring, but the best I could<\/span> come up with. I realize<\/span> now that I used<\/span>\nthe same caption for the same kind of\nphoto<\/a> that appeared on my post about a visit<\/span> up to Mt. Misen<\/a> on\nthe Japanese island of Miyajima. I guess<\/span> I'm predictable.<\/p>\n\n

Anyway, the lift goes up for 10 minutes, then goes slowly through a\nstation<\/span> where mountain bikers get off, to go get muddy as they careen down\nthe mountain trial. We stayed<\/span> in, and continued for another 15 or so\nminutes to the top.<\/p>\n\n

Conditions were miserable up at the top – no view, cold\ntemperatures just above freezing, raining, with a fairly<\/span> strong wind\n– and we had only a short<\/span> time before we had to turn around and head\nback for the train. There is, however, a very<\/span> nice lodge, so Fumie and\nAnthony stayed inside while I ventured<\/span> out.<\/p>\n\n

Because of the rain, I had an<\/span> umbrella, and a FotoSharp camera raincoat<\/a> on my Nikon D200.<\/p>\n\n

The top of the mountain was, as one might expect, fairly bleak. Lots of\nrocks. It reminded<\/span> me a lot<\/span> of New Hampshire's Mt.\nWashington<\/a>, which I climbed<\/span> when I was<\/span> in grad school, except that\nthere's much<\/i> more wind there. (Wherever you are, you can say that\nMt. Washington is more windy. It's the windiest<\/span> known place on earth.)<\/p>\n\n

One big difference here is that there is a lot<\/span> of ski-slope equipment parked for the summer....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 28 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>180 sec, f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nParked for the Summer<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 28 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/3.2, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBlade and Extra Treads<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Those coiled up treads are, of course, the answer to last week's What am I?<\/a> post.<\/p>\n\n

Half a mile from where the gondolas drop you off, the Horstman Glacier\nstarts. I thought<\/span> I'd walk over to it, but the wind and rain made for slow\ngoing, and I never<\/span> actually made it before I had<\/span> to rush back for the\ntrain. I snapped<\/span> a few<\/span> pictures, instead.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 17 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/8, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSmall Mountaintop Glacier<\/span>\nshrouded in clouds and rain\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 17 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nAgain<\/span>\nwith some mountain flowers\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 17 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>60 sec, f<\/span>\/10, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nLooking Back Toward the Drop-Off<\/span>\nthe lodge is just visible at the very right edge\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 31 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/10, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nThis is About as Close as I Got<\/span><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

I was just 130m from the first bit of ice, but the 260m round trip\nwould have taken more time than I could<\/span> afford. As it was<\/span>, I literally<\/span> ran\nback to the lodge to make it on time. (Running downhill is much faster than\nrunning uphill, but comes with its own challenges).<\/p>\n\n

In the end, there were no great views, but it was a fun<\/span> side excursion anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first day of our trip to Whistler (in British Columbia, Canada) a couple of weeks ago was beautifully sunny, but arriving sort of late, we didn't do much but appreciate our great room at the hotel. The second day was mostly overcast, but we got in a nice bike ride, some kid play for Anthony, and a walk around Whistler Village.<\/p>

It rained all day on our final day. We had some time to kill between checking out of the hotel and the train ride home, so we took the 25-minute gondola ride to the top of Whistler Mountain.<\/p> [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/924"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/924\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}