Podcasts about Falls Creek

Jack, Joel, and Tess are back in the Richmond studio to record Episode 130. The episode kicks off, as usual, with plenty of side stories and laughs before they dive into their training weeks. TRAINING WEEKS Joel takes the lead in discussing their training weeks, starting with how he cranks out some solid k reps before finishing his week with his best threshold yet at Falls Creek—capping off at 139k for his biggest week ever! Jack, also up at Falls, shares his k rep session, completed at a pace Joel can only dream about, before the two recap their last long run on the mountain. Tess wraps up her final Pulse session before jetting off to Sydney for some corporate duties and tackling her first threshold at Centennial Park. THE BIG Q A listener writes in seeking advice on a dilemma regarding the Sydney Marathon ballot. GIVE SOME KUDOS Tess kicks off this segment by giving a huge shoutout to the female runners hitting the road around Centennial Park for their Friday morning jog. Joel recommends a new techno/ambient artist he's been into recently, named Loidas, before Jack wraps up the segment by offering kudos to grass tracks. TWHSOITWTWATSA Tess takes aim at some controversial choices made by the Under Armour team for their men's elite kit—let's just say grey half tights won't be making the 2025 in-list. Jack shares his thoughts on carbon sandals, while Joel throws Tess under the bus after receiving a photo of her wearing a questionably sized visor… SIGN UP TO OUR PATREON TODAY: www.patreon.com/forthekudos Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forthekudos Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/forthekudos TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@forthekudos Jack: https://www.instagram.com/jackrayner7 Joel: https://www.instagram.com/joeltobinblack Tess: https://www.instagram.com/tesssicaa_  

We hope you survived last week's 40-degree weather and those moist 95% humidity mornings.   This week we had results from Strive Program A and the Bunbury Australia Day Fun Run, organised by friends of the show the Bunbury Runners Club.  In this week's interview, we were fortunate to chat to some of the team from BM Running, freshly back from a stint over at Falls Creek altitude camp in Victoria rubbing shoulders with some heavy hitters in the Australian Running Scene. Ellie Glands, a steeplechase specialist who ran a 28 second PB of 17.53 in the State Open 5000m last Saturday.  Hannah Doyle a name we say very often here at the WA Running Pod with PBs of 9.53 in the 3000m and 4.30 just this Friday at Strive Program A. And finally, Brenton Mizen, founder of BM Running with a few achievements of his own that includes state titles in the 400m and 800m.  In WARP admin we share more updates about our upcoming Bunbury Running Festival training series sponsored by Bix Nutrition, before celebrating this week's Weapons of WARP.    Reach out and connect! Instagram: @warunningpod Email: warunningpodcast@gmail.com  Strava: https://www.strava.com/clubs/WARP

This episode is brought to you by DoDay Hobart Run The Bridge. Brett & Joel shed light on one of their favourite races on the Australian calendar before taking the listeners through Patreon housekeeping. This includes an announcement of our next special series (which will run weekly in addition to The Summer Show and all the extra bonus content. You'd be silly to miss this one. We have FTK hats and FTK perfume dropping next week (remember FTK Patreon's receive early access to merch and 20% off the entire store. TRAINING WEEKS This week it's Jude who's flying in km reps on the aqueduct at Falls Creek and is able to back it up with an even more impressive session on Friday morning. Seriously this man is flying. Jack lays down another solid week of training before the two hint at their upcoming American indoor campaign. Joel gets through km reps unscathed and has one of his best threshold workouts in recent memory. THE BIG Q This week Joel's athlete Danny writes in about cross training with a upper leg nerve injury. The three guys all talk from their personal perspectives about how best to tackle a situation like this. After answering the question Jack, Joel and Jude all have a laugh at one of Jude's recent cross-training related stories. GIVE SOME KUDOS Joel hypes up Yoshi and his family for driving all the way from Melbourne to treat himself, Brett & Ryoji before cooking a Japanese banquet feast for the entire MTC training group. Jack highlights his love for coconut water - Joel backs this statement up however Jude likens it to "corn-flakes-water". Lastly you've probably seen lots of him across the MTC socials but Jude delivers a hefty amount of kudos to our Japanese training partner Ryoji - the happiest man on the mountain. TWHSOITWTWATSA Joel brings up a Burger King marathon, Jack is certainly unsure about the Houston Half Mara finish and Jude brings up a social media comment from an Australian UFC star (or as Joel calls it - fighting sports). The episode closes out with an absolutely wild story about one of Jack and Joel's old friends Callum "Buddha" Drake.   SIGN UP TO OUR PATREON TODAY: www.patreon.com/forthekudos Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forthekudos Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/forthekudos TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@forthekudos Jack: https://www.instagram.com/jackrayner7 Joel: https://www.instagram.com/joeltobinblack Jude: https://www.instagram.com/judeethomas/

In this episode of the Sweat Elite podcast, host Matt interviews Andy Buchanan, renowned for his recent Australian Marathon Record of 2:06:22. Conversing from Falls Creek, Andy discusses various aspects of his running career, including his lifetime mileage, pivotal training strategies, nutrition habits, and the psychological strategies he employs during races.  Andy shares insights into his progression from shorter track events to marathons, emphasizing the principle of 'less is more' in training, meticulously structured long runs, and adaptive nutrition. He candidly talks about the role of sports psychology in handling negative thoughts during races, and details his planned 2024 racing schedule, including the London Marathon and the World Championships. Additionally, Andy highlights the importance of proper recovery, both physically and mentally, in achieving peak performance. SPONSOR: This episode of the Sweat Elite Podcast is brought to you by SAYSKY, the Danish running brand known for its minimalist aesthetic and uncompromising performance. Experience the joy of effortless movement with SAYSKY's innovative apparel and footwear, designed to enhance your runs and elevate your style. For a limited time, Sweat Elite listeners can enjoy 15% off their entire SAYSKY order. Simply visit saysky.com and use code SWEAT15 at checkout. Topics: 00:00 Introduction and Welcome 00:32 Early Running Career and Training Evolution 02:58 Marathon Training Insights 07:52 Diet and Nutrition 12:47 Mental Strategies and Race Psychology 16:36 Future Races and Goals 19:00 Final Thoughts and Upcoming Races

Another Falls Creek special for episode 38 of Spiked Up! The girls give a bit of background into how Falls Creek works & why it's the Mecca of Australian distance running. Rose and Sarah put together a strong week up at altitude. Rose is back from her niggle and Sarah is ticking boxes (up Mt McKay hill). The episode wraps with everyone's favourite segment TWSOITWASA!   SIGN UP TO OUR PATREON TODAY: www.patreon.com/forthekudos Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forthekudos Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/forthekudos TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@forthekudos Rose: https://www.instagram.com/rose.davies Sarah: https://www.instagram.com/sarahbilling

You'll hear some familiar voices at the beginning of this episode before Jack, Joel & Tess get stuck into their first recording of 2025. The three of them fill the listeners in on what they've been up to recently before the new podcast structure gets underway. TRAINING WEEKS Jack shares his ridiculously fast k reps from his first week at falls creek. Tess is forced to self-coach for another week after some miscommunication between her and her coach. Joel trains in Melbourne on Tuesday before heading up to Falls Creek. Jack and Joel run 1h45 together on Sunday, where a toilet stop sees them run rapid in the back half. THE BIG Q This week Tess' athlete Bridget writes in with a question about different running surfaces. The three hosts share their thoughts on how best to approach different surfaces and why a mix of everything is the smartest idea. GIVE SOME KUDOS Thanks to our Patreon Tara we have our fresh new segment where each host must contribute a recommendation each week (usually running related but not always), it could be a person, a product, a store...the options are endless. For the first "Give Some Kudos" Jack and Joel both chose people that they believe go above and beyond to support the athletes training at Falls Creek, while Tess chooses a race that was forced to make a hard decision on the weekend. TWHSOITWTWATSA Everyone's favourite segment. Tess goes hard on one of her friends for a suspicious Strava upload. Jack is unsure about a great photographers editing choices and Joel throws shade at one of his co-hosts for their horrible attempt at surfing. We apologise for the poor audio quality of Jack and Joel this week - it will be fixed for next week

The girls are back for a big 2025! Epsiode 37 of Spiked Up kicks off with some holiday reflections. Sarah provides some ins and outs for 2025 and Rose's frontal lobe develops (turns 25). Their training weeks include some highs and lows but they're back at Falls Creek and motivated for another big year. The episode concludes with TWSOITWASA (

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This episode is brought to you by ON TRACK NIGHTS: ZATOPEK:10 This week Brett & Joel are joined with middle distance star and Olympian Abbey Caldwell. After Abbey takes the listeners through her training week in the lead up her 3000m at this weekend's Zatopek race, she gives insight into exactly how her year panned out. One example is how Abbey felt that locking in the 800m Olympic qualifier early, meant she struggled to show up mentally for her European 1500m races. Brett lays down his final workouts in Falls Creek before taking a tumble in Canberra and Joel spends the later part of the week tackling the Melbourne heat. GET YOUR ON TRACK NIGHTS: ZATOPEK 10 TICKETS HERE SUPPORT JOEL IN RACING POINT TO PINNACLE FOR MOVEMBER SIGN UP TO OUR PATREON TODAY: www.patreon.com/forthekudos Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forthekudos Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/forthekudos TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@forthekudos Brett: https://www.instagram.com/brett_robinson23 Joel: https://www.instagram.com/joeltobinblack Abby: https://www.instagram.com/abbeycaldwelll

Experience the poignant journey of Leon on Christmas Eve as he grapples with the loss of his beloved mother, Jackie. Set in the festive town of Falls Creek in Victoria, Australia, Leon finds himself yearning for the joy and warmth that once filled his holidays. This heartwarming episode captures the essence of love, loss, and the enduring bonds that transcend time. A perfect episode for anyone seeking a touch of Christmas magic and the timeless reminder of those we hold dear.  This podcast contains themes around Christmas, loss and family. Written, Directed and Performed by Noel Anderson. More Info: https://linktr.ee/noelanderson Start Your Own Blog and Get $25 Credit

Episode 33 of Spiked Up is brought to you from Falls Creek. The girls take us through a great week of training including an impressive Tuesday workout from Rose. In other great news Sarah felt like her old self as she introduced some speed back in. The episode wraps with TWSOITWASA which features MTC's guardian angel (iykyk).   SIGN UP TO OUR PATREON TODAY: www.patreon.com/forthekudos Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forthekudos Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/forthekudos TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@forthekudos Rose: https://www.instagram.com/rose.davies Sarah: https://www.instagram.com/sarahbilling

Sunday Sermon- July 14 2024: Philippians 1:15-18 & Falls Creek Report

Senator James Lankford joins us to share his journey from a youth pastor to a U.S. Senator, driven by faith and a deep commitment to public service. In this episode, we explore the pivotal moments that shaped James's life, including his early experiences growing up in a single-parent home, his calling to ministry, and his eventual transition into politics. James discusses how his faith has guided him throughout his career, from working with youth at Falls Creek to making the leap into Congress. He opens up about the challenges and rewards of serving in public office, the role of faith in his decision-making, and how he balances his responsibilities as a Senator with his commitment to his family. Join us for an inspiring conversation about faith, leadership, and the impact of service on both a personal and national level. Follow Senator Lankford Website: https://www.lankford.senate.gov Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SenatorLankford Twitter: https://twitter.com/SenatorLankford  Instagram: https://instagram.com/senatorlankford/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz8T6sK5fEycyWmVz6Vpe5Q Threads: https://www.threads.net/@senatorlankford Gettr: https://gettr.com/user/senatorlankford Truth Social: https://truthsocial.com/@SenatorLankford  Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/SenatorLankford Each week, Tim and Troy will sit down with interesting people to have thoughtful conversations. The guests will range from celebrities, athletes, academics, doctors, authors, and more. As Tim battles his ALS diagnosis, nothing is out of bounds and there will be nothing left unsaid. #NothingLeftUnsaid #TimGreen #podcast  SPONSORS ElevenLabs: Thanks to ElevenLabs (https://elevenlabs.io) for supporting this episode and powering Tim's voice. NurseCore: Thanks to NurseCore (https://www.nursecore.com/) for supporting this episode. SOCIAL Website: https://tgnlu.com  Twitter: https://twitter.com/nlutimgreen Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TGNothingLeftUnsaid Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tgnlu    TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tgnothingleftunsaid AUDIO ONLY Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5fhcANt7CSnYvgBlgxpVVa  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nothing-left-unsaid/id1734094890 PERSONAL:  Tackle ALS: https://www.tackleals.com Tim Green Books: https://authortimgreen

Welcome to Week 8 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is led by Denver Duncan, and the camp speaker is Zack Randles.

Welcome to Week 8 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is led by Denver Duncan, and the camp speaker is Zack Randles.

Welcome to Week 8 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is led by Denver Duncan, and the camp speaker is Zack Randles.

Welcome to Week 8 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is led by Denver Duncan, and the camp speaker is Zack Randles.

Welcome to Week 8 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is led by Denver Duncan, and the camp speaker is Zack Randles.

Welcome to Week 7 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is led by Jeremy Robertson, and the camp speaker is Ryan Fontenot.

Welcome to Week 7 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is led by Jeremy Robertson, and the camp speaker is Ryan Fontenot.

Welcome to Week 7 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is led by Jeremy Robertson, and the camp speaker is Ryan Fontenot.

Welcome to Week 7 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is led by Jeremy Robertson, and the camp speaker is Ryan Fontenot.

Welcome to Week 7 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is led by Jeremy Robertson, and the camp speaker is Ryan Fontenot.

Welcome to Week 6 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is the Crescent City Worship Band led by Nate Jernigan, and the camp speaker is Jamie Dew.

Welcome to Week 6 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is the Crescent City Worship Band led by Nate Jernigan, and the camp speaker is Jamie Dew.

Welcome to Week 6 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is the Crescent City Worship Band led by Nate Jernigan, and the camp speaker is Jamie Dew.

Welcome to Week 6 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is the Crescent City Worship Band led by Nate Jernigan, and the camp speaker is Jamie Dew.

Welcome to Week 6 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is the Crescent City Worship Band led by Nate Jernigan, and the camp speaker is Jamie Dew.

Welcome to Week 5 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is the OBU Worship Band led by Matt Roberson, and the camp speaker is Ryan Fontenot.

Welcome to Week 5 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is the OBU Worship Band led by Matt Roberson, and the camp speaker is Ryan Fontenot.

Welcome to Week 5 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is the OBU Worship Band led by Matt Roberson, and the camp speaker is Ryan Fontenot.

Welcome to Week 5 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is the OBU Worship Band led by Matt Roberson, and the camp speaker is Ryan Fontenot.

Welcome to Week 5 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is the OBU Worship Band led by Matt Roberson, and the camp speaker is Ryan Fontenot.

Welcome to Week 4 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is led by Cody Dunbar, and the camp speaker is Paul Chitwood.

Welcome to Week 4 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is led by Cody Dunbar, and the camp speaker is Paul Chitwood.

Welcome to Week 4 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is led by Cody Dunbar, and the camp speaker is Paul Chitwood.

Welcome to Week 4 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is led by Cody Dunbar, and the camp speaker is Paul Chitwood.

Welcome to Week 4 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is led by Cody Dunbar, and the camp speaker is Paul Chitwood.

Welcome to Week 3 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is led by Carson Wagner, and the camp speaker is Cody Brumley.

Welcome to Week 3 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is led by Carson Wagner, and the camp speaker is Cody Brumley.

Welcome to Week 3 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is led by Carson Wagner, and the camp speaker is Cody Brumley.

Welcome to Week 3 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is led by Carson Wagner, and the camp speaker is Cody Brumley

Welcome to Week 3 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is led by Carson Wagner, and the camp speaker is Cody Brumley

This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on June 10. It dropped for free subscribers on June 17. To receive future pods as soon as they're live, and to support independent ski journalism, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription. You can also subscribe to the free tier below:WhoBelinda Trembath, Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of Whistler Blackcomb, British ColumbiaRecorded onJune 3, 2024About Whistler BlackcombClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Vail Resorts (majority owners; Nippon Cable owns a 25 percent stake in Whistler Blackcomb)Located in: Whistler, British ColumbiaYear founded: 1966Pass affiliations:* Epic Pass: unlimited* Epic Local Pass: 10 holiday-restricted days, shared with Vail Mountain and Beaver CreekClosest neighboring ski areas: Grouse Mountain (1:26), Cypress (1:30), Mt. Seymour (1:50) – travel times vary based upon weather conditions, time of day, and time of yearBase elevation: 2,214 feet (675 meters)Summit elevation: 7,497 feet (2,284 meters)Vertical drop: 5,283 feet (1,609 meters)Skiable Acres: 8,171Average annual snowfall: 408 inches (1,036 centimeters)Trail count: 276 (20% easiest, 50% more difficult, 30% most difficult)Lift count: A lot (1 28-passenger gondola, 3 10-passenger gondolas, 1 8-passenger gondola, 1 8-passenger pulse gondola, 8 high-speed quads, 4 six-packs, 1 eight-pack, 3 triples, 2 T-bars, 7 carpets – view Lift Blog's inventory of Whistler Blackcomb's lift fleet) – inventory includes upgrade of Jersey Cream Express from a quad to a six-pack for the 2024-25 ski season.Why I interviewed herHistorical records claim that when Lewis and Clark voyaged west in 1804, they were seeking “the most direct and practicable water communication across this continent, for the purposes of commerce.” But they were actually looking for Whistler Blackcomb.Or at least I think they were. What other reason is there to go west but to seek out these fabulous mountains, rising side by side and a mile* into the sky, where Pacific blow-off splinters into summit blizzards and packed humanity animates the village below?There is nothing else like Whistler in North America. It is our most complete, and our greatest, ski resort. Where else does one encounter this collision of terrain, vertical, panorama, variety, and walkable life, interconnected with audacious aerial lifts and charged by a pilgrim-like massing of skiers from every piece and part of the world? Europe and nowhere else. Except for here.Other North American ski resorts offer some of these things, and some of them offer better versions of them than Whistler. But none of them has all of them, and those that have versions of each fail to combine them all so fluidly. There is no better snow than Alta-Snowbird snow, but there is no substantive walkable village. There is no better lift than Jackson's tram, but the inbounds terrain lacks scale and the town is miles away. There is no better energy than Palisades Tahoe energy, but the Pony Express is still carrying news of its existence out of California.Once you've skied Whistler – or, more precisely, absorbed it and been absorbed by it – every other ski area becomes Not Whistler. The place lingers. You carry it around. Place it into every ski conversation. “Have you been to Whistler?” If not, you try to describe it. But it can't be done. “Just go,” you say, and that's as close as most of us can come to grabbing the raw power of the place.*Or 1.6 Canadian Miles (sometimes referred to as “kilometers”).What we talked aboutWhy skier visits dropped at Whistler-Blackcomb this past winter; the new Fitzsimmons eight-passenger express and what it took to modify a lift that had originally been intended for Park City; why skiers can often walk onto that lift with little to no wait; this summer's Jersey Cream lift upgrade; why Jersey Cream didn't require as many modifications as Fitzsimmons even though it was also meant for Park City; the complexity of installing a mid-mountain lift; why WB had to cancel 2024 summer skiing and what that means for future summer seasons; could we see a gondola serving the glacier instead?; Vail's Australian trio of Mt. Hotham, Perisher, and Falls Creek; Whistler's wild weather; the distinct identities of Blackcomb and Whistler; what WB means to Vail Resorts; WB's Olympic legacy; Whistler's surprisingly low base elevation and what that means for the visitor; WB's relationship with local First Nations; priorities for future lift upgrades and potential changes to the Whistler gondola, Seventh Heaven, Whistler T-bar, Franz's, Garbanzo; discussing proposed additional lifts in Symphony Bowl and elsewhere on Whistler; potential expansion into a fourth portal; potential new or upgraded lifts sketched out in Blackcomb Mountain's masterplan; why WB de-commissioned the Hortsman T-Bar; missing the Wizard-to-Solar-Coaster access that the Blackcomb Gondola replaced; WB's amazing self-managing lift mazes; My Epic App direct-to-lift access is coming to Whistler; employee housing; why Whistler's season pass costs more than an Epic Pass; and Edge cards.   Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewFour new major lifts in three years; the cancellation of summer skiing; “materially lower” skier visits at Whistler this past winter, as reported by Vail Resorts – all good topics, all enough to justify a check-in. Oh and the fact that Whistler Blackcomb is the largest ski area in the Western Hemisphere, the crown jewel in Vail's sprawling portfolio, the single most important ski area on the continent.And why is that? What makes this place so special? The answer lies only partly in its bigness. Whistler is vast. Whistler is thrilling. Whistler is everything you hope a ski area will be when you plan your winter vacation. But most important of all is that Whistler is proof.Proof that such a place can exist in North America. U.S. America is stuck in a development cycle that typically goes like this:* Ski area proposes a new expansion/base area development/chairlift/snowmaking upgrade.* A small group of locals picks up the pitchforks because Think of the Raccoons/this will gut the character of our bucolic community of car-dependent sprawl/this will disrupt one very specific thing that is part of my personal routine that heavens me I just can't give up.* Said group files a lawsuit/formal objection/some other bureaucratic obstacle, halting the project.* Resort justifies the project/adapts it to meet locals' concerns/makes additional concessions in the form of land swaps, operational adjustments, infrastructure placement, and the like.* Group insists upon maximalist stance of Do Nothing.* Resort makes additional adjustments.* Group is Still Mad* Cycle repeats for years* Either nothing ever gets done, or the project is built 10 to 15 years after its reveal and at considerable extra expense in the form of studies, legal fees, rising materials and labor costs, and expensive and elaborate modifications to accommodate one very specific thing, like you can't operate the lift from May 1 to April 20 because that would disrupt the seahorse migration between the North and South Poles.In BC, they do things differently. I've covered this extensively, in podcast conversations with the leaders of Sun Peaks, Red Mountain, and Panorama. The civic and bureaucratic structures are designed to promote and encourage targeted, smart development, leading to ever-expanding ski areas, human-scaled and walkable base area infrastructure, and plenty of slopeside or slope-adjacent accommodations.I won't exhaust that narrative again here. I bring it up only to say this: Whistler has done all of these things at a baffling scale. A large, vibrant, car-free pedestrian village where people live and work. A gargantuan lift across an unbridgeable valley. Constant infrastructure upgrades. Reliable mass transit. These things can be done. Whistler is proof.That BC sits directly atop Washington State, where ski areas have to spend 15 years proving that installing a stop sign won't undermine the 17-year cicada hatching cycle, is instructive. Whistler couldn't exist 80 miles south. Maybe the ski area, but never the village. And why not? Such communities, so concentrated, require a small footprint in comparison to the sprawl of a typical development of single-family homes. Whistler's pedestrian base village occupies an area around a half mile long and less than a quarter mile wide. And yet, because it is a walkable, mixed-use space, it cuts down reliance on driving, enlivens the ski area, and energizes the soul. It is proof that human-built spaces, properly conceived, can create something worthwhile in what, 50 years ago, was raw wilderness, even if they replace a small part of the natural world.A note from Whistler on First NationsTrembath and I discuss Whistler's relationship with First Nations extensively, but her team sent me some follow-up information to clarify their role in the mountain's development:Belinda didn't really have time to dive into a very important piece of the First Nations involvement in the operational side of things:* There was significant engagement with First Nations as a part of developing the masterplans.* Their involvement and support were critical to the approval of the masterplans and to ensuring that all parties and their respective communities will benefit from the next 60 years of operation.* This includes the economic prosperity of First Nations – both the Squamish and Líl̓wat Nations will participate in operational success as partners.* To ensure this, the Province of British Columbia, the Resort Municipality of Whistler, Whistler Blackcomb and the Squamish and Líl̓wat Nations are engaged in agreements on how to work together in the future.* These agreements, known as the Umbrella Agreement, run concurrently with the Master Development Agreements and masterplans, providing a road map for our relationship with First Nations over the next 60 years of operations and development. * Key requirements include Revenue Sharing, Real Estate Development, Employment, Contracting & Recreational Opportunities, Marketing and Tourism and Employee Housing. There is an Implementation Committee, which oversees the execution of the agreement. * This is a landmark agreement and the only one of its kind within the mountain resort industry.What we got wrongI mentioned that “I'd never seen anything like” the lift mazes at Whistler, but that's not quite accurate. Vail Resorts deploys similar setups throughout its western portfolio. What I hadn't seen before is such choreographed and consistent navigation of these mazes by the skiers themselves. To watch a 500-person liftline squeeze itself into one loading ramp with no personnel direction or signage, and to watch nearly every chair lift off fully loaded, is to believe, at least for seven to nine minutes, in humanity as a worthwhile ongoing experiment.I said that Edge Cards were available for up to six days of skiing. They're actually available in two-, five-, or 10-day versions. If you're not familiar with Edge cards, it's because they're only available to residents of Canada and Washington State.Whistler officials clarified the mountain's spring skiing dates, which Trembath said started on May 14. The actual dates were April 15 to May 20.Why you should ski Whistler BlackcombYou know that thing you do where you step outside and you can breathe as though you didn't just remove your space helmet on the surface of Mars? You can do that at Whistler too. The village base elevation is 2,214 feet. For comparison's sake: Salt Lake City's airport sits at 4,227 feet; Denver's is at 5,434. It only goes up from there. The first chairlifts sit at 6,800 feet in Park City; 8,100 at Snowbird; 8,120 at Vail; 8,530 at Alta; 8,750 at Brighton; 9,000 at Winter Park; 9,280 at Keystone; 9,600 at Breckenridge; 9,712 at Copper Mountain; and an incredible 10,780 feet at Arapahoe Basin. Taos sits at 9,200 feet. Telluride at 8,750. Adaptation can be brutal when parachuting in from sea level, or some nominal inland elevation above it, as most of us do. At 8,500 feet, I get winded searching my hotel room for a power outlet, let alone skiing, until my body adjusts to the thinner air. That Whistler requires no such reconfiguration of your atomic structure to do things like blink and speak is one of the more underrated features of the place.Another underrated feature: Whistler Blackcomb is a fantastic family mountain. While Whistler is a flip-doodle factory of Stoke Brahs every bit the equal of Snowbird or Jackson Hole, it is not Snowbird or Jackson Hole. Which is to say, the place offers beginner runs that are more than across-the-fall line cat tracks and 300-vertical-foot beginner pods. While it's not promoted like the celebrated Peak-to-Creek route, a green trail (or sequence of them), runs nearly 5,000 uninterrupted vertical feet from Whistler's summit to the base village. In fact, with the exception of Blackcomb's Glacier Express, every one of the ski area's 16 chairlifts (even the fearsome Peak Express), and five gondolas offers a beginner route that you can ski all the way back to the base. Yes, some of them shuffle into narrow cat tracks for stretches, but mostly these are wide, approachable trails, endless and effortless, built, it seems, for ski-family safaris of the confidence-building sort.Those are maybe the things you're not thinking of. The skiing:Most skiers start with one of the three out-of-base village gondolas, but the new Fitz eight-seater rarely has a line. Start there:That's mostly a transit lift. At the top, head up the Garbanzo quad, where you can start to understand the scale of the thing:You're still not quite to the goods. But to get a sense of the mountain, ski down to Big Red:This will take you to Whistler's main upper-mountain portal, Roundhouse. From Whistler, you can see Blackcomb strafing the sky:From Roundhouse, it's a short ski down to the Peak Express:Depending upon your route down, you may end up back at Big Red. Ride back up to Roundhouse, then meander from Emerald to Harmony to Symphony lifts. For a moment on the way down Symphony, it feels like Euroski:Just about everyone sticks to the narrow groomers:But there are plenty of bumps and trees and wide-open bowls:Nice as this terrain is, the Peak 2 Peak Gondola summons you from all over the mountain:Whoosh. To Blackcomb in an instant, crossing the valley, 1,427 feet to the bottom, and out at Blackcomb's upper-mountain base, Rendezvous. Down to Glacier Express, and up a rolling fantasyland of infinite freeride terrain:And at the top it's like damn.From here, you can transfer to the Showcase T-bar if it's open. If not, climb Spanky's Ladder, and, Kaboom out on the other side:Ride Crystal Ridge or Excelerator back up, and run a lap through bowls and glades:Then ski back down to the village, ride Jersey Cream back to Rendezvous to connect to the spectacular 7th Heaven lift, or ride the gondy back over to Whistler to repeat the whole cycle. And that's just a sampling. I'm no Whistler expert - just go have fun and get lost in the whole thing.Podcast NotesOn the Lost Lifts of Park CityIt's slightly weird and enormously hilarious that the Fitzsimmons eight-seater that Whistler installed last summer and the Jersey Cream sixer that Blackcomb will drop on the mountain this year were originally intended for Park City. As I wrote in 2022:Last September, Vail Resorts announced what was likely the largest set of single-season lift upgrades in the history of the world: $315-plus million on 19 lifts (later increased to 21 lifts) across 14 ski areas. Two of those lifts would land in Park City: a D-line eight-pack would replace the Silverlode six, and a six-pack would replace the Eagle and Eaglet triples. Two more lifts in a town with 62 of them (Park City sits right next door to Deer Valley). Surely this would be another routine project for the world's largest ski area operator.It wasn't. In June, four local residents – Clive Bush, Angela Moschetta, Deborah Rentfrow, and Mark Stemler – successfully appealed the Park City Planning Commission's previous approval of the lift projects.“The upgrades were appealed on the basis that the proposed eight-place and six-place chairs were not consistent with the 1998 development agreement that governs the resort,” SAM wrote at the time. “The planning commission also cited the need for a more thorough review of the resort's comfortable carrying capacity calculations and parking mitigation plan, finding PCM's proposed paid parking plan at the Mountain Village insufficient.”So instead of rising on the mountain, the lifts spent the summer, in pieces, in the parking lot. Vail admitted defeat, at least temporarily. “We are considering our options and next steps based on today's disappointing decision—but one thing is clear—we will not be able to move forward with these two lift upgrades for the 22-23 winter season,” Park City Mountain Resort Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Deirdra Walsh said in response to the decision.One of the options Vail apparently considered was trucking the lifts to friendlier locales. Last Wednesday, as part of its year-end earnings release, Vail announced that the two lifts would be moved to Whistler and installed in time for the 2023-24 ski season. The eight-pack will replace the 1,129-vertical-foot Fitzsimmons high-speed quad on Whistler, giving the mountain 18 seats (!) out of the village (the lift runs alongside the 10-passenger Whistler Village Gondola). The six-pack will replace the Jersey Cream high-speed quad on Blackcomb, a midmountain lift with a 1,230-foot vertical rise.The whole episode is still one of the dumber things I'm aware of. There are like 80 lifts in Park City and two more (replacements, not all-new lines), apparently would have knocked the planet off its axis and sent us caterwauling into the sun. It's enough to make you un-see all the human goodness in Whistler's magical lift queues. More here.On Fitzsimmons 8's complex lineAmong the challenges of re-engineering the Fitzsimmons 8 for Whistler was the fact that the lift had to pass under the Whistler Village Gondola:Trembath and I talk a little about Fitz's download capability. Team Whistler sent over some additional information following our chat, indicating that the winter download capacity is four riders per chair (part of the original lift design, when it was meant for Park City). Summer download, for bike park operations, is limited to one passenger (a lower capacity than the original design).On Whistler's bike parkI'm not Bike Park Bro, though I could probably be talked into it fairly easily if I didn't already spend half the year wandering around the country in search of novel snowsportskiing operations. I do, however, ride my bike around NYC just about every day from May through October-ish, which in many ways resembles the giant jungle gyms that are downhill mountain bike parks, just with fewer jumps and a higher probability of decapitation by box truck.Anyway Whistler supposedly has the best bike park this side of Neptune, and we talk about it a bit, and so I'll include the trailmap even though I'd have a better chance of translating ancient Aramaic runes etched into a cave wall than I would of explaining exactly what's happening here:On Jersey Cream “not looking like much” on the trailmapBecause Whistler's online trailmap is shrunken to fit the same rectangular container that every ski map fills in the Webosphere, it fails to convey the scale of the operation (the paper version, which you can acquire if you slip a bag of gold bars and a map to the Lost City of Atlantis to a clerk at the guest services desk, is aptly called a “mountain atlas” and better captures the breadth of the place). The Jersey Cream lift and pod, for example, presents on the trailmap as an inconsequential connector lift between the Glacier Express and Rendezous station, where three other lifts convene. But this is a 1,230-vertical-foot, 4,647-foot-long machine that could, were you to hack it from the earth and transport it into the wilderness, be a fairly substantial ski area on its own. For context, 1,200 vertical feet is roughly the rise of Eldora or Monarch, or, for Easterners, Cranmore or Black Mountain.On the Whistler and Blackcomb masterplansUnlike the U.S. American Forest Service, which often fails to post ski area master development plans on their useless 1990s vintage websites, the British Columbia authorities have neatly organized all of their province's masterplans on one webpage. Whistler and Blackcomb mountains each file separate plans, last updated in 2013. That predates Vail Resorts' acquisition by three years, and Trembath and I discuss how closely (or not), these plans align with the company's current thinking around the resort.Whistler Mountain:Blackcomb Mountain:On Vail's Australian ski areasTrembath, at different points, oversaw all three of Vail Resorts' Australian ski areas. Though much of that tenure predated Vail's acquisitions (of Hotham and Falls Creek in 2019), she ran Perisher (purchased in 2015), for a year before leaping to the captain's chair at Whistler. Trembath provides a terrific breakdown of each of the three ski areas, and they look like a lot of fun:Perisher:Falls Creek:Hotham:On Sugar Bowl ParallelsTrembath's story follows a similar trajectory to that of Bridget Legnavsky, whose decades-long career in New Zealand included running a pair of that country's largest ski resorts. She then moved to North America to run a large ski area – in her case, Sugar Bowl near Lake Tahoe's North Shore. She appeared on the podcast in March.On Merlin EntertainmentI was unfamiliar with Merlin Entertainment, the former owner of Falls Creek and Hotham. The company is enormous, and owns Legoland Parks, Madame Tussauds, and dozens of other familiar brands.On Whistler and Blackcomb as formerly separate ski areasLike Park City (formerly Park City and Canyons) and Palisades Tahoe (formerly Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley), Whistler and Blackcomb were once separate ski areas. Here's the stoke version of the mountains' joint history (“You were either a Whistler skier, or you were a Blackcomb skier”):On First Nations' language on lifts and the Gondola Gallery projectAs Whistler builds new lifts, the resort tags the lift terminals with names in English and First Nations languages. From Pique Magazine at the opening of the Fitzsimmons eight-pack last December:Whistler Mountain has a brand-new chairlift ready to ferry keen skiers and snowboarders up to mid-mountain, with the rebuilt Fitzsimmons Express opening to guests early on Dec. 12. …“Importantly, this project could not have happened without the guidance and counsel of the First Nations partners,” said Trembath.“It's so important to us that their culture continues to be represented across these mountains in everything we do.”In keeping with those sentiments, the new Fitzsimmons Express is emblazoned with First Nations names alongside its English name: In the Squamish language, it is known as Sk_wexwnách, for Valley Creek, and in the Lil'wat language, it is known as Tsíqten, which means Fish Spear.New chairlifts are given First Nations names at Whistler Blackcomb as they are installed and opened.Here's Fitzsimmons:And Big Red, a sixer installed two years ago:Whistler also commissioned First Nations artists to wrap two cabins on the Peak 2 Peak Gondola. From Daily Hive:The Peak 2 Peak gondola, which connects Whistler and Blackcomb mountains, is showing off artwork created by First Nations artists, which can be seen by mountain-goers at BC's premiere ski resort.Vail Resorts commissioned local Indigenous artists to redesign two gondola cabins. Levi Nelson of Lil'wat Nation put his stamp on one with “Red,” while Chief Janice George and Buddy Joseph of Squamish Nation have created “Wings of Thunder.” …“Red is a sacred colour within Indigenous culture, representing the lifeblood of the people and our connection to the Earth,” said Nelson, an artist who excels at contemporary Indigenous art. “These shapes come from and are inspired by my ancestors. To be inside the gondola, looking out through an ovoid or through the Ancestral Eye, maybe you can imagine what it's like to experience my territory and see home through my eyes.”“It's more than just the techniques of weaving. It's about ways of being and seeing the world. Passing on information that's meaningful. We've done weavings on murals, buildings, reviving something that was put away all those decades ago now,” said Chief Janice George and Buddy Joseph.“The significance of the Thunderbird being on the gondola is that it brings the energy back on the mountain and watching over all of us.”A pic:On Native American issues in the U.S.I referenced conflicts between U.S. ski resorts and Native Americans, without providing specifics. The Forest Service cited objections from Native American communities, among other factors, in recommending a “no action” alternative to Lutsen Mountains' planned expansion last year. The Washoe tribe has attempted to “reclaim” land that Diamond Peak operates on. The most prominent dispute, however, has been a decades-long standoff between Arizona Snowbowl and indigenous tribes. Per The Guardian in 2022:The Arizona Snowbowl resort, which occupies 777 acres (314 hectares) on the mountain's slope, has attracted skiers during the winter and spring for nearly a century. But its popularity has boomed in recent years thanks to growing populations in Phoenix, a three hour's drive away, and neighbouring Flagstaff. During peak ski season, the resort draws upwards of 3,000 visitors a day.More than a dozen Indigenous nations who hold the mountain sacred have fought Snowbowl's existence since the 1930s. These include the Pueblo of Acoma, Fort McDowell Yavapai; Havasupai; Hopi; Hualapai; Navajo; San Carlos Apache; San Juan Southern Paiute; Tonto Apache; White Mountain Apache; Yavapai Apache, Yavapai Prescott, and Pueblo of Zuni. They say the resort's presence has disrupted the environment and their spiritual connection to the mountain, and that its use of treated sewage effluent to make snow is akin to baptizing a baby with wastewater.Now, a proposed $60m expansion of Snowbowl's facilities has brought simmering tensions to a boil.The US Forest Service, the agency that manages the national forest land on which Snowbowl is built, is weighing a 15-year expansion proposal that would bulk up operations, increase visitation and add new summer recreational facilities such as mountain biking trails, a zip line and outdoor concerts. A coalition of tribes, meanwhile, is resisting in unprecedented ways.The battle is emblematic of a vast cultural divide in the American west over public lands and how they should be managed. On one side are mostly financially well-off white people who recreate in national forests and parks; on the other are Indigenous Americans dispossessed from those lands who are struggling to protect their sacred sites.“Nuva'tukya'ovi is our Mount Sinai. Why can't the forest service understand that?,” asks Preston.On the tight load at the 7th Heaven liftYikes:Honestly it's pretty organized and the wait isn't that long, but this is very popular terrain and the trails could handle a higher-capacity lift (nearly everyone skis the Green Line trail or one of the blue groomers off this lift, leaving hundreds of acres of off-piste untouched; it's pretty glorious).On Wizard and Solar CoasterEvery local I spoke with in Whistler grumped about the Blackcomb Gondola, which replaced the Wizard and Solar Coaster high-speed quads in 2018. While the 10-passenger gondy substantively follows the same lines, it fails to provide the same mid-mountain fast-lap firepower that Solar Coaster once delivered. Both because removing your skis after each lap is a drag, and because many skiers ride the gondola up to Rendezvous, leaving fewer free mid-mountain seats than the empty quad chairs once provided. Here's a before-and-after:On Whistler's season passWhistler's season pass, which is good at Whistler Blackcomb and only Whistler Blackcomb, strangely costs more ($1,047 U.S.) than a full Epic Pass ($1,004 U.S.), which also provides unlimited access to Whistler and Vail's other 41 ski areas. It's weird. Trembath explains.The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us.The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 42/100 in 2024, and number 542 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

Welcome to Week 2 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is The Worship Collective, and the camp speaker is Duncan Blackwell.

Welcome to Week 2 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is The Worship Collective, and the camp speaker is Duncan Blackwell.

Welcome to Week 2 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is The Worship Collective, and the camp speaker is Duncan Blackwell.

Welcome to Week 2 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is The Worship Collective, and the camp speaker is Duncan Blackwell.

Welcome to Week 2 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is The Worship Collective, and the camp speaker is Duncan Blackwell.

Welcome to Week 1 of Falls Creek 2024! This week's band is So We May, and the camp speaker is Chip Luter.