Imagine, the pink glow of early morning light, crisp cold air, fresh snow, and there you are standing at the top of an untouched ski run ready to go. You’ll be the first one to ride through all that fresh powder as the sun comes up over the mountain.

Sounds pretty epic right? It is. But, you don’t have to be some kind of professional or know the right people to do it. Whistler Blackcomb offers a Fresh Tracks Ticket that allows you to get up the mountain before the rest of the general public can at 9 AM. 

How to get Fresh Tracks

1. Buy your tickets online ahead of time, then pick up the physical ticket from the ticket window the day before.
2. Get up early. You’ll want to get in line at the gondola by 6:30 AM, or earlier if there was any snowfall overnight.
3. They start loading people on the gondola at about 7 AM, but they only take the first 650 people, which is why it’s important to get in line early.
4. Grab breakfast at the Roundhouse Lodge at the top of the gondola while you wait for the runs to open at 8 AM. Breakfast is included in your ticket so make sure you keep it with you.
5. Get outside and be ready to go a little before 8 AM so you’re right there when they drop the ropes.
6. Enjoy all that fresh snow!

Important Info

1. Tickets are $20.00 plus your regular lift ticket or season pass.
2. Powder days sell out so make sure you are there and in line as early as possible.
3. Make sure to get your physical ticket the day before because the ticket window doesn’t open until 7 AM.
4. Hold onto that paper ticket, it’ll get you on the gondola and into Roundhouse Lodge for breakfast.
5. Fresh Tracks tickets are not date specific so if you aren’t in the first 650 people you can use it another day.

My Fresh Tracks Day

Doing the Fresh Tracks ticket was one of the coolest things we did while in Whistler. It had snowed 10 inches overnight so we knew we need to get there early. We got ourselves out of bed at 5:30 AM and were in line by a little after 6 AM. By that time the line was already pretty long, I’m pretty sure if we’d gotten to the gondola any later we would not have made it up. 

The ride up the gondola was still pretty dark but once we got to the top the sky had started to turn pink. We ran into the lodge and scarfed down some breakfast. I was actually pretty surprised by the breakfast buffet, the food was good and there were tons of options for every kind of diet. We hurried back outside and got set up on our boards and waited for the ropes to drop. The anticipation in the air as people lined up along the top of the run was palpable. The storm from the night before had cleared and the air was crisp and cold.

Then we heard someone yell “runs open!” and the rope blocking us all off dropped to the ground. The drop in on the fresh powder was so smooth and perfect, it was like a dream. Pink and purple skies, the full moon hanging just above the horizon, and the fresh coating of snow on everything, maybe it was a dream?

With only 650 people on the mountain, the snow didn’t get cut up very quickly and we were able to get in a few good powder runs before things got choppy. The mountain opened to the public at 9 AM, but by that time we’d already gotten in some awesome runs and were able to take a little break while the first wave of people got on the slopes.

It was an amazing morning and if you have the opportunity to get out there early on a powder day I hope you get after it, you won’t be disappointed.

Ski Trip Essentials

READ MORE:
Packing for a Ski Trip
A Hipster’s Guide to Whistler
Snowboarding the Western US & Canada: An Epic Winter Road Trip
How to Layer for Cold Weather

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