Springboard - Right under the Blackcomb Gondola, this classic cruiser rarely disappoints. Not too steep with some fun terrain (rollers, pitches, etc). Guaranteed to make your legs burn by the time you hit the gondola midstation. 

7th heaven - If you can time it so you get fresh corduroy down Hughs Heaven or Cloud nine first thing in the morning, then both of these runs live up to their name. Sunrise hits them just right first thing in the morning. A bit steeper so you’ll need to control your speed, but usually beautifully groomed and very fast. There runs do get skied A LOT through the day, so the glorious first couple of runs you get in the morning will not be the same later in the day - and you’ll have 5000 other people to dodge.

Crystal burn - Skiers right off of Crystal chair you’ll find some of the best tree skiing on the mountain. Forrest fires aren’t desirable in a mountain town, but the fire that burned on the mountain back in 2009 turned a relatively intense bit of terrain into something that is pretty special on a storm day. The fire burned out all of the unwelcome underbrush and left a wide open zone with burnt trees all over the place. There are a couple of marked runs through this zone including “Arthurs Choice” and “Twist and Shout”. It’s fun to bounce around between runs and choose your own adventure run after run.

Pakalolo - A unique couloir in plain view of glacier chair. Getting to the top of this run can often feel like you are heading to the middle of nowhere. The entrance is narrow and can be rocky depending on how recently it has snowed, but as long as you pick you way through it’s actually quite tame. Once you get through the top of the couloir it opens up into a beautifully steep run with lots of line choices. It typically holds snow quite well and the further skiers left you go, the better. Watch out for the traverse track that comes in from the right from people looking to cut in to the last quarter of the run - the moguls also get bigger as you make your way down as traffic increases.

Spanky’s - Probably the most famous alpine zone on Blackcomb, but also one of the most hidden and mysterious. It all starts with “Spanky’s Ladder”, an established bootpack that starts from near the top of the Glacier Express Chair. A classic argument usually unfolds between the people who take the care to line up in an orderly fashion vs. those who often create their own bootpack. As far as I’m concerned, there can’t really be a “line” up a mountain, but when you have people who are used to waiting in traffic lines, lift lines, and coffee lines, the line to hike only seems logical. Get there how you like, but always obey rule #1 of the mountain: Don’t be a dick. Once you are at the top of the ladder, there are an unbelievable number of line choices that await you. Many of these lines are fairly intimidating because you can’t really tell what lies below.

7th heaven - on a sunny Saturday afternoon, this is where you will find the longest lines on Blackcomb Mountain. Is it worth it? Debatable. Yes, the views from the top are incredible, but the views from the lift line at the bottom aren’t great, and that’s where you can find yourself standing for 45+ minutes on a sunny afternoon. The other issue with 7th Heaven is that once you head over there, you are more or less stuck. Sure, you can take sunset boulevard all the way back to mid-station at the gondola, but if you are actually interested in skiing, there are much better options on the mountain.

Glacier - Blackcomb is largely a two-lift mountain, meaning that for most of the great runs you have to take two lifts to get back to the next lap. Glacier often feels like its sole purpose is to access Spanky’s ladder, but there is actually great skiing from this lift.