Greetings from Whistler.

The weather was perfect for watching the eclipse tonight.

I actually tried to take a picture of it, but it was hopeless with my generic camera. I won't even post the picture here. Just imagine blackness with a little white dot in the middle.

But trust me, it was cool seeing the eclipse above Blackcomb Mountain. The only other lights you could see on the horizon were those of groomers preparing the ski runs for Thursday.

After a few minutes of moon gazing I headed into to the Whistler Brewhouse to have dinner with the U.S. Ski Team coaches and the team's public relation reps.

The Whistler World Cup starts tomorrow. Check out the sports section and our Olympic blog over the next few days for our dispatches.

Conditions are improving for South Sound residents to see tonight’s total lunar eclipse.

The timing of the event couldn’t be much better. The moon will enter the penumbra, the initial stage of the eclipse at 5:43 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, shortly after it rises. At 7:01 p.m. ithe moon enters the umbra, the darkest part of the Earth’s shadow. The total eclipse ends at 7:51 p.m. The eclipse will come to an end at 9:09 p.m.

Members of the Tacoma Astronomical Society will have telescopes set up at two locations tonight. Some members will be at the club’s regular viewing site on the hill behind the Sunrise Building at Pierce College’s Fort Steilacoom campus. Others will be at Top Food & Drug, 201 37th Ave. S.E., Puyallup.

If you can’t be at either location, Alice Few of the local club, said it is safe to look at a lunar eclipse.

“You can use binoculars but expect the full moon to be bright. You may want to wear sunglasses at first,” she said.

A fun way to watch the progress of the eclipse is to watch the shadow pass over specific craters, Few suggested.

An added bonus of the eclipse is you will be able to see Saturn and Venus close to the moon during the eclipse.

I’m planning on being at Pierce College to report on a story for tomorrow’s paper, if the clouds don't get too thick.

Our man on the snow, Craig Hill is in Whistler to cover the World Cup skiing events there this weekend. In tomorrow's Adventure section he interviews U.S Ski team member Libby Ludlow and her family about what it was like skiing on Crystal Mountain as she grew up.

Check out Craig's race coverage at our 2010 Winter Olympics blog.

In my column, local kayaker Ken Campbell talks about coming to terms with the shoulder injury that halted his attempt to paddle around Vancouver Island.

We'll also have updates on chinook fishing seasons in the Columbia River this spring, how the Student Conservation Association is preparing to help with flood recovery efforts at Mount Rainier National Park this summer and a push to open Spirit Lake at Mount St. Helens for a limited fishing season.