Mt. Washington (BC), Canada – Mt. Washington Alpine Resort planned to welcome Vancouver Island skiers and riders beginning today, but a lack of snow has forced resort officials to delay the ski area’s opening indefinitely.

“A ridge of high pressure dominated our weather for the better part of November,” explains resort spokesperson Brent Curtain. “We need to see a return to those classic Pacific systems that cycle through our region at this time of year.”

Precipitation wasn’t an issue in the last four years. Monumental snowfall allowed the mountain to open earlier than expected every season from 2009 to 2012.

“We were very fortunate to open early over the last few consecutive seasons. Looking at the last 30 years of operation however, a second or third week of December opening is a more common occurrence for us,” Curtain adds.

As far as predicting a new opening date, Mount Washington wants to open the mountain as soon as possible, but wouldn’t yet commit to a new date.

“We will open the mountain as soon as we have enough snow to operate after December 6th,” says Don Sharpe, Director of Business Operations and Marketing. “If we get the snow, mountain crews will be sent out immediately to prepare for opening day.”

The good news for skiers and boarders is that prodigious amounts of snow can fall on Mount Washington in a very short period of time. And once it does, the mountain will be ready to race out of the gates for opening day.