time for another whistler update

M

mark

New member
i haven't posted since my first few turns in november and a lot has happened since then.
we got some real nasty freezing rain at the beginning of the month which kept me off the mountain for a few days. then it dumped huge for about 4 days. the temps stayed cold so we were blessed with some true powder. i had a couple of my best days of riding last week, especially cause i'm not opposed to hike for turns and the peak chair was not running.
then it all went to hell as the freezing level rose and the snow turned to rain. poured solid all the way up last friday, then froze. nice.
i went up today since there was another dump last night, but it turned out to be cement. people were sliding all over the place out there. there is no ski-out to creekside yet; i haven't been down to the village since opening week.
sadly, we desperately need some big snow up here. one of my patroller friends on blackomb told me that they had a huge avalanche in diamond bowl (under spanky's). it sheared right down to the rocks and set the snowpack back by about 2 metres.
they've been running all the chairs up here, but don't believe the hype. we need another 50cms and consistently cold temps. i know what i want for xmas.
 
RSN is showing only 63 trails out of 200 open at Whistler/Blackcomb. When you look at the overall NW picture it is quite clear what the prevailing weather pattern has been. Mt. Baker is the only Washington State area with an adequate base, Fernie is 39% open with Craig Morris reporting regularly on the monsoon rains at his house, Red Mt. is less than 10% open and Schweitzer is not open at all.

That said, Whistler's historical early season record is by far the best of any major resort. 2 years ago December was very dry until a 4+ foot dump Christmas Eve. I'd be a little nervous about Christmas at Whistler at this point, but it's far from hopeless. I'm at least as nervous about Red Mt. in late January, where I am planning to spend my time after cat skiing farther north in Canada. If Red stays bad, I'll detour to the Okanagan areas instead.

I'm not worried at all about Whistler snowpack when I'll be there in March, only whether the then-current weather will disrupt my trip.
 
Tony Crocker":1mqik9k4 said:
If Red stays bad, I'll detour to the Okanagan areas instead.
Click to expand...

We're flying to Vancouver tomorrow. We do Christmas at my sister's house every year with some skiing before-hand. The plan of record is a Mt Baker day trip on Friday and then off to the Okanagan on Sunday. We're going to try to bag a day or two at Mt Baldy and I've already booked some nights at Big White. The base depths are lousy but it's better than New England.
 
Geoff":1ixjvxj3 said:
The base depths are lousy but it's better than New England.
Click to expand...

That looks to be changing rapidly as of right now...colder temps and alot of good snowmaking means alot of eastern resorts are going to be 75-95% open by Christmas. On top of that, there is the potential for sizeable snowstorms on the 19th and 24th.
 
Anything new (that's good) to report? We're booked at Whistler Jan 28-Feb 4 and again March 27-Apr. 3. Annual timeshare trips. Snowpack is never a problem on Whistler Mountain, though Blackcomb likes/needs deep snow a lot more. And this year seems unusually skimpy.

Both weeks are usually great for us, though March has some advantages: (a) deeper snowpack (b) longer days (c) warmer weather in the Village (d) usually winter snow in the Alpine. Weather in Whistler is always a crap-shoot: you can get 6 days of dry bluebird skies and no fresh snow (rare) or 6 days of constant snow and limited visibility, or even rain in any month if you're unlucky. Typically, we get 1 or 2 brilliant days and a foot or two of fresh during our weeks. (Not necessarily at night, alas!) We're very good at staying out of the fog/clouds on Whistler Mountain now, after maybe 25 weeks of practice! Blackcomb's layout makes it harder to stay in a narrow altitude band, so you often have to go through the cloud. At least it seems that way for us while we're watching from Whistler Mountain! :)

Norm
 
Sad to say, nothing new here. There is a lot of angst in Whistler right now, as we watch California get pounded. Heck, even Vancouver got 10cms last week, and we got nothing. It's so bad that the WB website is back adding 1-2 cm over the past week. Maybe...if they're counting hoar frost!
It's been frigid, so at least the snow's not melting. Consistently -20C in the alpine for the past 10 days, and forecast to continue.
I haven't been up much since the new year. Been busy, and now's the time to get ahead on work. It's gotta snow eventually...right???
It's been a terrible season so far. I've already managed to severely damage 2 boards due to the thin cover. I moved out here so I wouldn't have to depend on luck for my trips, but it seems the snow moved out right before I got here.
 
So at least I guess we know who to blame, Mark! :roll: :wink:

On Jan 28th, I'm taking my better half with me to Whistler, and she usually brings good snow, so maybe we'll see whose karma is stronger. (If the weather's bad then, we'll know that your karma ran over her dogma, so to speak. :D )

Norm
 
Our storm cycle is expected to end here by Wednesday and the new one is supposed to be far north into Canada. We're waterlogged here and could use a break. And I am going to Canada myself on Jan. 22 for a week.
 
norm, i do believe i'm cursed. 2 years ago i spent 14 days in the BC interior in february and didn't see a flake of snow. that's when i decided to move out here - so the weather couldn't plan around me. well, it just decided to move south instead.
tony, my heart goes out to you. i'm sure you'll be glad to get back onto some icy hard pack after all that powder wears you out.
however, it is snowing as i look out the window right now...
 
My trip in 2 weeks is to Great Northern Snowcat at Trout Lake, followed by Whitewater and Red Mt. Red got 2 feet last week, so I am sticking to original plan to go there rather than detour to the Okanagan and have a much longer drive back to Spokane.

My Whistler trip is March 21-24, so there is still time...
 
i am hoping to make it out to whitewater this year too. never been before, but i've heard nothing but the best things about it. just like sutton in quebec, it may be the best kept secret in the west. and they've got snow.
also heard about that big dump in red. have fun!
 
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