whistler report - 050116

mark

New member
Well, things this year just seem to go from bad to worse. Been up the last few days, and managed to find some fun riding, but the snow is incredibly sparse and much of the best parts of the mountains are closed due to lack of cover. I was shocked to find most of the Whistler peak closed yesterday, and you'd be crazy to even think about going through any of Spanky's bowls right now.
A few of us hiked up to the Spearhead glacier and got some nice turns coming back down into Blackomb glacier. But even up there, the wind crust was so hard that there was a lot of edge sliding. We did top to bottoms on both mountains to cap a fun day.
The worst thing is the upcoming forecast. We are coming out of a brutally frigid stretch, and the forecast for the next 4 days is calling for rain, with freezing levels near the peak. We desperately need this to be snow - if it does come in the form of water, we could be looking a short nasty season up here.
 
AAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!!
Have to vent my frustration. It is pissing buckets outside. Went up this morning and found that what small amount of new snow that fell overnight had already been completely drenched in pouring rain. It was a one run day, and that's only because I had to get down somehow.
I can't begin to describe my disappointment and frustration with this season. There is no snow, and whatever is left will be drizzled away by the time this rain moves through on Thursday.
If you are planning a trip out west, DO NOT COME HERE!!! Maybe in a month, but this should be at the bottom of your list. It is hard to imagine now how this season can be salvaged. We will be back to November base depths by the end of the week. I have heard that only once in WB's history has the resort shut down mid season...this could be the year of #2.
Hope those FIS snowboarders are having fun out there...
 
There are no published seasons for Whistler starting this slow in the Environment Canada + ski area data I have going back to 1973-74. Data is missing for Nov/Dec 1976, which was probably worse as it was so dry throughout the West. That season had an average February and above average March.

I'm starting to get a little nervous about March 21-24, particularly since I just bought the air tickets last week. I am somewhat committed as I paid for TLH March 26-27 a few months ago.

Mark's arrival in Whistler was ill timed. There is no big resort with a better early season track record historically. Most of western Canada had a dismal year in 2000-01 but Whistler was OK.
 
Yikes.....I have 6 days booked for non stop skiing and boarding end of February.....someone burn some old skis.
 
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