wb springtime

mark

New member
haven't posted in quite a while...
it's been a great season here in whistler. the most consistent good quality snow probably occured in december to early january, but it's all relative. there was only one stretch of about 10 days without snow, but other than that we've been averaging about 80cm / week.
but it seems as though it is winding down. it's been a long winter, with cold temps and snow starting in early november. lately we've had a lot of rain in the valley, and heavy snow up top. great groomers this week in the upper mountain, but it's major freeze / thaw on the lower half. avoid the lower runs until noon!
most noteable of late have been the crowds! i'd say since mid-jan it has been the busiest i've seen it since moving here 4 years ago. i avoid the weekends completely, but even last week i waited 30 minutes in a lift line on a tuesday powder day.
i'm still hoping for a couple more nice cold dumps after the tourists take off. but i'd be just as happy to get back on the bike, although that is still a ways off with our current snowpack.
 
I was thinking about coming out sometime during the week of april 12th. Any ideas if a) most of the crowds will have left by or b) there will be a zillion people due to the Telus WSSF and c) if the long term weather indicates freeze-thaw into the alpine regions?

Every time I got to whistler in the spring I have a blast, and there's always a bunch of snow up top. Just curious about what might lie ahead.

Thanks,
-j
 
I would not hesitate at all to come to Whistler this April with the deep snowpack. March is busy due to Canadian spring breaks. Whistler probably got a bump in midseason bookings due to them having a good year when many other ski regions had very slow starts to this season.
 
I had thought about Whistler this April but was worried because of April rain/fog. With W/BC I have to get over the fact that half the mountain is usually worthless most of the time in spring. I have heard the bottom 1/2 is really mushy with the recent rain.

Granted this is for the Valley level but the predicted temps the next 15 days do not look encouraging:

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weathe ... BC0322.htm
 
there's still a deep snowpack at the base, but we are getting big time freeze / thaw at valley altitude (base to about 1600m). the alpine was packed powder a few days ago and the temps have stayed about the same so far. you can't believe the 15 day forecasts either - only about 3 days is predictable out here.
the last two aprils we've had some excellent powder days on the upper mountain. in fact two years ago, april was probably the only month we had decent powder all season.
i'd say it's going to stay busy right through to the end of april, even given the response to this thread...tony's right - i think a lot of people booked their seasons when whistler was the only place getting snow. i'm hoping it dies down in april, but i doubt it.
 
you can't believe the 15 day forecasts either - only about 3 days is predictable out here.
This is true just about anywhere IMHO. Do not take longer range forecasts seriously.
 
Yeah, I've never been to WB when the bottom half was open (well, technically there was a ski-out on Blackcomb, but it was a ribbon...) and that doesn't matter one bit. There is just soooooo much terrain.

This week will determine when & how long I'll be out there.... :lol:
 
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