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| New Snow | 0 cm | 7 Day Snow | 0 cm | Snowbase | 124 cm |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine Temp | -15 °C | Valley Temp | -7 °C | Conditions | Hard Packed / Ice |
Wow, what in the world is going on ! Whistler has gone from extreme to the other, and now back again. We had unusually cold weather around Christmas (-20 ish) – then last week we were on the tail end of a heatwave where we hit a peak of approximately +13. Today, the temperatures have plummeted once again, with air temperatures approaching -20 again (all temps in the alpine).
I was caught unawares today (well I knew it was cold but didn’t bother preparing for it) and suffered a bit of frostbite on my nose – I have had frostbite there before, so I am now more susceptible. Still, it only took a run or two and my nose was white – really white ! Luckily someone spotted it while I was riding a lift, and I made my way to the Roundhouse for a nice cup of hot chocolate.
The thing was, it didn’t really ’seem’ that cold – except for the tops of Peak / Harmony / Symphony chairs where there was a decent wind blowing. Once out of the wind, I was actually quite comfortable – until I started skiing, and then the wind chill factor from my speed re-enforced that it was cold.
Bottom line – rug up and cover any exposed skin when the temps get low !! Also, keep an eye on each other, as you can’t see yourself .
Big thanks to the guy who spotted me !
Okay, now for the ‘news’. Apparently by opening the final two chairs (Peak and Symphony), according to the WB website it added another 1700 acres to the total skiable are – making a grand total 7000 skiable acres on the two mountains. Well, there must be around 1600 acres in the Symphony area, as the amount of terrain ‘open’ off the Peak chair is minimal. For those that know the area, you are allowed into Whistler bowl from the main entrance – and must head skiers right with the last run allowed being ‘Shale Slope’. Everything else is ‘beyond the ski area boundary’ including Highway 86 around the back (which accesses West Bowl / Bagel Bowl / Creek to Peak / Kybers / etc…) You must also duck ropes once in Whistler Bowl if you wish to head towards West Bowl / Doom and Gloom / VD Trees areas.
So yes, Peak chair is open, but not really worth it (yet). Different story for Symphony, almost everything is open over there – except for hiking Flute Bowl – but I was surprised at how close to the avalanche ‘run-outs’ you are allowed to go.
Anyway, the snow in Symphony is pretty good. Soft enough to be fun, but still ‘hard’ enough to not be classified as ‘Great’ skiing. Off-piste is worth exploring, just watch out for the odd exposed rock, and being a decent skier helps. I found it pretty hard going to ski smoothly, but any ‘good’ skiers will find it reasonable.
The groomed runs are still the same – hard packed bordering on ice. Quite nice if you are on ‘groomer’ skis, but a little side-slippy on anything else.
WB are forecasting 5 – 10 cm on Tuesday , we will see…. I am more comfortable with a long range forecast of snow beginning around the 29th and going for a week or so (off an on). Probably a decent dump or two around the 2-4 of February.
