Well we just had a few days of sunshine, and some ‘real’ Spring skiing. The weather was hot, the sun was shining, and the snow became nice and slushy. Blackcomb got a lot busier as a lot of the locals got out and enjoyed the sunny weather. Still, overall it is quite empty, especially considering there are only a few lifts open.
The weather has turned again, and we are in for a week or so of overcast with rain. The freezing level looks like it will remain at mid- mountain or above, so we might get a little bit of snow, but mainly rain. What snow we will get, will no doubt be rained upon during the same system.
The snowbase has dropped down to around 235cm, which is still great for this time of year. Normally by now, the lower mountains are completely bare of snow, this year, although officially closed, you could ski to the valley if you chose to. You would have to pick your way down in some places.
In other news, I did my first overnight ski tour on Friday night. I toured out to Keith’s Hut, accessed from Cerise Creek which is about a 1 hour drive north of Whistler. Keith’s Hut is located at the base of the Anniversary glacier. Un-fortunately I didn’t get to ski the glacier itself, as the sun was very strong, and we watched numerous small avalanches, starting around noon. Still, I had fun skiing some slushy snow in the treeline.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Matt // May 7, 2008 at 7:33 am
Hey, just found your site, hoping you could answer this question for me:
I’m heading to Vancouver at the end of May with my wife as she has a biz conference and I was thinking of heading up to Whistler/Blackcomb for the day. I was thinking of skiing but understand that I would have to get up there pretty early for that, are there any shops renting gear at this time of year?
Or would I be better off mtn biking while there?
Thanks for your help!
Matt
2 admin // May 9, 2008 at 11:04 am
Hi Matt, thanks for your questions.
The mountains will be open at the end of May for both skiing
(Blackcomb only) and Mountain biking (Whistler mainly, with 2 beginner
runs on Blackcomb).
With regards to skiing, that time of year (after May 20th) the lifts
don’t open until 10am, so there isn’t any real rush to get going in
the morning if you leave from Vancouver. Personally though, I find the
skiing in late Spring on Blackcomb to be fairly average, even now I am
turning my attention to biking and rock climbing - thus no updates on
the website.
If you want to ski, you only have 2 options for rentals, one is the
mountain itself, and the other is http://www.summitsport.com who I
‘think’ will still be open for rentals. Also I have 2 day tickets
spare, which I will most likely throw out, so I would be willing to
sell them to you cheap. I guess you only need 1, so how about $20 or
so? (I think the day ticket still cost around $50)
If you are into mountain biking, maybe you should try that. Whistler
opens May 17th for the season, with hopefully most of the lower
mountain trails open (we still have a lot of snow down low). That
would be a bit of hit and miss, we are just getting warm weather now,
so the snow is starting to melt. There are more options for renting
bikes and bike gear, I would recommend Affinty Rentals, as I do some
business through them. Otherwise Summit or the mountain itself are
your best deals. I don’t think Affinity have their new website up and running for bike rentals yet, so if you rent in person, mention the website (skirentalwhistler.com) to get a discount.
Whistler is a beautiful place, so if you have never been here, I
highly recommend you visit. Maybe you should leave yourself open, and
decide whether to ski or bike once you are here and see how the
weather is.
Basically skiing costs $40 gear rental (only skis and boots) and $20
for my day pass. The bike park will cost more, normally around $100
for a bike and armour if you need to hire that, plus the day pass
which is around $40.
Hope this helps, and if you need more info, or wish to buy a day pass
of me, then don’t hesitate to reply.
Thanks
Greg
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