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| 24hr Snow | 47 cm | 7 Day Snow | 149 cm | Snowbase | 265 cm |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine Temp | -5 °C | Valley Temp | +4 °C | Conditions | Powder |
Heavy Heavy Snowfall – I think it was around 20cm overnight and another 20cm during the day.
I had intended to go up today, but after going to Vancouver and watching the Canucks shut-out (3-0) the St Louis Blues last night, I ended up sleeping in. By the time I was mobile, I checked the website, and saw that all the alpine chairs were still closed – I presume for avalanche control after all this (heavy) snow. I decided to sit back and watch the lifts, if they opened I was going to head up, but they never did (according to the WB website).
It rained hard all day in the valley. With temperatures around -3 at Pig Alley I presume it has been a heavy,wet snowfall in the alpine, turning to rain around Olympic Station (maybe even higher). Still, there must be a lot of fresh snow up top, and with the freezing levels and wind expected to lower, this weekend is shaping up to be awesome (149cm in a week = a LOT of powder). They are even predicting relatively clear skies – so good visibility too 
Everyone I have spoken to lately has had a huge grin on their face, and the only topic of conversation seems to be who got the biggest face shots.
Today was the last day of voting for the Lonely Planet awards, looks like I came in 4th – so thanks to everyone who voted for me.
Update: By the time I had finished writing this post, the rain in the valley had stopped – it is now snowing again
Greg,
What do you think the crowds are going to be like tomorrow? I fly out of Vancouver tomorrow at 10:45PM, and i’m wondering if i’m cutting it too close trying to jam one last ski day in. Conditions are going to be OFF THE HOOK after all…
Any idea what time I should be leaving the mountain to be at YVR for 9:45PM at the latest?
This past week has been the best skiing of my life. Even as a Whistler noob, i’ve been skiing fresh all day, every day for the last week.
Hi Nathan,
I’d leave at 7pm at the latest, to make YVR by 9:45pm. The downhill run generally takes 2 hours in reasonable traffic with bare roads. If they’re clearing snow or its dumping then it can quickly increase.
This is a pretty useful map showing road conditions: http://www.drivebc.ca/map.jsp?zoomDirect=true&scale=1000000&mapId=315954089&planned=on&camera=on¤t=on&roadConditions=on&trafficIncidents=on&district=
And you can always get a written report on conditions at: http://www.drivebc.ca/popular_routes.jsp?routeOne=H99_N:53478:171838,H99_S:204802:323162&routeTwo=&routeThree=&routeFour=
I seem to remember, if they close the road (extreme weather, scheduled work etc) then the detour is 5 hours plus!
In any case, the lifts close at 4pm so even if you ski the full day, hit the road south as soon as you can after you ski out and you’ll be fine for 9:45pm at YVR.
HTH.
Rich
It was very snowy and very windy up at the top of whistler yesterday. They had 90K winds reported up top of the whistler gondala. The snow on the mountain was great all day. Nothing but powder everywhere. When they open Harmony and the others it will be like skiing fresh snow since it has been closed. Other than not being able to see at times, the snow was great on the mountain.
Hi i was wondering how the skiing would be around the 27th and that entire week. I was also wondering how the snow coverage is on West Cirque, Horseshoes, the bowls around spankys, and just the expert runs in general.
Skied Sat (March 21) and Sunday (March 22). Crystal clear skies and the fall out from the very snowy previous week. Wow! No wind.
On Saturday we heard the lines were atrocious at Whistler…but we were at Blackcomb. The fresh tracks quickly disappeared leaving very deep sloppy seconds. Today we found the sloppy seconds very difficult to ski. No crowds except from mid-morning at Harmony. Pretty standard. Started in Whistler Bowl and over to Surprise. The snow had become a bit compact and tough going where it hadn’t been skied. Where it had been skied was wonderful. Still rocks galore in Surprise. My friend got caught on one last weekend and tore his ACL:(
After a go in Cockalorum–also heavy duty–we moved on to Harmony where the snow seemed to be less wind packed and compressed. Great run down the front. Soft bumps. And then onto Sun Bowl where the snow was surprisingly excellent. We didn’t venture to the far left being a bit worried about heavy snow. Spent some time in Symphony which was also great. Fab views. Flute was officially closed.
Oh ya, and really fun run out down to Creekside. Franz’s and Dave Murray are both in great shape. Very fast.
Sam, to answer your question, I think the skiing will be terrific around the 27th. Keep an eye on the weather forecast. That’s the only thing that could get in your way. Otherwise there’s amazing top to bottom skiing and the bowls are well covered. Don’t know about W Cirque but everything else is as good as you’d ever want it.
Wugmother, thanks for your awesome report of the weekend ! Great to hear since I wasn’t able to ski much.
Nathan, sorry about the obviously really late response – but for anyone else reading this – I would say to allow 3 hours to get to the airport from Whistler. That is a general rule, and you will be there within 2-3 hours 95% of the time.
This Saturday may have taken even longer if you got stuck in the Saturday Vancouver crowd heading home after the big powder day.