As we sit down to contemplate our final Ski-Town Rundown of the 2023-24 season, the sun is shining bright, the snow is long gone from the valley, and the bears are out making a big mess all over the Valley Trail.
In other words, spring has sprung in Whistler.
While Fear and Loathing references are fun, word on the street is the skiing is still excellent up top at Whistler Blackcomb as closing day approaches, and you can (and should) most certainly stop here if you get the chance. It’s their country, but the bears are happy to share so long as we respect them and their space.
As of April 30, Whistler Blackcomb had a base depth of about 219 centimetres, down slightly from the 231 cm we noted in our last instalment.
The latest Snow Survey and Water Supply Bulletin for the province won’t be posted until May 9, but as of April 15, the provincial average snowpack was at about 62 per cent of median, down from 67 per cent on April 1.
In the Lower Fraser Basin, which includes Whistler, the snow basin index had climbed to about 64 per cent of normal as of April 15, down from 67 per cent on April 1.
While we FireSmart our properties and prepare for another dry fire season in the valley, the mountain is open for skiing until May 20—the only ski area in the province where you can still get your fix.
So rock up with your rock skis, bust your bear-proof research suit out of the garage, and enjoy all the best Whistler has to offer this spring.
Trunk full of psychedelics optional.
Bring on La Nina
Whistler was of course not the only B.C. ski resort to weather a challenging snow year, and in fact came off better than most.
North Vancouver’s Mt Seymour was closed sporadically due to rain, while Mount Timothy Recreational Resort in Lac La Hache, north of Kamloops, didn’t open at all.
But some late-season snow dumps and sunny conditions proved a pleasant cap to an otherwise dreary season, Mt Seymour spokesman Simon Whitehead told the North Shore News earlier this month.
“It has been a wild ride this year,” he said. “We had a very strong El Nino. And that definitely created a lot of the weather conditions we saw... It’s not the worst year we’ve had but it’s definitely up there.”
Like the rest of us eternal optimists, Whitehead is hoping for a return to the La Nina good times for the ski season now ahead.
“It’s Mother Nature,” he said. “It’s like farming. You get what you get.”
Meanwhile, in other bear news, a snowboarder at Lake Louise recently had his own close call with a grizzly, all of it captured on GoPro.
According to the Rocky Mountain Outlook, British man James Hardy was on his last run of the day with a buddy on April 24 when they encountered the big bruin at about 3 p.m.
Luckily, it wasn’t aggressive.
“It wasn’t anything threatening. As we went past, it just looked at us and just went along,” he told the Outlook.
“He wasn’t even fazed by us.”
Vamos a esquiar
If you just can’t help but go big, a trip to Chile or exotic northwest Italy may be in your future—that is, if you have the time and resources to chase the world’s finest powder on a whim (don’t we all?).
According to snow-forecast.com, Gressoney-la-Trinite in Italy is the place to be for fresh pow in the next three days, with up to 59 cm forecast.
Further out, get ready to learn Spanish, buddy—Chile dominates the upper echelons of snow-forecast’s three-to-six-day forecast, with various ski areas, volcanoes and mountains expected to get anywhere from 112 to 146 cm.
And if you can’t trust an anonymous, international, mid-range snow forecast on the internet with your entire travel savings fund, who can you trust?
Rhetorical question, of course.
That about wraps up our first year of Ski-Town Rundown. Check back next year, when La Nina (hopefully) returns to really kick things up a notch.
But it probably wouldn’t hurt to learn Spanish just for the heck of it. Learning a new language is a great way to improve memory and brain function while you anxiously await the return of Ski-Town Rundown this fall
