Whistler has received over 350cm (11.5ft) of snow already

What a start to the season!!!

PLENTY more snow in the forecast too :)

Keep up to date with the Whistler Blackcomb Snow Report

Update: Now over 500cm with a base around 200cm :)


Edited by wbsr - 11/25/09 at 11:01pm

Love it!  Hope it continues to dump!

Can you spell......Olympics.??!!!!!!!!!

I hope Whistler has a great season.

The Rockies are getting pounded with snow this year, nice change from last year...  Some resorts didn't have this base until the end of Dec to mid Jan.

We now have a base of 224cm, we didn't get over 200cm until March 15th last season.

Can you send some our way....

rfl1.

how about just flying our way.  even marmot is getting hammered.

Damn you guys!

I'd settle for some cold weather.  It looks like it will be close to 2 weeks before the local hill with get it's first decent shot at some snowmaking

Did you hike some turns?
Hows the new outback area working out?

It sounds like great year to go to Whistler, not just because of the snow so far, but because hotels are desperate for business. Bookings are down because everyone thinks that it will be too crazy and expensive to go during an Olympic year, when really it's only during the Olympics that it will be crazy and expensive. There were GREAT early season hotel deals for this (Thanksgiving) weekend, and after reading this article, I'm betting they're going to keep up:
http://www.piquenewsmagazine.com/pique/index.php?cat=C_News&content=Tw+candid+with+council+1647

Yes, but Whistler jacked up their lift ticket prices to $91, making it a great year NOT to go to Whistler. Unfortunately, that means more BC locals are coming to Baker instead of Whistler. :insert mad icon:

$91 is the price for a single day lift ticket, bought at the bottom of the hill during the peak season.

You can purchase 5 day tickets for $68/day during the shoulder season - like right now where we are skiing DEEP pow.

BC locals had the chance to buy season passes for $1100, and I heard they sold a fair few. So unless the loonie gains a lot more vs the greenback, I don't think Baker will get that many more BC people than normal.

edit: doing some numbers

Baker ticket CAD$50 for 1000 acres = 5 cents per acre
WB ticket CAD$100 for 8000 acres = 1.25 cents per acre

So depending if you are good enough/fit enough to ski WB, you can get a lot more for your money.

There were lots of BC skiers at Baker over the last two weekends, but the skiing was superb and the other Lower Mainland areas besides WB were not in such good shape.  I heard more than one BC skier on the lift talking about how they were going to ski Baker more this year.  This is not good news for us locals.

Unless you ski all 8000 acres a monetary comparison based on $ per acre is worthless and I doubt that it would make a difference to most people even if they thought of it.  The fact is that Baker costs a lot less and offers very good terrain.  I'm worried that a significant number of skiers and boarders from BC who didn't know this will find out and change their habits.

Meaning you are "fit/good enough" to ski twice as many runs for twice the price? If  I'm that "fit", I'll just ski twice as many runs at Baker.

Whether or not you agree with the people who are opting for Baker is a moot point. The fact is, more and more BC people are opting for Baker over Whistler. Typically, over half of my lessons now are from CA. And we set a record for everything sales last week; they had to turn people away because they ran out of parking spaces.


(And on a personal note, I'll take less acreage for more snowfall myself.)

Not for WA or BC residents, who get the Edge Card. That makes it between $55-$67, depending on how many days you buy. If you don't get an edge card for some reason, REI has consistantly had discount passes.

If you don't live in WA or BC and can't get discount tickets, then you'll still end up paying less than you would at other major resorts (Aspen/Snowmass, Vail...). And since lodging is FAR less in Whistler than at those places, I think it still ends up being a good deal.

 Luckyyyy!!!

But really when are we gonna get some snow and cold weather!?!?

I want to just kill people when they come up to me and are like, "isn't it great that its 60 degrees outside" uhhhggg!!! i hate those people

JKjk

I won't get an edge card for some reason, and that reason is that it is still too rich for my taste. With the edge card, the price is back down to what it was for a full price ticket two years ago.

I'm sure Whistler has calculated that they can jack the rates up and compete nicely with Aspen and Vail. More power to them. If your other choice is Vail, Whistler might be a good choice. Arguing that whistler is chepaer than the most expensive place is not arguing very convincingly. For those of us who don't have an interest in skiing Vail, Whistler has just pushed over the edge into "strictly for tourists". They've lost me as a customer, and they've lost many of the WA and BC locals who are opting to ski on this side of the border.

I think they've lost fewer than you think.  You're right, Whistler is over the top in so many ways, but a large amount of people like that kind of stuff.  Baker is the anti-Whistler and appeals to a different, much smaller in numbers, crowd.  We'll see more Canadians this year because they're scared of going to Whistler because of the Olympics, but it won't last.

Stylin' at Baker is a beanie, at Whistler it's Bogner.  Different folks.

i don't see whistler being more expensive than other major resorts if you take advantage of their specials, of course.

i've off to my first 3 or 5 day ski esprit at whistler on dec 13th..I have only skied there once before (last year) and i've always wanted to really explore the mountain a bit better with some professional guidance (you know to just have 'done it' with an extended stay to feel i know the mtn a bit more than a 1 day outing)...and knowing me i just might stay for 5 days/6 nights...(can my legs take 5 days of sking however...hmmmm)

...no I'm not an advanced skier at all (right now at least blues are my thing.... or really long crusing green-blues, but hope to up the ante with the ski esprit instruction)...yet i find their prices not too bad with the edge card: for $319 i got a 5 day pass (and a bonus free 6th day if used before dec 23rd  which averages out to be in the upper $50 range....not bad in my books)

latest news for today: the edge card discount has been extended...so there is still time to get your discount card (hey i hope the ratio of my ski esprit program is more like a 'supergroup''s ratio of 3-1)

...plus many hotels are offering 'stay 2 and get 3rd night free' which i also took advantage of, ie, the new ''aava'' 3 star hotel...3 nights with taxes in is just $296 (king bed)....sure i hear whistler can be so-so depending on the weather...i'm just crossing my fingers it will be good, hoping to have fun, meet some nice people (going up by myself hence the ski esprit program) and hope to ramp up my skills and bring them back to use at cypress (have a season's pass there)....just to get away from the pressures at work will be a nice hiatus in itself (heck aren't we all overstressed nowadays?).

as per the opinion WB is dying for business, i'm not sure: when booking i asked my rep exactly that and she said they all knew of the same rumour... but that instead many people are coming up there to take advantage of the specials offered so they are filling up ok...so it's not as desperate as you think at all (PR? i don't know...just sharing with you what was I was told).

PS feel free to shoot me any ideas for good bars/restaurants with good music/reasonably priced food....

Edited by canali - 11/25/09 at 7:57am

The Edge card is available to residents of WA or Canada (not just BC)

About the acreage, I was actually thinking about the way snow conditions change from aspect to aspect and elevation to elevation. At Whistler Blackcomb, on any particular day you can find good conditions - smaller resorts just don't offer that ability.

I could go on and on about the the 'value' of Whistler, but I am sick of it, people just believe Whistler is expensive. Do a TOTAL cost of ski trips and then compare (include getting to and from resort, transportation while at resort if needed - which is rare at Whistler). I used to do yearly road trips through the BC interior, I found those 'cheap lift ticket resorts' normally require 30+ mins of driving each day, so if you destination vacation there you need to rent a car for the week too.

As to whoever said you can't compare to vail/aspen - do you compare going to Disneyland with going to you local 'fair' ????  You have to compare similar products.

 i'm a sucker for being generous so i'm sure i'll make my instructor happy then (good business is reciprocal)

Total snowfall is now 530cm for the month of November :)

hey guys help me out here: i'm stuck in deciding to go for either a 3 or 5 day stay...

 are 3 days usually sufficient at whistler (sure sure i hear you're not scratching the surface for exploring the mtn, but i'm talking of your legs needing a break...it's m first ski outing of year and i'm in pretty good shape)?

I'm not sure a lifetime is sufficient for Whistler.

Question for those who know whistler well.

I am in Maryland (cancelled trip to VT this weekend, have reservations for Tremblant for 9th-13th that I will probably cancel as well).

Will it the conditions make it worthwhile to come out to tremblant for a handful of days?  Will harmony/peak chair be open this early since the conditions are there?  Will the conditions last for the next two weeks?  I know there is no way to know, I am fine taking a chance but I wouldn't want a lot of rain to ruin a trip.

Last question, is a sedan rental sufficient to get to Whistler from Seattle and park the whole time?  Last February rented a SUV and felt we could have gotten by without it.

The conditions have me thinking about taking a spur of the moment trip because of how much we enjoyed last Feb.

I just finished up making all the reservations for a spur-of-the-minute trip to WB, leaving Friday at 0-dark-thirty, and staying for 5 days.

According to my Mountain Host buddy, it is expected that the Peak Chair will be open, and there's no reason not to expect Harmony to be. Symphony may well be open shortly.

Weather - well, you paya you money, and you taka you chances. For certain there's no rewason to believe the least coast will be any good within the forseeable future, so......Check the Alpine weather information on WB's site - it's as close to accurate as you get with weather forecasts.

A sedan is fine for the drive. That's what I'm doing. Arriving in Seattle at noon, Van by 3, stop at a friend's restaurant for lunch in N. Van, then up to WB by 6.