Snowbase At Whistler Approaching Two Metres Already
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
The incredible snowfall at Whistler this November looks set to take the resort’s snow base past the two metre mark in the next 24 hours.
Whistler wasn’t due to open until the weekend, but opened 12 days early last week after receiving a healthy snowfall in early November.
Since then it has been snowing almost constantly with the snow depth most recently reported at 193cm (6.5 feet) following 19cm (7 inches) of new snow overnight. It stopped snowing on Wednesday but more is now forecast.
It’s a dream start for Whistler’s long awaited Olympic season, with the start of the Games now less than three months away.
However the heavy snow has brought some issues for the resort’s slope maintenance crews with the avalanche warning level at its highest level for off piste skiers and boarders.
Last season the heavy snow arrived a month later and there were several avalanche deaths as well as a chairlift tower collapse due to the weather extremes.
There’s been healthy snowfall for other resorts in Western North America too, although Whistler is reporting the most snow.
Conditions have been less promising on the East Coast however with Mont Ste Anne in Quebec deciding to delay its opening, planned for this weekend, due to limited snow cover and warm temperatures limited snowmaking operations.
