Whistler info

[Dan Morgan]

I'm organising a trip from the UK to Whistler for next winter and was
wondering if anyone has any tips/recommendations? We went to Tahoe
this year (first week of March) and the snow wasn't brilliant, but a
local guy said something about El Nino affecting the conditions, does
anyone know if next winter in Whistler will be any good? ($64,000
question I know!)

Many thanks for any help

Dan

[Terry Morse]

Dan Morgan wrote:

> We went to Tahoe
> this year (first week of March) and the snow wasn't brilliant,

You were a month too soon. All of the snow fell in Apri:

http://www.terrymorse.com/ski/trip/sugarbowl030426/index.html

> but a
> local guy said something about El Nino affecting the conditions, does
> anyone know if next winter in Whistler will be any good?

The Climate Prediction Center says that El Nino is fizzling, but
there's no sign of La Nina. What do these mean? El Nino means dry
conditions in Whistler and wet conditions in Tahoe. La Nina means
wet conditions in Whistler and dry conditions in Tahoe. The last La
Nina was 1999, when the entire Pacific Northwest got hammered with
snow.

The current observations say that the entire west coast should see a
"normal" winter. Read more at the Climate Prediction Center:

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://www.terrymorse.com/ski/

[Dan Morgan]

Terry Morse > wrote in message >...
> You were a month too soon. All of the snow fell in Apri:

ARGH!

> The Climate Prediction Center says that El Nino is fizzling, but
> there's no sign of La Nina. What do these mean? El Nino means dry
> conditions in Whistler and wet conditions in Tahoe. La Nina means
> wet conditions in Whistler and dry conditions in Tahoe. The last La
> Nina was 1999, when the entire Pacific Northwest got hammered with
> snow.

Thanks for the info, I've checked out your links page and had a look
at snow-forecast.com and at the CPC. DO you know of any sites with
historical information so I can get an idea of past trends (e.g.
generally better in early Feb)?

Many thanks for the help

Dan

[Dan Morgan]

Further to my previous msg, I've found some historical snow reports on
http://www.skiclub.co.uk and they indicate that late March/early April
are best. I know that the amount of snow required for good
skiing/boarding depends from resort to resort (i.e. some resorts can
get away with less snow than others) but do you know if Whistler needs
a lot to be good?

Once again, many thanks for your help

[Terry Morse]

Dan Morgan wrote:

> DO you know of any sites with
> historical information so I can get an idea of past trends (e.g.
> generally better in early Feb)?

Tony Crocker has a wealth of historical data, but you have to pay a
few dollars for it. Whistler Roundhouse has virtually equal amounts
of snowfall from November through March, with just a small dropoff
in March. Whistler base gets the most snow in January, and it drops
off quickly after that. Good conditions at the base are hard to come
by, but the upper mountain almost always has good coverage.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://www.terrymorse.com/ski/

[Terry Morse]

Dan Morgan wrote:

> I know that the amount of snow required for good
> skiing/boarding depends from resort to resort (i.e. some resorts can
> get away with less snow than others) but do you know if Whistler needs
> a lot to be good?

I've only skied there when it has had lots of coverage, so I'm not
one to judge how much snow Whistler needs to cover the rocks.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://www.terrymorse.com/ski/

[Dan Morgan]

Terry Morse > wrote in message >...

You lucky !"£$ :-)

Thanks again for the help - much appreciated

[Gilbert Baron]

On Sun, 03 Aug 2003 09:45:48 -0700, Terry Morse >
wrote:

>Dan Morgan wrote:
>
>> I know that the amount of snow required for good
>> skiing/boarding depends from resort to resort (i.e. some resorts can
>> get away with less snow than others) but do you know if Whistler needs
>> a lot to be good?
>
>I've only skied there when it has had lots of coverage, so I'm not
>one to judge how much snow Whistler needs to cover the rocks.


I was there in March a few years ago and the snow had been about 1/2
of normal. There were no rocks in bounds, out of bounds I am not sure.
The base was BAD 3 days of 6 with 2 of rain but the upper half was
always good EXCEPT 1 day of fog when without my altimeter I think I
would have died :-)

[Doug Vance]

Gilbert Baron wrote:


>>> ... do you know if Whistler needs
>>> a lot to be good?

Generally the skiing at Whistler is marginal until the base is at least 100
cm.. After that it's pretty good from the alpine down with a possibility
of needing to download on the bottom lifts to avoid rocks at the very
botom. The high alpine usually dosen't get good until the base lower down
has been good for a while.

[A]

NO

we had a bit of a tough season last year (and the year b4 for that matter).
I'm up there early in the season and like to ski on the wrong side of the
ropes, so if your looking for blue/black skiing Whistler will do just fine;
even if we are a little short on snow. Stay away from the peaks on a
rainy/foggy day unless you know how to ski with your eyes closed (as they
might as well be).

Good luck

A