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| New Snow | 0 cm | 7 Day Snow | 2 cm | Snowbase | 133 cm |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine Temp | -7 °C | Valley Temp | +1 °C | Conditions | Medium / Hard Packed |
Another gorgeous day with not a single cloud in the sky until late afternoon. Visibility was perfect and the temperatures a little more comfortable. I almost wished I had worn sunglasses to really enjoy the sunshine.
So I did a few piste runs around Whistler and had a few good turns. The grooming department have done a good job, with a great smooth surface. However, as usual for this season, there are quite a few hard patches, but that’s the way it is. A little bit like the European slopes 
It is probably the perfect (current) conditions for a holiday period – sunshine is always nice to spread out the crowds, which might also explain why the lift lines are generally small. I am pretty sure that the Olympic Organizers will be loving the weather, and hoping for the exact same this time next year.
As for the whole ‘is it going to snow again’ question – Whistler apparently averages around 10m a season, well so far we have received less than 5m – so we are either in for an epic March – or a season to bring down those stats !
Obviously everyone is hoping for a big March to finish the (winter) season. I say it that way because we still have a lot of Spring skiing to do afterwards.
Regarding the snow situation, you always have to remember that an average value is just that…. 50% of the time the snowfall will be below 10m (assuming a gaussian distro but you get the point).
Its very easy to get used to ‘better than average’ years and forget about the ‘worse than average ‘ years that have to come along.
As posted a few days ago… for once there are great bluebird days with cold snow…… Its not so much fun going out when it may be dumping regularly but the vis is terrible and its raining at mid-station.
I am coming out next week and have been a bit down about the lower than usual coverage, however its a big mountain and most of its open. As long as there are regular top ups and it doesnt get too icy it will still be great sliding. Probably the comparison with the alps is bad right now but I have a friend who went to Val d’Isere before christmas, it dumped royally on them , so much that they couldnt get up the hill for 3 days out of a 6 day trip.
Maybe its coming from scotland and getting excited about riding on 10cm of snow that does it….. but sometimes the ‘marginal’ conditions provide great riding as it keeps some of the snow-snobs off the hill.
Sorry for the long post… getting quite excited… getting married on Saturday the flying out to Whistler on Monday for honeymoon… woo hoo.
Remember the ‘snow snobs’ paid the same price for the lift ticket as you did, everyone is entitled to it.
Exactly…. if youve paid for a lift ticket you should use it and ride whatever the hill throws at you…..powder or ice, freshies or hardpacked. The mountain is a great place….. you should ride whenever you can.
David, I realize that with averages, you have highs a lows, but it seems to me – the mode average of WB snowfall would be close to the 10m mark. This looks like it is going to be one of those ‘big variant’ variables (or whatever the terminology is
)
Although, I would prefer to have some of those wet/snowy – barely see days right about now.
When I referred to the Alps, I was meaning we are having one of their normals seasons, and they seemed to get one of ours… (at least the early season)
I am sure you are going to enjoy the skiing here – partly because you are also right about ‘snow snobs’. Right now, we have decent but not the usual great conditions, and any day skiing is better than almost any other day.
)should be ‘forced’ to do at least 3 runs before calling it a day – conditions change from day to day and throughout a day. One run can be bad, but the next 5 great….. So if the first run wasn’t all that good, do a few more and see what happens.
To be honest, I think everyone is a snow snob (including me) because everyone has an opinion on how the snow * could’ve * been better after almost every run.
I also think people ( now that I giving my opinion
No one really complains about how good the snow was, but a few complain about how it could have been better.
Congrats on the marriage and have fun here on your honeymoon !!
Greg wrote: “This looks like it is going to be one of those ‘big variant’ variables (or whatever the terminology is
)”
Outlier. Hence the (super) nerdy joke…
I’m not an outlier; I just haven’t found my distribution yet!
But that’s what this season is… unless March turns in some record dumps… it’s going to be an outlier.
Rich
(visiting again in April and keeping everything crossed that March brings the season back towards the mean/mode/median so we still have a ski out in April!)