Advertisement

Lack of snow raises prospect of late start to B.C. ski season

Click to play video: 'B.C. ski resorts dealing with lack of snow'
B.C. ski resorts dealing with lack of snow
WATCH: One or two days of heavy snow can change everything. But so far, B.C.'s ski resorts aren't exactly flush with powder, far from it. As Angela Jung shows us, the slopes at Whistler are looking rather bare just days away from scheduled opening – Nov 21, 2023

Ski season in southern British Columbia appears set to get off to a slow start, thanks to a shortage of snow.

On Monday, Big White acknowledged it would have to delay its planned Nov. 23 opening day, saying it would aim instead for Nov. 30.

“The snow always comes to the resorts of the Okanagan Valley, so we are pretty confident that skiers and boarders will be on the snow pretty soon,” resort senior vice-president Michael J. Ballingal told Global News.

Click to play video: 'BIV: Tourism operators hope to overcome inflation'
BIV: Tourism operators hope to overcome inflation

“The good thing is it is cold. The streams have started to freeze,” he added.

Story continues below advertisement

Ballingal said Big White had seen about 35 centimetres of snow in the village area, with parts of the alpine measuring up to 45 centimetres.

He said that coverage wasn’t enough for people to ski safely, and added that for crowding reasons the resort typically aims to have at least two lifts serving six to seven runs available.

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Meanwhile, Whistler-Blackcomb is also hoping to launch its season Nov. 23 despite relatively thin snow coverage.

“Our expert snowmaking and grooming teams are working hard to capitalize on available cold weather windows to turn on the snow guns and maximize our opening day terrain package,” a Vail Resorts spokesperson said in an email.

“As we kick off the season, and as we have done in seasons past, we’ll have early-season terrain available, and will continue to add additional runs/trails as we receive natural snowfall and make snow, as well.”

Click to play video: 'TransLink says it’s ready for winter weather'
TransLink says it’s ready for winter weather

Adding to the uncertainty is a weather forecast complicated by an anticipated El Nino climate pattern.

Story continues below advertisement

Environment Canada meteorologist Armel Castellan said that pattern is expected to manifest some time in mid-December.

“I think we’ll have to see as we go which parts of the season are warmer and where we see those higher freezing levels,” he said.

“So those mid-elevations in the mountainous terrain of B.C., which is where most of our snow falls, ends up being a little bit on the shy side even if it was a wetter winter — so more precipitation, you could see less of it actually fall as snow.”

Click to play video: 'Traffic Tips: Extend your cycling season into fall and winter'
Traffic Tips: Extend your cycling season into fall and winter

The late start, however, isn’t getting ski and snowboard fans down.

At Value Sports in Vancouver, owner Mark Kobari was optimistic fresh tracks aren’t far off.

“I am sure it will pick up snow there soon enough. Last year we were lucky to have an early season,” he said.

Story continues below advertisement

“If it’s not good to go by the 24th, I am sure by early December there will be lots of snow. Rain is coming next week, so hopefully in the higher elevation it will be snow.”

No doubt like Kobari, thousands of others hoping to hit the slopes will bee keeping a close eye on the weather forecast.

Sponsored content

AdChoices