With warmer weather forecast for the next few days, ski patrol at Whistler Blackcomb (WB) are encouraging guests to stay vigilant and safe on the mountain heading into the weekend.
"The soft-pack hard snow will create faster skiing conditions and it's important for everyone on the mountain to stay in control, respect other skiers and riders, and be mindful of slow zones," said WB senior manager of patrol, Adam Mercer.
"Conditions will be variable over this next stretch of time."
The WB forecast for Saturday, March 16 is for a high of 9 degrees and a low of 2 degrees, with Sunday not much cooler with a high of 7 and a low of 0.
In the valley, the forecast calls for a high of 17 C and sunny skies.
"Overnight, it’s still cold on the mountain, which will cause any slushy snow that melted the previous day to harden up," Mercer said. "Any snow that sits in direct sunlight will soften as the day goes on. It’s important to take your time and adjust to these often quickly-changing conditions due to overnight cooling and daytime warming. Also, everyone should be wearing sunscreen!"
Significant snowfall since early March will ensure the snow skiers and boarders head up the hill to enjoy is good to go, though.
"Since March 1, we've received 244 centimetres of snow. This really helped build up our snowpack which should carry us through this next stretch of warm period," Mercer said. "We're hoping that we won't lose substantial amounts of terrain and are reminded that things could change again. The weather in the mountains is dynamic and we often get winter storms into April."
That said, with warnings for Avalanche Canada that backcountry recreation is discouraged due to a high avalanche risk in alpine terrain across much of the province and here in the Sea to Sky, Mercer said in-bounds, ski patrol will be keeping a close eye on conditions, and guests "should expect some closures."
"We always aim to open as much terrain as we can each day and work back from there based on safety concerns," he said. "If the avalanche danger becomes too high in any of our alpine areas, we'll be closing them. We also encourage backcountry users to please visit avalanchecanada.com for the latest safety bulletins and information."
The Avalanche Canada forecast and recommendation for the next few days is for recreationalists to avoid all avalanche terrain in the area, noting that "persistent slab activity is expected to increase, as temperatures remain above mountain top for several days."
