Yes, it’s November – and yes, you read that right. Whistler Blackcomb has officially received more snow this month than in any single month for the past 30 years (since records have been kept). Through November 25th, Whistler has accumulated a stunning 538cm (17 feet) from a line of storms that have hovered over the Coast mountain range for weeks on end, smashing the previous record of 418cm (13 feet) set back in January of 2006.

As you might have guessed, conditions have been “euphoric” by all accounts – but the immense amount of snow has stifled the progress of crews working to get the high alpine lifts online. Rime ice, buried lifts and trails, and moderate to severe avalanche threats are just a few of the setbacks that crews high on the mountain are working through right now.

“There is usually not this much snow in November so we would be able to do the work gradually as we would get snow, it’s almost as easy as flipping a switch,” said Anton Horvath, Whistler Blackcomb’s resident Meteorologist, in an interview with Pique Newsmagazine. “This year we haven’t been able to do the work gradually. It’s been a while since we had a few days of clear weather to work in, and we have another storm coming in.”

What a way to kick off the season, and Whistler’s Olympic debut scheduled for just a few months out.

Tagged as: conditions, whistler