I know most of you don’t need told this, but entering closed terrain on the ski area is a bad idea. There are a whole load of reasons why terrain might be closed, including (but not limited to) lack of snow, avalanche danger, dangerous terrain, difficult access for ski patrol, or, simply the fact that it’s not a part of the resort’s terrain.

Also, importantly, closed terrain does not mean ski at your own risk. Gated backcountry access is one thing. You’re welcome to head into that kind of terrain, as long as you have the proper knowledge, experience, and an avalanche beacon/shovel/probe. Gated backcountry is ski at your own risk, and it will be marked as so. Closed terrain is closed terrain. Don’t go there.

In case you need a little reminder as to what closed terrain is and what it means, here’s the crew at Whistler Blackcomb to explain the different signs and closures.

It’s important to note that different resorts might have different signs and signals for different types of closures. Check and understand your resorts symbols and closure signs! If it says closed, I can guarantee you that means it’s closed.

Again, I hope most of you know this already. I hope most of you don’t need this reminder. Maybe just show this to your kids, maybe make yourself watch it in case you have a nasty habit of ducking ropes. Just keep in mind, entering closed terrain could endanger not just you, but the patrollers who may need to rescue you and the public below or around you.

Related: “Check Yourself, Check Your Friends” A Simple Message About Backcountry Ski Safety

Image Credit: Whistler Blackcomb via YouTube

How much would you pay to have a year-round indoor parking spot at a ski resort? For one person, the answer to that question is C$195,000 (around $143,252 USD).

CTV News reports that Stall 45 under the Pan Pacific Hotel Mountainside in Whistler sold last week for C$195,000. The stall was only on the market for a week before selling. Stall 45 was last on the market back in 2017 when it sold for C$95,000. The parking spot is located near the Excalibur Gondola, Fitzsimmons Express chairlift, and the Whistler Village Gondola, so it’s a pretty solid location to start your day. Another reason why this is a good deal for the rich is that paid parking is the norm at the British Columbia ski resort, costing $14 per day in Whistler Village Day Lots 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Shauna O’Callaghan, the realtor who sold Stall 45, described why this price point is actually a great value:

“A parking spot like this one comes up once a year if you’re lucky. So with the amount of houses and investments in Whistler, even if you didn’t own a house here, it would still be a pretty good asset because you can drive up for the day and all of a sudden park. If people own a $20 million house up here, having a spot right at the base of the lift is pretty hard to beat...

In the scheme of their real estate holdings, it’s nothing, and it makes their home unique, like not everybody has access to the village. I would actually say many people feel disappointed that they missed out.”

This news follows the news from three months ago of a C$32 million crib becoming the highest-selling home ever sold in the ski town of Whistler.

Image Credits: Realtor.com, Google Earth, Whistler Blackcomb

Years after a viral video showed rescuers failing to catch a falling snowboarder from a chairlift, the victim is suing.

The Vancouver Sun reports that a snowboarder who fell around twenty-six feet off a chairlift is suing Whistler Blackcomb for unspecified damages. Bryan Phu Manh Tran, who was fourteen years old at the time of the fall is suing WB Land Inc., Whistler Blackcomb General Partner, ABC Property Management Co., and XYZ Property Maintenance Co. for negligence and/or breach of duty.

Back on December 3, 2016, Bryan was traveling up the Emerald Express Chairlift at Whistler Blackcomb. The plaintiff alleges that he was seated on the chairlift when the incident occurred, but didn’t have the restraining bar down. Slipping on the seat caused him to dangle from the chairlift:

“The plaintiff was seated on the chairlift when he fell to the ground. At the time of the incident, the plaintiff was conducting himself in a safe and prudent manner.”

A crew of people set up a firemen’s net below Bryan’s location. When Bryan fell, the net couldn’t hold him in, leading to Bryan falling onto the ground. After this, ski patrollers brought him to the Whistler Medical Centre.

A video from the incident, included below, shows Bryan falling to the ground. Just a forewarning: it’s a rough watch.

The injuries sustained from the fall were immense. Bryan suffered a fractured spine, and head trauma, among many other injuries across his body. These injuries have continued to affect him, which according to the Vancouver Sun, includes “cognitive deficits, altered gait, spinal arthritis, psychological injuries, and chronic pain.”

According to the lawsuit, here’s the damage that this incident has caused:

“The injuries have caused and continue to cause the plaintiff pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, permanent physical disability, loss of physical mental and emotional health…The plaintiff continues to undergo medical care and treatment and to incur loss and expense.”

These claims will be put to the test in court. Whistler has yet to issue a public comment. It’ll be interesting to see how liability laws at ski resorts stack up in Canada compared to the stingier rulings in the United States.

Image/Video Credits: Whistler Blackcomb, @RJ-fv5zl

Is it just me, or does it feel like ski season really didn’t end that long ago? Maybe it’s because the last time I skied was actually just a couple of months ago, maybe it’s because Mammoth shut down it’s lifts literally just ten days ago, or maybe it’s because I’ve been in some sort of dream state where nothing feels quite real since ski season ended. Whatever the reason, it certainly doesn’t feel like the time to be announcing projected opening dates for ski resorts throughout the country.

Fortunately, for those of us who are sick of the heat and dream of the snow, and unfortunately for those of you who only ski to distract yourself from the winter, Vail Resorts has announced projected opening dates for multiple of its resorts.

Colorado

Colorado is quite often the first state to see spinning lifts and open ski runs, and if Vail’s projected dates say anything for the near future of the American ski season, that will remain true into 2023-24.

Keystone – Mid October (dependent on early season conditions)

Breckenridge – November 10

Vail Mountain – November 10

Beaver Creek – November 22

Crested Butte – November 22

California

Heavenly, Northstar, and Kirkwood all had pretty remarkable seasons this past year (just like most of California). Heavenly stayed open for an additional three weeks, closing on May 7, while Northstar added two additional weekends and closed down on April 30. Kirkwood, on the other hand, kept things running into mid-May, with a final closing date of May 14. Let’s hope this upcoming season has even more to offer!

Heavenly – November 17

Northstar – November 17

Kirkwood – December 1

Utah, Washington, Canada

Sorry to lump these together, but they’re the miscellaneous three!

Park City Mountain (UT) – November 17

Whistler Blackcomb (British Columbia) – November 23

Stevens Pass (WA) – December 1

There ya have it folks! Please keep in mind that these are only projected dates, and are all subject to change. It’s not quite time to sharpen those skis and start looking for brand new boots, but it’s certainly time to start those cardio routines and leg workouts. Ski season is coming gang, let’s goooooooooooo.

Related: Big Sky Announces Its Projected Opening Date

Featured Image Credit: Vail via Facebook

This offseason will see another Epic Lift Upgrade for Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia.

The Fitzsimmons Express, which was a high-speed quad, is being replaced by a Doppelmayr detachable high-speed eight-pack chairlift. Whew, that was a mouthful. Doppelmayr is supplying and building the chairlift. During ski season, the uphill capacity will increase capacity by 73% compared to its predecessor in the winter, and will also allow five riders and five bikes to be on one chair, which is an impressive haul. The other originally planned chairlift replacement for this offseason, the Jersey Cream Express, has been delayed and is scheduled to open during the 2024-25 season.

Yesterday, Whistler Blackcomb provided the latest blog update on the Fitzsimmons project. July 1st marked the halfway point for the project, with many major parts of the construction already being completed. The next steps include preparing and installing the lift towers, putting on the haul rope (expected to happen in mid-September), and placing the new chairs on the lift line. The new Fitzsimmons Express is expected to open during the 2023-24 season.

Here’s what they’ve accomplished so far:

• “Construction teams are on target to complete all concrete work within the week.
• Pads for lift huts and genset (for power and backup electricity) are now complete.
• The top and bottom station enclosures are finished.
• Almost all tower footings have been excavated and formed with concrete poured (only towers 7 and 8 remain).
• Of the towers we have on hand, only 7 and 8 remain to be installed, which will be completed before Crankworx. Aside from this, we’re awaiting additional required new towers to arrive from Austria via Montreal. These will be installed when they arrive, just after Crankworx.
• Excavation work to make space for the larger lift structures is ongoing with 7,000 cubic meters of earth removed at the load station and 1,000 cubic meters at the drive station (with 1,500 cubic meters removed for the previous lift’s lower mast removal).”

I imagine many locals that ski at Park City Mountain Resort, which originally was scheduled to receive this new chairlift, are punching the air right now.

Image/Video Credits: Matt Sylvestre (Featured Image), Whistler Blackcomb

Back in April, Whistler Blackcomb began to close the Blackcomb Gondola on weekdays due to needed maintenance projects. The communication notifying the public of the planned closure wasn’t great, and powder on the first day it was closed led to ginormous lift lines. The blowback was swift and resulted in Whistler issuing a public apology.

Last week, Whistler Blackcomb released an update on the project. For the electrical work, the current work includes checking the strength of every switch, wire, and connection on each of the 42 lift towers. For the mechanical projects, they are “greasing axles, inspecting tower gears for wear, and changing out worn components.” This requires a person on a specialized work carrier moving between the lift towers to do the work. In spite of the gondola opening back in 2018, maintenance is needed frequently in order for it to keep operating for its year-round operations.

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A majority of the comments on the post were positive, but some people were still unhappy with the controversial events in April. We start with the angriest, with someone who uses the CAPS LOCK TO SHOW HOW PISSED OFF THEY ARE AT VAIL RESORTS:

“So this is supposed to make the closing of this [ok]. Lift the day after Whistler closed while the season was still full on and thousands paying guests had to wait for hours to get on the original Blackcombe gondola? POOR TIMING POOR COMMUNICATION POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE.”

One commentator was a lot more reasonable and didn’t use LOUD NOISES, saying that many don’t understand the difficult job that lift maintenance workers face:

“Most people that ski daily do not know what LM [Lift Maintinence] does to keep lifts safe and running. Great post, mad respect to EVERY LM crew out there across all Vail’s resorts! Especially the ones in WB ”

To conclude, I like this comment the most because the commenter says they made a mistake, owned up to it, and have increased their transparency along the way:

“Appreciate how you’ve handled criticisms and started giving us way more info. Behind the scenes looks like this are fantastic too. It’s great to see a company actually listening to feedback.”

In terms of the current conditions at Whistler Blackcomb, a heat wave is forcing terrain and lifts to close. Their projected closing date is May 22nd.

Image/Video Credits: Whistler Blackcomb

The winner of the Whistler World Ski & Snowboard Festival’s Intersection video competition is set to go live on YouTube at 9am Pacific time on Thursday, April 27, and it looks pretty darn sick.

For those who don’t know, the Intersection competition gives five crews 12 days to create a 4-6 minute winter sports edit shot in British Columbia. That’s 12 days for filming and editing, so they’re really put on the clock.

This year, the crew behind the Out of Service snowboarding web series took first place with their snowboarder-snowmobiler rivalry South Park parody. There’s currently very little about the project available to the public, aside from a few clips posted to their Instagram, but it did win $10,000, so it’s gotta be pretty great.

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A post shared by OutOfService snowboarding webseries (@0ut.of.service)

I love seeing crews push their creativity through ski/snowboard edits and short films, so I’m very excited to see what this winds up looking like. Set your alarms people! Not too long before this is dropped!

Image Credit: Whistler Ski & Snowboard Festival via Facebook

Featured Image Credit: Out of Service via YouTube

Vail Resorts has announced that +30-year ski industry veteran Belinda Trembath will take over as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Whistler Blackcomb beginning on May 15.

Trembath began her career as a ski instructor in her home country of Australia, becoming Vice President and General Manager of Mount Hotham in 2006. In 2022, she became the Vice President and General manager of Australia’s Perisher Resort, the largest alpine resort in the southern hemisphere, and has chaired the Australian Ski Areas Association since 2018.

“Belinda is dedicated to ensuring the preservation of unique mountain cultures alongside a commitment to excellence across the employee, guest, and community experience. This is what makes her an exceptional mountain operator. I can’t imagine a better leader to step into the COO role at Whistler Blackcomb to help guide the next chapter of such an iconic, influential, world-class resort.” – Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of Vail Resorts’ West Region and Interim COO at Whistler Blackcomb Doug Pierini

“I am honoured and thrilled to be the COO of Whistler Blackcomb. It is not lost on me how profound this opportunity is, and I look forward to being an advocate for our resort and its passionate employees, our guests, and the iconic Whistler community. Canada has always held a special place in my heart – early on in my career, I spent a season in BC at Big White. A spark ignited within me, and I always hoped to find my way back. It is a bit surreal that this dream is now a reality. My husband and children also feel a connection to the beauty of BC, and they are looking forward to this new adventure” – Belinda Trembath

Image Credit: Whistler Blackcomb via Facebook

Whistler Blackcomb’s been in midst of a P/R crisis this week, as a poorly communicated spring operations plan coincided with a powder cycle for the ski resort. This resulted in a brutally long lift line for the Excalibur Gondola on Monday.

On Tuesday night, Doug Pierini (Interim COO) and Doug Macfarlane (VP Of Mountain Operations) explained their reasoning behind the operations shift in a letter to guests. They apologized for the poor rollout and adjusted some of their lift operations. The Glacier Express, which was originally scheduled to be closed for maintenance, will now remain open.

The reason that the Blackcomb Glacier is closed is that they had to require maintenance in the springtime, which is required by their lift manufacturer and Technical Safety BC. They also need to do some load testing and work on the lift towers and stations.

In spite of the mistakes made earlier this week, I think it’s great that they apologized and acknowledged that they made some errors. I still think they should get the Blackcomb Gondola open for a few more weekdays though.

You can read their statement below.

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Image Credits: Whistler Blackcomb, Happy Virtual Tours,

On Monday, Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia moved to spring lift operations, which meant that they only had one gondola open out of their base areas. This led to massive lift lines and tons of angry customers. Customers on Whistler’s social media platforms were saying that it was bad, but we didn’t see a full first-hand perspective until yesterday.

YouTuber Happy Virtual Tours released a walking tour of the Excalibur Gondola lift line on Monday and spoke to a few people that were in it. One woman said that they had waited 25-30 minutes, and they still hadn’t gotten to the end. The line started near the gondola, nearly went all the way to the Village Square, and then took a U-turn back towards the Excalibur Gondola. The video from Virtual Tours is below

Image/Video Credits: Happy Virtual Tours, Tourism Whistler