Pacific NW/AK/BC 2021-2022 PNW Ski Resorts/Conditions/Meetups

[DanoT]

I experienced that as well, witnessed two different WROD collisions.

When Sun Peaks has an opening day WROD (usually Cahility to the 5 Mile) they position ski patollers standing in the middle of the narrowish Cahility run, spaced every 200 feet or so. Very effective at getting the speedsters to slow down.

Once on the 5 Mile run, it is very wide and thus less of a problem.

 

[dovski]

Any experience flying in to Kamloops? Tickets mid January from SEA are only $200. Any shuttles up to Sun Peaks? Is the road clear to Revelstoke?

In the past there was never a direct flight so you would have to change planes in Vancouver. If that has changed it should be a very short flight, but you will probably want to rent a car once you get there. My understanding is that once you are in Kamloops the roads North and East are open. We have friends from Edmonton going to Sunpeaks in s couple weeks and there are not issues with that drive.

 

[DanoT]

In the past there was never a direct flight so you would have to change planes in Vancouver. If that has changed it should be a very short flight, but you will probably want to rent a car once you get there. My understanding is that once you are in Kamloops the roads North and East are open. We have friends from Edmonton going to Sunpeaks in s couple weeks and there are not issues with that drive.

There were direct flights, Seattle to Kamloops a few decades ago via Horizon Air (I think). Sun Peaks partly subsidized it to get things going but it was not sustainable, partly due to the relatively easy drive, I suspect. So fights now are perhaps due to the road closures.

I'm not sure how they handle Customs and Immigration at YKA since it is not an international airport.

 

[robertc3]

Slightly beyond the PNW, but closer than any other location, has anyone heard how things are looking at Alyeska? I have never skied there before and I don't have a feel for how much snow they need for the mountain to ski well. They don't open until the 10th, but they appear to have quite a bit of snow already.

 

[Bad Bob]

Slightly beyond the PNW, but closer than any other location, has anyone heard how things are looking at Alyeska? I have never skied there before and I don't have a feel for how much snow they need for the mountain to ski well. They don't open until the 10th, but they appear to have quite a bit of snow already.

They have been dumped on!
Conditions should not be an issue. If anything is still closed it will be North Face, it requires a lot of snow to be open.

 

[Kent]

A trip from Victoria, where I am now, to Sun Peaks is normally less than 8 hours including the ferry, but now with a detour thru WA (I-5 to Hwy2 to Hwy97), I am looking at about 16+ hours total (not including a motel room stop over). Hopefully by the time I head to SP, in early January they will have begun to allow non essential travel on Hwy 3 or Hwy 99, but

@DanoT If you do indeed need to come through Spokane, you are welcome to spend the night at my place.

 

[dovski]

There were direct flights, Seattle to Kamloops a few decades ago via Horizon Air (I think). Sun Peaks partly subsidized it to get things going but it was not sustainable, partly due to the relatively easy drive, I suspect. So fights now are perhaps due to the road closures.

I'm not sure how they handle Customs and Immigration at YKA since it is not an international airport.

The simple answer is that they do not as there are not flights from the US or any other country to Kamploops as it is a regional airport. Currently international flights to Canada are limited to several international airports that have the proper Covid protocols in place. So if you want to fly to Kamloops from the US you have to take a connecting flight through Calgary or Vancouver. AS an FYI the connecting flight from Seattle through Vancouver to Kamloops costs about $1000 USD

 

[noncrazycanuck]

if your flying book fast, since the floods Vancouver to Calgary flights have been fully booked.

 

[DanoT]

@DanoT If you do indeed need to come through Spokane, you are welcome to spend the night at my place.

@Kent, thanks for the gracious offer. However I will not be traveling as far east as Spokane on my way to Sun Peaks.

One thing that just went into effect yesterday is that cross border shoppers or detourists (new word I just made up that describes my travel plans) like me who spend less than 72 hours in the USA after entering from Canada, do now not need a neg Covid test to re-enter Canada.

 

[RJS]

Slightly beyond the PNW, but closer than any other location, has anyone heard how things are looking at Alyeska? I have never skied there before and I don't have a feel for how much snow they need for the mountain to ski well. They don't open until the 10th, but they appear to have quite a bit of snow already.

I just checked and they have gotten 249" of snow at the summit...conditions should be close to midseason when they open I would imagine !

 

[DanoT]

I just checked and they have gotten 249" of snow at the summit...conditions should be close to midseason when they open I would imagine

When I check out resort's websites I focus on snowpack depth at top of mtn and base, which is the actual amount of settled snow on the ground. Total YTD snowfall can be misleading because how do you know how much snow melted or blew away or settled or the date they started counting?

 

[noncrazycanuck]

The lessening of Canada's covid testing regs for trips under 72hr is going to make it easier for Canadian's to cross the border. Baker might even be on this year.

Also meant I could see my sailboat and beach cabin in Point Roberts for the first time since February 2020.
The now green boat didn't sink and we have 2 new trees in what used to be a lawn.

 

[RJS]

When I check out resort's websites I focus on snowpack depth at top of mtn and base, which is the actual amount of settled snow on the ground. Total YTD snowfall can be misleading because how do you know how much snow melted or blew away or settled or the date they started counting?

Totally agree, but the 249" is a larger and therefore more dramatic number . Alyeska's conditions page says the settled depth at the summit is 107", so again very impressive.

 

[Bad Bob]

Alyeska is low altitude high moisture coastal snow. Snow on the lower slopes ain't powder!
It is not unusual to be rained on at the bottom and dumped on up higher.
A foot of their snow often packs out to 6 inches plus of base.

 

[CascadeConcrete]

I don't know if I even dare to say it, but the forecast for Western WA is finally starting to look promising. We've got a train of storms that are supposed to roll through starting tonight/tomorrow, all with snow levels predicted to be below snoqualmie pass. The first storm is supposed to drop about 6-10 in, and that's the weakest of the bunch. Cross your fingers, do your snow dance, whatever your feel necessary, because this might be it! We could conceivably have lifts spinning pretty much across the state by next weekend if this forecast comes through.

 

[dovski]

I don't know if I even dare to say it, but the forecast for Western WA is finally starting to look promising. We've got a train of storms that are supposed to roll through starting tonight/tomorrow, all with snow levels predicted to be below snoqualmie pass. The first storm is supposed to drop about 6-10 in, and that's the weakest of the bunch. Cross your fingers, do your snow dance, whatever your feel necessary, because this might be it! We could conceivably have lifts spinning pretty much across the state by next weekend if this forecast comes through.

@CascadeConcrete fingers crossed that we can get some turns in before the new year!

 

[noncrazycanuck]

Whistler now has Harmony open and Blackcomb opened 7th Heaven.

Still just a trace on lower hill after the deluge but it's cold enough for snow guns in the valley.
Won't be long now before everything is open.

 

[RJS]

I wonder what ski areas will be open next weekend in Washington and Oregon? Presumably Crystal and Schweitzer again, but with the forecast it feels like Alpental at least might have enough snow to open...I don't know how conservative they are about opening, but OpenSnow is currently forecasting over 70" between now and Sunday evening. It looks like winter is finally upon us .

 

[dovski]

I wonder what ski areas will be open next weekend in Washington and Oregon? Presumably Crystal and Schweitzer again, but with the forecast it feels like Alpental at least might have enough snow to open...I don't know how conservative they are about opening, but OpenSnow is currently forecasting over 70" between now and Sunday evening. It looks like winter is finally upon us .

Agree things are finally starting to look like winter. Quite possibly they have West and Central open quickly, but alpental typically needs a settled base of 5+ feet given its terrain so opening next week is unlikely

 

[David Chaus]

So, I did make it Crystal today (Sunday). It was not as bad at I feared, parking was easy, and there was even a blanket of snow on the parking lot. The have blown a lot of snow in a just a few days, and conditions weren’t too bad, for man-made snow. Chinook, Quicksilver and Discovery were running, and it was basically Broadway to Tinkerbell, and then Quicksilver. No real problems with rocks or brush as long as you stayed on the main part of the trail.

I saw they set up a few rails and features on the far side of the bottom terminal for Forest Queen, which required hiking up a bit, but it kept the rails out of the way of the flow of ski traffic, a smart move.

Top of Chinook.



Top of Quicksilver looking up, no snowmaking.



Looking down from top of Quicksilver, snowmaking. This was almost all bare on Thursday. Nice job Crystal, with a little overnight help from nature.