As the title of today’s report suggests, Whistler Blackcomb has been absolutely pumped by this current snowstorm that is providing welcome fruit for most resorts in British Columbia and the entire Pacific Northwest.

Erik Austin near the Roundhouse - He IS NOT on his knees! Photo: Whistler Blackcomb Twitter

Reports of over 70cm in the last 24 hours have been confirmed with a huge amount falling right down to the village. With the snow comes the obvious threat of avalanche, so patrol was out early preparing the hill today. Once again, back country travel is not recommended with so much fresh snow falling.

The best news is that the storm hasn’t yet run out of puff, with snow expected to continue through until Friday, before a brief break and then… yep… you guessed it… another BIG pounding to occur Saturday and into Saturday night. If you are wondering what to do this weekend… I think I just gave you an answer.

This weekend will also see further terrain at the resort opened with both Whistler and Blackcomb mountains being open for your skiing and boarding pleasure.

As you can imagine, this has not been a localized storm, with other nearby resorts also getting a handy top up of white. All the way across at Fernie, 30cm of snow has fallen, whilst a little further north, Revelstoke, Lake Louise, Sunshine, Panorama and Kicking Horse have all recorded around the 20-30cm mark thus far. Snowfall warnings are still in effect in these areas as well with a further 20cm expected tonight, though it is tough to pin down exact numbers at this stage.

Oh, and by the way, the Winterstart world cup is at Lake Louise this weekend, so this is a great opportunity to get out and see the world’s best in action.

Resort Openings

This time of year, most of the news always centers around resort opening and terrain expansions and it’s always good to talk of early openings. This report is no exception. With Thanksgiving this week, resorts are always eager to have their lifts spinning, so recent storms have played their role and it’s now time for the lifties to get out there and do their bit.

Squaw Valley opens tomorrow to join others in the area already on the books, whilst Northstar opens their first top to bottom runs tomorrow as well.

A little further south and Mammoth takes a big step tomorrow with their pipe making its season debut much to the delight of many skiers and snowboarders alike.

To bad if you lost a contact lense - Patrolers clear some of the snow from a chair in preparation for opening day. Photo: Jackson Hole Mountain Resort

In Wyoming, Jackson Hole usually waits until December before operations start up, though it is kind of hard to ignore the fact that 30 inches of snow fell in the most recent storm and the resort is looking at one of its biggest openings in history.

In Colorado, there  is plenty of movement. Steamboat has also been fortunate with recent snow and will be ready for some turkey related turns this weekend. Beaver Creek also kicks things off, along with Vail and Breckenridge expanding operations and Keystone adding night skiing and tubing to the mix.

In what can only be described as a “generous” start to the season, Crested Butte also opens tomorrow offering a ski for FREE day. We love those. Check out the video to see what they are serving up.

The Canyons in Utah are set to go Friday with everything going according to plan.

Weather Forecast

As mentioned, British Columbia, Alberta and the Pacific Northwest will continue to feel the fury of this set of storms, with another meter possible in locations before the end of the weekend. It will come in waves and the heaviest snow will fall on the coastal mountains, though all areas will receive nice top ups.

In Utah, California and Colorado, things are a little more quiet on the weather front with some light snow possible into the weekend depending on the direction storms track, though we need the jet stream to realign with these areas before anything substantial lines up for the future.

Phew!

What a big day. To keep up to speed on the action as it occurs, be sure to follow Snow Report TV on Twitter and like Snow Report TV on Facebook. We love to keep in touch that way and remember to keep an eye out for us, because we’ll see you, on the mountain. For now, enjoy the big snowfall at Whistler Blackcomb and other resorts that have benefited as well.