From CypressMountain.com:

Judging from the sounds of this, they may plan to pull snow off other runs on the mountain… I can’t think of any other reason why they’d be forced to close the mountain to the public if this weren’t the case.

Oh well, here’s hoping for tons of snow in February to make up for it because if they do end up farming the snow off the rest of the mountain, we’re not going to have much of a season left come March 9th.

VANCOUVER — While recent winter rains have washed North Vancouver skiing business downhill, 2010 Olympics officials insist they’ve got enough snow stockpiled to run Olympic events at Cypress Mountain.

Cypress is home to aerial and mogul skiing and to snowboarding, snow-cross and ski-cross events.

Tim Gayda, 2010’s vice-president of sport, said a decision won’t be made until Wednesday whether to take over the mountain three weeks earlier than planned.

“They’re going to look at it on Wednesday,” said Gayda Monday. “It will largely depend on what the future weather will bring. It’s a pretty big decision.”

Plans called for VANOC to take control of the mountain and close it for skiing on Feb. 1.

He said the recent warm, wet weather wasn’t unexpected.

“We’ve looked at this and many other scenarios in terms of having too much snow or very cold temperatures,” said Gayda.

He said Olympic planners took steps last year, during colder weather, to blow “a massive amount of artificial snow” onto the venue courses.

“When we saw this warming trend, we worked with the mountain to look at all the places where there was natural snow and we started to stockpile it,” he said. “When you push it into these big piles, it insulates it a lot better. There’s thousands of cubic metres of snow in each pile.”

Seeing as there’s less than three weeks remaining until they’re scheduled to shut down for the Olympics anyways, I guess that’d mean that should they decide to close public access early it would be effective immediately.

I’d expect passholders would receive some sort of a bonus to make up for the additional closure period, but only time will tell.

Click here for the complete story at VancouverSun.com.

Very informative, thanks Jason!

Rocker on Powder Skis

Rocker on Big Mountain Skis

Rocker on All Mountain, Every Day Skis

And be sure to check out the full discussion here

Check out Alberta’s Alpine Skiing Olympic legacy that is Nakiska, should be a pretty exciting year with 70 new acres of gladed terrain and the new Gold Chair, which gives them the longest fall line skiing in the Rockies.

From their site:

Get your ski gear ready and go!  Nakiska Ski Resort opens for weekends starting this Saturday Nov 14, 2009. Nakiska will feature some of the longest vertical fall line runs open in the Alberta Rockies! That’s right, a whopping 2,800ft of vertical  for your thigh burning enjoyment!   We invite everyone out for the start of an exciting season at Nakiska including all RCR Pass Holders who can SKI FREE at Nakiska until their home resorts open!

With an incredible early season snowfall and Western Canada’s Largest Snowmaking System, Nakiska Ski Resort provides the best skiing and riding conditions in the Alberta Rockies.  On Saturday, skiers and riders will be able to head up the Silver Chair Express and enjoy Grand Trunk and Homesteader.  The exciting debut of the new Gold Chair Express, the only new, high speed quad in the Banff/Bow Valley area, commences this weekend.  Enjoy skiing and riding on Mapmaker, accessible from the Gold Chair Express, starting at 10:30AM on Saturday.  Experience the longest fall line skiing in the Rockies by skiing from the top of the Gold Chair Express to the bottom of Silver Chair Express.

Don’t miss out this season on the 70 acres and 13 new trails in the new Monster Glades.  With the upper section of the Monster Glades open for this weekend, Nakiska will be the only Alberta Ski Resort to  have new trails open for skiers and riders to enjoy.  “The Monster Glades” provide some of the best tree skiing in the Alberta Rockies’ says Matt Mosteller, “We tested it out last weekend and enjoyed knee deep powder and perfectly spread trails. What a blast!”

Click here for all the details!

Probably won’t make a habit of it, but the novelty factor of skiing at 4:00 in the morning would be pretty cool once or twice, especially if it’s dumpin!

Press Release – Cypress Mountain Opens Tomorrow!

Friday November 13, 2009

WEST VANCOUVER , BRITISH COLUMBIA – Cypress Mountain is pleased to announce we will be opening tomorrow Friday, November 13th, 2009 for the third earliest opening in our history!

Our alpine area will operate 9am – 4pm daily with Easy Rider Chair on Friday. We will continue to open more lifts and terrain as the snow comes.

The Cross Country area will also open for the season Friday, operating 9am – 4pm with the lower trails available on early season conditions.

Snowshoeing and tubing will require more snow to open.

The spectacular new Cypress Creek Lodge will be open from 9am-4pm, featuring the Crazy Raven Bar and Grill.

The Ticket Office, Rentals, Snow School, Food and Beverage, Guest Relations (pass processing) and Retail Store will all be open for service.

The Cypress Mountain Shuttle Bus will run daily – schedule available at www.cypressmountain.com

According to Cypress Mountain’s website, they may open this coming Friday, November 13th.

Not a major opening as it would only be the Easy Rider lift, which accesses some pretty tame terrain, but a hopefully an indicator of things to come!

To add, judging by this story’s feature photo, looks like a few guys have been hiking for the goods already.

From Cypress Mountain:

There is a good possibility of Easy-Rider Chair opening this Friday!!

Check CypressMountain.com for updates!

Early OPENING this Sat. Nov. 14! Great deals to be had this wkd so come on up and shred! Deets coming soon! #OpeningDayRules

Source

Nothing confirmed as at 3:10PM November 9th, but Twitter seems to be buzzing with “heard it from a good source”, “a little birdy told me” etc. that they’re going to kick things into high gear this Saturday!

Search Twitter for whistler early and see for yourself.

Judging by the alpine webcams things are looking exceptional and the snow is in the forecast for the rest of the week… Anti jinx, fingers crossed!

Sun Peaks is already planning an early November 14th opening as well, though things haven’t much improved in the snow department since they announced it, should still be pretty good!

The big storm hit us hard last Thursday through Saturday, dumping over 40 inches of new snow, so with a favorable forecast (up to 2 feet of new snow forecasted by Thursday) we are setting the opening day for Thursday Nov. 12!

We will be in normal midweek operation out of the White Salmon Base Area from 9:00 – 3:30, with midweek rates in effect ($39.50 adult ticket, includes tax!) and Chairs 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8 operating.  Please be aware that it is early season, low snow conditions and we recommend staying on open main and groomed runs!

We will be in full operation for the weekend with all lifts running and both base areas open. Check the snow report next week for additional updates.

It is currently 32 degrees and snowing on the mountain.  The freezing level did rise as forecasted last night and we saw just a few hours of light drizzle, and temperatures are already dropping back below freezing.  Forecasts are calling for freezing levels to remain low this week, with up to 2 feet of new snow possible by Thursday.

Mount Baker Website

Early reports say even though only one chair was open (due to upcoming World Cup), the conditions were exceptional and look to improve as the week goes on.

That said though, for us here in British Columbia, Whistler is looking prime so far on the upper half and may reschedule for an early opening as well depending on how things go this week.

Rock on!

Lake Louise, Alberta: Lake Louise, Canada’s Favourite Ski Area, will officially open for the season on Friday, November 6 thanks to Mother Nature and one of the most sophisticated snowmaking systems in the world.Skiers and snowboarders will be able to experience those first delightful turns of the season from the top of Glacier Express Chair down three runs: Bald Eagle, Wiwaxy, and Easy Street. These runs descend 1,450 vertical feet over their 3 kilometer length. More runs and lifts should be open by the following weekend, and most of the mountain following one or two more good snowfalls.

All amenities at the full-service base area will be open, including food and beverage facilities, retail, rental and repair shops, the daycare and ski school.

“We’re extremely excited about being the first major ski area in Canada to open” says Lake Louise Marketing Director John Ross. “Because we are one of the few ski areas in the world that can offer superior early season snow, the World Cup circuit will once again start at Lake Louise on the weekend of November 28th prior to moving to the U.S. and Europe. This winter will also be jam packed with various other exciting events such as the Canadian Powder 8 Championships, The Olympic Torch relay, and various other races, festivals, and snowboard events”.

Lake Louise is reaffirming its commitment to offering a superior terrain park and is pleased to welcome back Jeff Patterson, who is world-famous for his designs. Offering a unique and exceptional variety of rails, boxes, jumps and other special features, small portions of the park will be ready, already, by Friday.

Reduced lift ticket prices will be in effect for opening weekend. Adults can ski or ride for $38, seniors (>65) and youths (13-17) for $26.40 and children (6-12) $12.50. Louise Card holders will receive a $10 discount and do not have to use their first day free.

Check our the Lake Louise website here!

In a nutshell:

• Limited parking all season long, with Lodge Lot and Lot 1 closed all year
• Eagle Chair will be completely closed or highly impacted all season long
• Rainbow run off Lions’ Express will be closed or highly impacted all season long
• Ski area completely closed to skiing from February 1 through March 8

Not really complaining as it’s hard to go wrong with a $269 season’s pass, but the big question remains is where does that leave Raven Ridge? If we can’t access via Panorama from the top of Eagle Express and Lot 1 is also closed, does that mean Raven Ridge will also be closed or will we still be able to walk around Lot 1?

Plus, not sure why Rainbow on the Lions’ Express side of the mountain will be highly impacted or closed all year long. Perhaps they’re using that run for snow farming in the event they don’t have enough snow? Can’t really see any other reason why they’d have that closed but maybe we’ll get some answers soon. I’ve emailed Guest Services for clarification on these points and will post back with my findings.

Hopefully they have a plan in place to maintain access to some of the best new terrain on the mountain!

Click here for the complete report.