Avid skiers LillAnne Jackson and husband Claudio Costi will be going where the weather takes them in March, in a search for the snowiest spots in southern B.C. and Alberta.
Jackson said they usually buy a season’s pass for Mount Washington but went with a six-pack of passes this year that they have yet to use up — although they could be making a trip to the Comox Valley ski resort this weekend due to a recent dump of snow there. By mid-century, about half of the ski seasons on the B.C. coast will be warmer than this one, with “bad years” becoming as frequent as good years or even more frequent than good years, said University of B.C. climate scientist Michael Pidwirny.
Ski hills mostly brown The challenges facing the North Shore resorts have been obvious this winter. At times, the ski runs cut into the forested slopes above Vancouver have looked brown, not white. But that hasn’t stopped pass holders from posting online about a lack of transparency — and lack of snow — at some resorts.
B.C.’s ski resorts have a “pretty good understanding” of the weather patterns that bring snow to the mountains. El Niño years, like this one, are usually warmer, with more rain than snow. Many skiers will remember 2014-15 as the year “without a ski season,” he said. “That change in phase, based on the zero-degrees level, really jumps out in the February snowpack numbers,” he said.
Meteorologists are also noticing the freezing level bouncing around more. In the past, high-elevation areas would freeze in the fall and remain frozen through the winter snow accumulation, before thawing in the spring, he said. “Now we see that freeze-to-thaw transition happening more frequently” over the course of the winter.
Big White is working to remind people that it is open well into the spring, when conditions are often fantastic. But people have started playing golf or baseball by then, and skiing is no longer on their minds. But ski resorts are also looking for ways to mitigate the impacts of climate change, said Christopher Nicolson, president of the Canada West Ski Areas Association.
Mount Washington, for example, offers ziplining and a bike park with lift-accessed riding, as well as disc golf, alpine hiking and scenic chairlift rides.