It’s business as usual despite a warm, slow start to Vancouver’s alpine and nordic skiing.
Although Mt. Seymour has yet to open its regular terrain, Emmalee Brunt, communications coordinator for the mountain, said operations are in full swing. The learning and toboggan areas opened Dec. 14, and ski and snowboard instructors, food and beverage and administrative staff are all on mountain. Brunt said 270 lessons were given the first weekend.
“This is the not the first time that the weather has kind of held off at the beginning of the season,” said Brunt. “We’re patiently waiting.”
But Brunt said they are somewhat concerned about the slow start as the mountain does approximately 20 per cent of its business during Christmas week. They expect the weather will improve in early January.
Mt. Seymour does not have snowmaking capabilities and relies on natural snow for its base to open the rest of the mountain.
Brunt said the 2001 to 2002 and 2002 to 2003 seasons were also a little slow, with Mt. Seymour waiting until Dec. 20 to open. And in the 1989-1990 season the mountain didn’t open until Jan. 1 but experienced an astounding 17 feet of snowfall in 17 days.
According to a 2009 report from the David Suzuki Foundation, if the world continues to emit high levels of carbon emissions, the average temperature on the coast could rise 2.5 to 4 C during this century. There will be a reduced snowpack on mountains due to snowfall building later in the winter and melting earlier, and more rain instead of snow.
Brunt said Mt. Seymour hosts ski and snowboard slopestyle events, competitions in which skiers and riders try to perform the most tricks and get the highest altitude on jumps. These special events help the mountain attract visitors even when the weather is less than cooperative.
Vancouver’s other local mountains, Grouse and Cypress, have multiple ski runs open and are making snow. All three local mountains are offering ski lessons as usual.
But Anders Bjorklund, co-owner of Sigge’s nordic ski shop, said the lack of snow is affecting his business. Nordic skiing is still closed on Cypress Mountain.
“We’re in the midst of what looks to be a very slow start to our ski season,” Bjorklund said.
“We check weather here every 15 to 20 minutes and it’s not looking promising at the moment for any significant amounts of snow in the forecast. We might enter into that critical Christmas week without any snow locally and that will be business lost that not matter what happens after, will be gone until next year.”
Barry Cleator, owner and manager of Vancouver Ski & Board Services, said his clients get their equipment tuned and ready to hit the hills regardless of the weather.
“Our customers could be skiing anywhere,” Cleator said. “We’re finding many of our customers are going ‘OK, so it’s not so good here, we’re going farther afield because it’s still great everywhere else.’”
“I just worry about the local hills,” Cleator said.
Cleator said the last few years were unusually good, so his customers aren’t too concerned. They prepare early and ski late.
“This isn’t completely uncharacteristic of Vancouver weather. We’re just looking forward to the season,” Brunt said.
amcneely@gmail.com
@allisonmcneely
