 Poster: A snowHead
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Our group are planning a 2 week trip to Whistler next January. I've never been, but have been advised that we should be booking our holiday now. Being someone who never books anything more than a month ahead, I find it unnerving booking so far ahead.
Are the snow/weather conditions good in Whistler in January?
Thanks
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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January is usually great at whistler - this year january had the highest snowfall in a single month since records began.
If there are only two of you you can probably leave it for a while; the bigger the group is, the better it is to book in advance. That holds true for most places as well I find
if you;re going the DIY route I can whole-heartedly recommend the Cedar Springs Gourmet B&B
http://www.whistlerbb.com/
we're off there (again) in 19 days...
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Beverley, if you look on www.alluradirect.com there's loads of accommodation, and they give good discounts on lift passes, ski school etc.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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January is usually great at whistler - this year january had the highest snowfall in a single month since records began.
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- Then again, last January was probably the worst since records began. You pays your money and you takes your choice. (But even a month before, no-one would have predicted that).
But who is advising such an early booking?? What is the point? It's not as though there was a dearth of accomodation in Whistler.
I book early, generally, because you can get good early season deals, and there are only limited times in the year that I can get away, but I don't usually book much before August.
If you're planning to book with a TO, then I can recommend Ski Independence. - Some good deals and discounts on instruction packages available, as well as loyalty bonuses for returning customers.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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> Then again, last January was probably the worst since records began
Only from mid mountain, from what I;ve heard - most people who were actually there said the upper mountain was great
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Yeah, but you don't want to travel to the other side of America to ski slush when you can do that much closer to home at a fraction of the cost 
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Ummm.
Even in the height of the rain last Janary - I certainly wasn't skiing slush. Everything from mid mountain upwards was snow.
Don't get fixated on the fact the the runs to the village were slush. It is after all only 675m above sea level.
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Just back from 10 days in Whistler. It snowed every day we were there, the biggest overnight dump being 20 inches. Most other nights were 3-6 inches. The sun even came out, briefly. Unusually for Whistler the snow fell right down to the village most days. As said, this year broke all records for snow. It snowed (I think) 29 out of 31 days in January.........no bad thing since Xmas snow levels were not looking great.
Last year was not great...but not a disaster either if you kept to the top of the mountains and downloaded(skiing back wasnt an option anyway). I have been going in January for the last 4 years and only last year was there any issue with snow cover and (for me) it wasnt that much of an issue.
Whistler is hurting right now with attendance levels. The Canadian dollar is strong against the US dollar, so the Americans are staying at home and some of the Canadians are taking the opportunity to travel to the US whilst it is cheap to do so. There are still lots of British, Aussie and Far East visitors, but they dont make up for the decline in the US visitors. Lift lines were quiet bar the weekend when you get a big influx from Vancouver (which is 75 miles away). Even then it was not a problem when they opened the whole mountain after the avalanche control work was done. The relatively poor year this year for numbers may be a reaction to last years bad year and with a great year this year, that may mean the numbers go back up, particularly if the dollar rate moves.
I would doubt that you need to book now. Ichecked the week before I went (as I may wait until last minute the next time I go) and I could have got my flight and alternative accomodation cheaper the week before than when I booked in December. The accomodation would have been less convenient than where I first booked, but the whole price would have been cheaper and the accomodation would certainly have been acceptable.I use alluradirect as suggested by Helen.........to test it try to see what you can book in 10 days time from now.You should get a load of choices. The same will likely apply next year.
On flights, when out there I met a couple who booked late and got a 2 for 1 deal on Zoom from Gatwick to Vancouver.
In the end of the day it depends on how flexible you can or want to be on flights, time and accomodation and how much of a risk you want to take.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Thanks everyone. It did seem extraordinary to suggest booking now. But I do think we can wait a bit. I see from a company called Ski Independence they have late deals even now. Ok, as has been mentioned, you might not get the accommodation or airport you want.
There are going to be about 8 or so of us wanting our own chalet and we would want to go from Heathrow, so perhaps our flexibility reduces a bit there.
In the meantime, back to matters in hand. I am just starting to think about booking up somewhere for my next trip next month. Europe is my oyster, wherever the snow is good and hopefully the sun is shining! 
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From Heathrow you are talking BA or Air Canada direct to Vancouver, they tend to be the most expensive and the least discounted, though BA always have a seat sale after New Year so you may strike lucky if you wait. Of the two it always seemed to me that Air Canada would be a better time as they get into Vancouver mid afternoon whereas BA gets in early evening. Clearing Canadian immigration/customs and getting bags has not been an issue for us in terms of delays but if you factor in a (generous ) hour for that, some hanging about and then a 2 to 2.5 hour transfer to Whistler, you can see that if you fly BA you will get to bed pretty late(before you factor in the 8 hour time difference). My preference has been KLM via Amsterdam (since I have to connect anyway as there is no direct flight for me) as that leaves mid morning from Amsterdam and gets to Vancouver at noon. I can connect via the first flight from Edinburgh and Schipol is a much easier airport to use than Heathrow (unless of course you live close to it and dont have to connect !!)
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Ah but on BA you can ski all day on your last day & still catch an 8pm flight & arriving late I've found is the best cure for jetlag as you're not tempted to go to bed too early.
If 8 people want their own catered chalet then I'd say book early - if you just want a condo for 8 you'll find plenty.
Hope you don't get Whistler's (not so hyped) liquid snow
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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There's no pleasing some whinging poms.
469cm (15.6 feet) of Snow in January 2006.
Snowbase of 270cm
Total cumalative snowfall of 776cm (306 in)
and yet they still talk about liquid snow...........
Stay in Europe and enjoy the sunshine and grass I say..........
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whinging poms..? you want to see some whinging light up a marlboro within 3 miles of a canadian..
been to whistler.. it was my first ever ski trip so obviously i was unsure what to expect.. loved the place, but its just toooo far away .
and with stg cad getting close to 2 not the value it used to be..
ill stick to the alps and proper beer 
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You know it makes sense.
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fatbob, we flew back from Vancouver with BA, never again, cramped and cold, and the food was awful. Also, if we'd stayed up in Whistler and skied all day, we'd have missed the plane, as there was such a bad accident on the Sea to Sky. It had actually just happened about 5-10 mins before we passed it, but eventually closed the road all day. We spent the rest of the day in Stanley park and had a nice meal there too.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Don't get me wrong - I spent a season there & love Whistler & have had some great other trips but it can be a bit of a lottery if you're a tourist with only 10 days to throw at it. My parents having been a number of times have sworn not to go back having spent a miserable week being rained on in February. They're recreational skiers so like sunny days so when the alpine is closed or whited out & the lower mountain is trashed by rain they were effectively restricted to Emerald/Garbanzo on Whistler & the frontside chairs on Blackcomb with thousands of other punters. In the same conditions I'm sure I'd have been lining up for the Peak chair or Harmony to eventually open or getting up the Tbar.
& I'd still take it over an "average" (minimal snow) week in Europe any day
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Poster: A snowHead
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Just sitting in terminal 4 waiting to head back to Whistler from the 3 valleys. Even at the lowest point of last season the snow in Whistler wasn't anywhere near as bad as the snow in France. Well I guess I had to balance my 'snow karma' out after the non-stop powder days in Whisler this January
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I just had a good week in Whistler (left on friday to go heli skiing! I'll start a new thread on that).
The new snow that fell up to the day we arrived got skied out extraordinarily quickly, though if you were intrepid you could still find powder among the trees.
We did 2 days with Extremely Canadian steep-skiing clinic (actually mostly guiding).
They do a "ski-off" on a steepish off-piste slope to gauge standards.
My friend and I got in the top group and had a very exciting time - no deep but plenty of steep. I've never skied so many really steep slopes in one day as we did the first day. The second day the afternoon was a bit less extreme as an important access lift closed and we couldn't get to the slopes the guide had intended. We skied from over Spanky's ladder instead, which was nice skiing but nothing really steep.
If this is your scene you can't do better.
The last day we did some back-country skiing off the back of the glacier (organised by the SCGB rep, but that wasn't very good - mostly climbing a slope and then skiing back down it. The snow was mostly wind effected and not much fun.
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