Do you know how Whistler fared during El Nino?

This year's El Nino isn't supposed to be really strong...but of course, I'd
like ot maximize the possibilities of powder when I go on vacation.

Nice thing about frequent flier tix, I can change the date of my flight. If
there's a snow drought...I'll wait until next season...or go elsewhere.

-Sh
----- Original Message -----
From: "John H. Jordan" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, October 12, 2002 1:10 PM
Subject: Re: One Awesome Deal


> On 10/12/2002 10:09 AM Leigh Daboll wrote:
>
> |> However, I'd feel better about booking a trip if it wasn't an El Nino
> |> year -which usually hits the Canadian rockies about the hardest of
> |> anywhere (ie: a snow drought).
>
> On 10/12/2002 10:26 AM Scott Braaten replied:
>
> | Now I consider myself to know quite a lot about ski areas all over
> | North America, its kind of like a hobby to know every ski areas
> | verticle drop and snowfall, ect....but I don't even know if I've ever
> | heard of Castle; the name does not ring a bell!  And the fact that it
> | got #8 in snow quality in Skiing Mag, has me wondering even more.
> | This isn't a new mountain or a mountain that changed its name is it?
> | Where's it located; near Fortress or interior B.C. with Sun Peaks and
> | Big White?
> |
> | Yeah with a minor El Nino who knows what will happen.  Good southern
> | storm track out west...'97-'98 basted Tahoe to Utah in powder, but
> | that was pretty damn strong El Nino.
>
> Fernie, BC is about 30 miles northwest of Castle Mountain (75 miles by
> highway) and on the west side of the continental divide, but in '97 -
> '98, a very strong El Nino year,  they had 321 inches of snowfall.
>
> I think their worst year on record for Fernie was '00 - '01 when Fernie
> recorded only  178 inches of snowfall.  The season didn't start until
> very late, but once it started the cover at the resort was pretty good.
> '00 - '01 was neutral in relation to El Nino/La Nina conditions.
>
> In '01 - '02 Fernie had 440 inches of snowfall.  I thought the
> conditions at Fernie were nearly as good in March, 2001 as they were in
> March, 2002.  It could be in 2001 they had most of that 178 inches in
> February and March.  Both years we had days when we were skiing in knee
> deep powder.
>
> Looking at weather statistics it appears that the Canadian Rockies fare
> well during La Nina years with below normal temperatures and above
> normal precipitation.  During El Nino years it appears that the
> Canadian Rockies have near normal precipitation, whereas, Washington
> and northern Oregon have below normal precipitation, but all areas of
> the USA and Canada have above normal temperatures during El Nino years.
>
>
> Even in years when there is a snow drought I think it is still possible
> to find good skiing in the Canadian Rockies, particularly late in the
> season.  If you look at the photos from '00 - '01 you will see that
> there is no snow on the ground in the city of Fernie, but there is
> plenty of snow on the mountain, http://skibum.50megs.com/fernie and
> this coverage in one of their worst years with only 178 inches of
> snowfall.  The crowds tend to stay away too when there is a snow
> drought.  We pretty much had Fernie to ourselves in March, 2001.  In
> March, 2002 there were, at times, lines at the lifts despite below zero
> (Fahrenheit) temperatures.
>
> John H. Jordan
>

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