Whistler Blackcomb snow conditions the ‘worst’ skiers have ever seen

Skiers and snowboarders visiting the Whistler Blackcomb resort in western Canada, near Vancouver, were no doubt hoping for a Christmas in a winter wonderland – and they paid top dollar for it.

But now they are taking to social media to vent their frustrations over the rocky and sloppy conditions, some say are the worst they’ve ever seen.

YouTuber James Pavelick, who posts under his Rise and Alpine brand, filmed his experience on the British Columbia (BC) slopes which he said were “littered” with rocks, “rock hard” snow, and “bulletproof” ice.

“I’m a very positive guy and I can ski just about any conditions, but right now legitimately you cannot ski,” he said in his YouTube video.

“It is shattering my knees. It is rock hard. There’s rocks everywhere. Like, it … just wasn’t safe to get any speed on and it was painful to ski down.

“It might just be the first time I’ve ever been in pain skiing.”

Mr Pavelick, a BC local, said he had “never seen it this bad” in all his years skiing, adding that unusually high rainfall – also the “worst that it’s been all year” – was turning the should-be powdery slopes to a “skating rink”.

He attributed it to a weather pattern known as a “Pineapple Express”, which reportedly goes hand-in-hand with El Nino winters in the northern hemisphere, according to meteorologists.

A Pineapple Express is a well-known type of “atmospheric river”, which pulls moisture from the around Hawaii – known for its pineapple crops, hence the name – or as far southeast Asia toward North America.

These “rivers” in the sky can stretch thousands of miles long and are often a few hundred miles wide. They can carry more than twice the volume of the Amazon, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

It often brings a deluge of rain and snow to the west coast of the US and Canada, but according to Colorado Powder Forecast meteorologist Joel Gratz, it also brings abnormally warm air, too, meaning the snow is heavier and more dense than the soft falls that skiers and snowboarders prefer.

The NOAA warns that scientists have cautioned that atmospheric rivers could worsen amid climate change.

Mr Pavelick said Whistler would need a “Christmas miracle” to turn the season around for people to make the most of their alpine holidays.

“I’m going to go out there and say it, I’ve had better days. That was one of the grimmest days, but still gorgeous. You’ve got to love Whistler, at least it’ll provide the views when it’s not providing the snow,” he said.

“We need snow, we need a Christmas miracle and we need it fast. Pineapple Express is biting us in the bum and we need to say sayonara to this lack of snow.”

But he wasn’t the only person to vent their frustrations over the grim conditions, a number of Whistler Blackcomb visitors shared their own experiences on the slopes.

“Whistler Conditions Update: Bring swim shorts,” one video shared by Rise and Alpine to TikTok is captioned.

“I’m tryna (sic.) remain positive!” another wrote on their video that showed them hiking up a slope, barely covered in snow, in their skis.

Another offered an overnight snowfall update from Whistler on Christmas Day, showing them poking at the light frost that covered their 4WD parked outside.

“We’re looking at a solid … f**k all,” they said.

The backlash comes just before peak season ticket prices kick in for the resort, with visitors set to pay $CA300 ($333) during the Christmas break.

Some parts of Whistler Blackcomb look eerily similar to the Australian slopes did this year – something a number of commenters pointed out on the videos – during what was a somewhat anticlimactic ski season.

And experts in the northern hemisphere are echoing the warnings of their Australian counterparts, saying that the El Nino cycle is set to bring a warm, dry winter.

Not to mention, it follows one of the hottest year ever recorded on the planet.

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Centre forecast temperatures across BC, Alberta, and several US states will be 2 degrees above normal in February and March 2024; precipitation, meanwhile from January to March will be below normal.

It’s a grim sign for the Christmas season, what is meant to be one of the resort’s most lucrative periods, and possible for the year to come.

However, it could make Whistler feel like home the 250,000-odd Australians who make the trip to the famous resort every year.