After receiving "a ton of great comments and questions" about grooming on Whistler Blackcomb (WB) this winter, the mountain operator responded via an Instagram post on Tuesday.
"Throughout early season conditions, our team has been operating in low snow pack (the amount of base snow on the ground). Operating 30 snow cats (at any one time up to 15 out on shift) in low snow pack puts both our operators and machines at higher risk of injury or damage, due to contact with additional natural hazards," the Instagram post read.
"To mitigate the risk of injury or breakage, our team has to move a bit slower and with more caution overall. They also need to focus on re-covering rocks and bare patches nightly. Under recent conditions, this all takes more time than it would otherwise with deeper snow pack—which we’ve seen over recent days and look forward to as the season progresses."
With that in mind, certain terrain and some runs have taken longer to prepare this year, including: 7th heaven - Upper Cloud Nine and Upper Hughes Heaven; Horstman Glacier / Blue Line (very rocky in the middle as Blue Line narrows); Upper Peak to Creek wind scoured and quite rocky); and Lower Peak to Creek (low elevation without snowmaking).
"All this said, we are now VERY close to a complete groomed trail network!" the post said. "Still remaining are: Lower Peak to Creek, Bear Paw, Upper Adagio, Upper Hugh’s Heaven, Lower Gear Jammer, Whistler T-bars and the Showcase T-Bar. We’re almost there and appreciate everyone’s patience as we move to toward the finish line."
The post also gave a shout-out to WB's snowmaking team.
"They’ve been such important partners for our groomers this season, working tirelessly over the cold period in December. Without them, we would be in a much different position. Team work makes the dream work!"
