Whistler Ski/Snowboard Day Jan 2026

 Whistler Ski/Snowboard Day Jan 2026

By Kate Mitchell


Whistler Blackcomb: North America’s largest ski resort. How lucky is it that our very own students have the opportunity to access it a couple times a year? On January 29th, students in the YOE program as well as others attended one of the school’s annual Whistler ski and snowboard days. These tours are an amazing opportunity to ski/snowboard at Whistler, which is extremely expensive and crowded, while getting a guided lesson as well. This program makes it really easy to get a worth-while Whistler experience without having to worry about transportation, navigating the mountain, and waiting in never-ending chairlift lines. Additionally, what we think is especially great is that you experience all of this with your friends and you get to meet students from other schools that share the same interest. 

The day starts incredibly early, with students arriving at school with all of their gear at 5:45 am. It is surely difficult for everyone, but hitting the mountain nice and early is definitely worth it! Even if you’ve never skied or snowboarded before, don’t panic, because everyone gets divided into levels 1-6 which ranges from absolute beginners all the way to advanced and confident skiers/snowboarders. These levels help group people together so everyone can ski/snowboard at a difficulty that is comfortable for them.

Unfortunately, leading up to our trip, Whistler had not seen any snow, and the conditions had been grim. We got extremely lucky because they saw about 10-15cm of snow the night before our trip. The snow conditions were still not ideal, but at least there was something, and it is often a gamble for good weather in January. As for visibility, it varied a lot depending on time of day and elevation. Usually towards the peak it was quite clear, but as you get into mid-mountain range, it got quite foggy. Visibility we found was also a lot worse in the morning, whereas after lunch it cleared up more. In general, the lack of snow seems to be a west coast issue this season. In other parts of the country, Ontario specifically, they are receiving record-breaking snow storms as of late, and even most of Alberta’s mountains have copious amounts of snow. Additionally, Environment Canada says Ontario and other parts of Eastern Canada’s snow is there to stay due to frigid temperatures. This is amazing news for all of the winter-lovers in Eastern Canada. Meanwhile, our local mountains in Vancouver are obviously extremely lacking. 

Ultimately, these Whistler ski and snowboard days are such exciting opportunities available to all students (if you sign up fast enough!). We highly recommend it, and we’re so grateful to have experienced the magic of Whistler, despite the subpar conditions. We learned a lot and look forward to hopefully going again next year!

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