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Whistler Blackcomb resort snow
Lat Long: 50.11° N 122.95° W
Ski Canada - BC

Whistler Blackcomb Resort Reviews

Weather Forecast for Whistler Blackcomb at 1480 m altitude

Issued: 4 am 13 May 2026 (local time)

Forecast update in  hr  min

Next snow in Whistler Blackcomb: 0.5 cm on Wed 13th  (after 9 PM)

Visitor reviews for Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort

Whistler Blackcomb Ratings

Overall: 3.9. Based on 269 votes and 199 reviews.

Rate this resort

Snowsure: 4.1

  • Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing
  • Is often closed due to a lack of snow
  • Occasionally suffers from a lack of snow
  • Rarely suffers from a lack of snow
  • Whistler Blackcomb is snowsure even in the poorest seasons

Variety of pistes: 4.5

  • The ski runs are featureless and unvaried
  • The ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week
  • Whistler Blackcomb has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain

Off-piste: 4.2

  • No off-piste worth mentioning
  • Off piste is out-of-bounds
  • Some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days
  • A vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days

Scenery: 4.4

  • An ugly resort in a bland setting
  • Average mountain views and resort
  • A spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town

Access: 3.7

  • At least one overnight stop
  • Requires a whole day
  • Requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns
  • Arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon
  • There is a main airport within an hour of Whistler Blackcomb

Public Transport: 3.9

  • There are no buses or taxis to Whistler Blackcomb
  • There are slow or infrequent buses / trains available
  • Getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections

Accommodation: 4.2

  • No places to stay in/near Whistler Blackcomb
  • A few places to stay in the resort
  • A wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets

Cheap Rooms: 3.0

  • No budget accommodation available
  • Just one or two hostels so book ahead
  • Several cheap hostels and pensions available

Luxury Hotels: 4.7

  • No luxury accommodation available
  • Just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead
  • Several up-market hotels in Whistler Blackcomb

Ski in/Ski out: 4.2

  • The ski area is located far from any accommodation
  • A free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip
  • Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available

Childcare: 3.8

  • There are no child care facilities at Whistler Blackcomb
  • The resort has limited child-care facilities
  • the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche

Snowmaking: 3.9

  • Whistler Blackcomb relies entirely on natural snow
  • There are just a few snow cannons
  • There are snowmaking facilities on all pistes

Snow Grooming: 3.8

  • There are no snow groomers at Whistler Blackcomb
  • Occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state
  • All the runs at Whistler Blackcomb are groomed daily

Shelter: 3.7

  • There is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut
  • There are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close
  • Whistler Blackcomb is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close

Nearby options: 2.4

  • If snow conditions are poor at Whistler Blackcomb, it will be poor everywhere nearby
  • There are good alternatives within an hours drive
  • Other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions

Regional rating: 4.0

  • Whistler Blackcomb usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region
  • Has average conditions for the region
  • Usually has the best snow conditions in the region

Lift Staff: 4.0

  • The staff at Whistler Blackcomb are rude or unhelpful
  • Lift staff at Whistler Blackcomb are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help

Crowds/Queues: 2.7

  • The resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues
  • It is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays
  • It is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare

Ski Schools: 4.3

  • No ski schools available
  • One or two ski schools but local language only
  • A few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors
  • Plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available
  • Excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors

Hire and Repairs: 4.5

  • Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex
  • There are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance
  • Good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible

Beginners: 4.1

  • Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard
  • A few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week
  • Vast areas of gentle terrain

Intermediates: 4.4

  • No intermediate terrain at Whistler Blackcomb
  • Intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days
  • Vast areas of cruising runs

Advanced: 4.6

  • Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders
  • Enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste
  • Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week

Snow Park: 4.4

  • Not even a kicker at Whistler Blackcomb
  • Average sized park quite well looked after
  • Huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails

Cross-country: 4.0

  • There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Whistler Blackcomb
  • There are some cross country trails available
  • The area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails

Luge/Toboggan: 3.7

  • No designated luge or toboggan runs
  • There are toboggan runs that open quite often
  • Whistler Blackcomb has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages

Mountain Dining: 4.0

  • Nowhere to buy food by the pistes
  • Some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive
  • There is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets

Eating: 4.3

  • Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop
  • There are a few places to eat in the resort but nothing special
  • A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants

Apres-Ski: 4.4

  • Nothing to do, not even a bar
  • There are a few bars in the resort but nothing special
  • Clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere

Other Sports: 4.2

  • No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts
  • Resort has just a small public swimming pool
  • Resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool

Entertainment: 4.1

  • Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here
  • The non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week
  • The resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports

Winter Walks: 4.1

  • Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails
  • A couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails
  • Extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities

Ski Pass Value: 3.1

  • A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available
  • The ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts
  • Ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area

Value (National): 3.2

  • Overall, Whistler Blackcomb is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money
  • Overall represents average value for money
  • Overall offers the best value resort in the country

Value (Global): 3.3

  • Overall, Whistler Blackcomb is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world
  • Overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries
  • Internationally the resort offers excellent value for money

Show all 35 ratings

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January 01, 2012
AW from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
Been skiing here the last 4 days. A lot of people as it's a busy time. But the slopes, with a few exceptions, have been quiet. Why? Because the list system just isn't big enough for the size of mountain - and numbers of people during busy times. Compare to big European resorts with 6 and 8 man express chairs (and some in the USA too). Underinvestment by the resort owners - the flagship equipment is the Peak to Peak cabin - but that rarely has a queue. The snow, however, is awesome.
December 30, 2011
snow quality from Ski USA - California USA - California
This resort is voted No.1 because of the 1 million + patriotic Canadians living nearby that have never tried other resorts and depend on the mountain in some form for a living. In addition, Whistler has an enormous marketing budget globally. I do not see many people other than people from UK, Australia and local Canadians and rude others on the mountain. People from the USA do not bother with Whistler - wonder why? It is icy and wet with heavy snow from top to bottom and overrated and overcrowded. The village needed to be built 600m further up the mountain where the natural snow line is, rather than the bottom third of the mountain being a plain sheet of ice. However, they built it lower down so they could say they have the largest resort for their marketing brochures. There are no manners on the mountain; I have seen people running into other people and then just skiing off leaving the person they hit on the ground. Also the resort seems under staffed on the mountain; one person on each lift and medics by themselves - the usual is two people at each lift and two medics together at most ski resorts, probably spending those funds on misleading advertising. Also do expect each lunchtime to be bothered continually by a condo sales person in disguise as a mountain host - have you ever seen that South Park episode?.
December 24, 2011
mattsnow from Ski USA - California USA - California
Wet snow, very icy from top to bottom. Crowded with people who do not know how to ski or snowboard from top to bottom and have not seen real snow that is found at ski resorts that have real altitude. The base elevation of real ski resorts start where this one ends.
December 23, 2011
Bonza
Terrain, snow and reliable early season makes Whistler one of the iconic mountains on the planet. Would north Americans come here if it wasn't so good (given all the other options they have)? Australians (and I'm one of them) know as much about snow as Canadians know about surf. Bonza [note from editor: edited to maintain relevance]
December 22, 2011
Rob
As a reply to another review: A lot of the things you said about Whistler are right.. You speak mostly about it being busy and I agree. It does get busy. Why? Because it's awesome and the secret's been out for so long. Try and find another resort on the planet that has big mountains, frequent snow, you don't need a car and is a town with many bars, restaurants and clubs. Europe has the bars and big mountains but much less frequent snow. Interior BC is awesome, fantastic terrain and snow - I love Revy, KH etc. but the nightlife sucks and spending a whole season there (especially in your younger years) is not as overall fun as Whistler. Most of the resorts in the US are way smaller than Whistler and you usually need a car. Sure it can get busy here on the weekends but during the week it's fine, especially once you know exactly where to go based on the conditions. As an overall experience Whistler provides what no other resort I know of can - everything - and that's damn hard to beat.
December 20, 2011
john
The coastal mountains of BC are the pride of us locals! [note from the editor: edited for the sake of relevance and our preference to not encourage personal responses]
December 19, 2011
Loz
I have been following winter for many years. I lived/worked at whistler for one season. Whistler is all about statistics - big vertical, big dumps, big acreage, big village. All of this looks great on paper, but it's not. let me explain... Whistler is near the ocean, which makes for wet, heavy snow. it's some of the worst I've ridden - go to the interior of BC (eg Monashee, Selkirk, Purcell ranges) for real powder. Unless you have a gigantic board/skis you will find your self fight through the powder rather than enjoying it - the moment you get any on top of you board; you bury. Whistler could never accumulate real champagne powder because the moment any falls about 10,000 people stomp it flat immediately. The vertical is impressive on paper, but the bottom 3rd is almost always frozen or slushy. (and bad lift-layout segments the vertical) The acreage is very large across the two mountains, however, it does feel like one resort which has been cut in half. The terrain is definitely aggressive and challenging but it is by no means unique - you'll find similar and usually better features at Kicking Horse/Revy/Big White, etc. The village has no personality at all. It's like a city - which is nice in terms of having facilities, but that's it. When you go out you spend 1hr waiting in line to get in, then you find yourself in a dank pub, which a shitty DJ surrounded by strangers (usually annoying ones). LineS - if there's powder or a weekend (heaven forbid both) you will be waiting ages for the lift. but it doesn't stop there - there are lines for everything - to get into the pub, to get a drink, to go to the supermarket - everything. I wanted to love Whistler, and I definitely had some amazing days out, but it's nothing special. The only truly impressive thing about Whistler is the park. Whistler is the most overrated mountain I have ever seen.
November 27, 2011
sal
Great skiing, lots of snow, can ski out no problem.
November 26, 2011
canali
Am an intermediate skier, living in Vancouver, BC...get out to mainly Cypress midweek and then head to Whistler for Sat (as part of club linc).... Like any mtn it can have its good and bad days....but Whistler on a good day (no fog, no rain, no flat light) is an incredible place...sure it can be raining below, as it is forecast for tomorrow; but midstation and up the rain is to instead be 30cm of snow!...what's not to love....and when it's sunny and clear and you're atop one of the bowls, you're blown away by the breathtaking beauty of it all. ...and it's huge (with Blackcomb)...there so many places to ride and explore, esp if you're advanced (which I'm not)...and the apres scene afterwords is always a great one with many bars, restaurants etc.
November 21, 2011
matt
To another reviewer, regarding your post that the snow at the lower base of Whistler is crappy and it ruins the vibe, sounds like you're not there for the more intense upper mountain stuff and you're there for the more novice, beginner groomer runs at the bottom of the mountain. Thankyou, Whistler is epic.