Whistler Blackcomb
Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort is a world-renowned ski destination located in Whistler, British Columbia. The resort boasts over 8,100 skiable acres of terrain comprised of a wide variety of slope difficulties, groomers, and backcountry trails. It is, however, usually regarded as one of the most difficult ski resorts in North America. The ski season at Whistler Blackcomb typically runs from November to May, depending on snow conditions. Whistler Blackcomb is known for its reliable snow conditions and is one of the most popular ski resorts in North America.
The resort also has a number of ski-in/ski-out accommodations and a variety of après-ski activities for visitors to enjoy. As one of the primary sites of the 2010 Winter Olympics, several Olympic events were held on its slopes. The resort has one of the longest ski seasons in North America, and one of the highest lift-served verticals in the world.
We recently ranked all of British Columbia's ski resorts, so you can see where Whistler Blackcomb stacks up against all its nearby ski hills!
Season Passes
Whistler Blackcomb is a part of the Epic Ski Pass network. This allows you to buy one season pass, and ski at most of the Vail owned and operated slopes with it throughout the year. There are a handful of types of Epic lift ticket passes available, ranging from 3-7 days, to season-long.
Lodging Options
There are numerous options to stay at Whistler Blackcomb around the resort. Check out the available options with the form below.
Whistler Blackcomb Mountain Resort Terrain Overview
Whistler Blackcomb has a total of 200 ski trails, which are serviced by 35 ski lifts, gondolas and/or trams. The amount of skiable area in this park is huge, with a maximum of 8,171 acres available to skiers. This area is equivalent to 3,307 hectares, 12.8 square miles, or 33.1 square kilometers.
Whistler Blackcomb's slopes see on average 448 inches (11.4 meters) of snowfall a year. That is almost 37 feet every year!
Total Runs
200
Lifts
35
Skiable Acres
8,171(33 km2)
Annual Snowfall
448"(1,138 cm)
Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort Elevation
Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort has a summit elevation of 7,494 feet, or 2,284 meters. However, not all of that elevation is able to be skied. The base of the ski slope sits at 2,214 feet above sea level, creating a ski hill that is 5,280 feet (1,609 meters) high. This is referred to as the slope's vertical drop - or a measure of how high the skiable hill is.
Whistler Blackcomb's summit elevation is higher than average. There are a lot of ski slopes that are much higher than this one (some stretch to 12,000 feet!), but it is not small by any stretch of the imagination.
Summit Elevation
7,494'(2,284 m)
Vertical Drop
5,280'(1,609 m)
Base Elevation
2,214'(675 m)
Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort Difficulty Level
Difficulty Score™
87.1out of 100
DID YOU KNOW?
At Parks & Trips, we've created a proprietary Difficulty Score that attempts to show how difficult a particular ski slope is. We get to this number by combining a number of metrics for each resort and comparing them to its peers. Most of the score is based off the amount of easy-intermediate-expert slopes by acreage and the maximum vertical drop of the overall resort, but also includes a few lesser-used metrics as well.
Our algorithm compares each resort’s metrics with all others in North America, then assigns each a Difficulty Score, which we use to rank them accordingly. Resorts with a lower score are easier to ski than those with a higher one. However, a high score does not mean that the resort does not have any easy slopes, or vice versa. This is just an overall score given to the resort based on all its metrics grouped together.
Skiable Terrain by Difficulty Level
Whistler Blackcomb has 8,171 total skiable acres, which can be broken down into the three main groups of difficulty: Beginner, Intermediate, and Expert.
Seeing as Whistler Blackcomb is one of the hardest ski areas in the country, it's no surprise that over 81% of its trails rated as either intermediate or expert-level. This leaves only 20% of its skiable acres as beginner terrain.
Beginner
20%(1,634 acres)
Beginner trails (identified by a green circle) are the easiest trails on the hill with a gradual 25% or less gradient, and are usually wide to accommodate beginner skiers.
Intermediate
53%(4,290 acres)
Intermediate trails (identified by a blue square) are usually the most popular and crowded runs, which have a slope of anywhere between 25-40%.
Expert
28%(2,247 acres)
Expert trails (identified by a black diamond... or two) are the hardest slopes on the mountain, and have very steep gradients over 40%.
Is Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort good for beginners?
This is one of the hardest ski areas in the country to ski at, so it is not great for beginners. Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort ranks in the top 10% of the most-difficult ski resorts in the country. It has 28% of its trails rated as expert, or black-diamond level.
Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort Location
Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort is located in the province of British Columbia, Canada. This ski area is nearest the town of Whistler, BC.
Address:
Whistler, BC V0N Canada
View on Google Maps
Website:
whistlerblackcomb.com
GPS Coordinates:
50.11500, -122.95000
Getting to Whistler Blackcomb Mountain Resort
By Car: If you are driving, you would set your GPS to either the ski resort's name (Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort), its coordinates of 50.11500, -122.95000 (latitude, longitude), or simply drive towards the town of Whistler, BC to get close.
By Air: If you are coming in from across the country, then you may need to board an airplane to get here.
A large airport has scheduled major airline service with millions of passengers per year. This type of airport always accepts international flights. Here are the closest large airport(s) to Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort.
| Name | Code | City | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vancouver International Airport | YVR | Vancouver, BC | 104 km |
| Seattle–Tacoma International Airport | SEA | Seattle, WA | 300 km |
A medium-sized airport has scheduled regional airline service. This type of airport may or may not accept international flights. Here are the closest medium-sized airport(s) to Whistler Blackcomb.
| Name | Code | City | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Powell River Airport | YPW | Powell River, BC | 115 km |
| Texada Gillies Bay Airport | YGB | Texada, BC | 122 km |
| Abbotsford International Airport | YXX | Abbotsford, BC | 128 km |
There may also be much smaller regional airports next to Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort, but we didn't list them here due to the fact that no major airlines go through them.
Other Nearby Ski Resorts
Skiers will - especially if coming from far away - try and visit a couple different slopes all in the same trip. Here are the closest other ski slopes within 100 miles of Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort.
| Name | Location | Summit | Difficulty Score™ | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Seymour | North Vancouver, BC | 4,150 ft | 35% | 81 km |
| Cypress Mountain | West Vancouver North, BC | 4,751 ft | 62% | 82 km |
| Grouse Mountain | North Vancouver, BC | 4,100 ft | 44% | 83 km |
| Sasquatch Mountain | Agassiz, BC | 4,501 ft | 54% | 109 km |
Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort Mountain Stats
| Name | Statistic |
|---|---|
| Summit Elevation | 7,494 ft |
| Base Elevation | 2,214 ft |
| Vertical Drop | 5,280 ft |
| Trails | 200 (20% Beginner, 53% Intermediate, 28% Expert) |
| Lifts | 35 |
| Skiable Acres | 8,171 |
| Avg. Annual Snowfall | 448 inches |