Updated November 21 with a new infographic on pass rates after Whistler Blackcomb increased them in November.
I am lucky to have a view of Whistler Blackcomb from my house, which means I can watch the snowline creep its way down, a little lower every day, bit by bit. I can almost hear the swoosh of my skis on corduroy and feel that heart-pounding rush course through my veins as I push myself a bit farther, a bit faster in Whistler this winter.
Whistler is a place where memories are made and every day is a chance to go big. It’s where wonder and world-class come together and you feel the pull to push your limits.
The target opening day for Whistler Blackcomb is set, so mark your calendar for Friday, November 22 (subject to change). This is the beginning of one of the longest ski and ride seasons in North America, as Whistler Blackcomb anticipates staying open until May 2025.
Whistler is the place to connect with your inner thrill-seeker, the birthplace of go big or go home. The countdown to winter fun has begun, and Whistler’s ready to embrace it all. Here’s what to expect when you come to Whistler this winter season.
Book Ahead
Secure your days on the hill EARLY. You can ski and ride for as little as $86 CAD per day (with a 10-Day EDGE Card), so if you know you’re coming to Whistler this season consider a Whistler Blackcomb Day Pass, Season Pass, or Edge Card. Typically, these passes are available until early December, but our advice is to lock them in as soon as you can as prices increase the closer you get to the season.
Read Secrets to Whistler Blackcomb Lift Ticket Savings for more detail. Locally based, Whistler.com travel consultants can help answer any questions you have about Whistler and help you book ski packages and activities, guaranteeing you the best price available.
We would also advise you to book accommodation, restaurants and activities ahead of time to avoid possible disappointment and to allow Whistler businesses time to plan and be ready for your arrival.
Beat the Crowds
Whistler can get busy at peak times over the winter so if you’re looking to beat the crowds we have some tips.
- Consider booking early in the season. Pre-Christmas is a great time to visit Whistler as it has all the festive feels without the festive price tag, read Early Festive Feels and Deals for more reasons. If you’ve got a 5 or 10-Day Edge Card remember that you could have unlimited early-season skiing or one early bonus ski day to use (this depends on when you bought your pass – check with Whistler Blackcomb).
- Come midweek. Get a run to yourself on Whistler Blackcomb’s 8,100 acres of terrain if you come midweek (out of peak times). Restaurants and activities have more openings too, which means you get to pick more of what you want when you want it.
- Consider booking late in the season. Spring skiing in Whistler is a hidden gem as Whistler Blackcomb has one of the longest seasons in North America, stretching into May. Longer, sunnier days, fewer people and the occasional pow dump – what more could you want?
- Extend your weekend – plan to arrive on Thursday night and leave on Monday morning to avoid the weekend traffic. The longer you stay, the more value you get along with a free dining voucher if you book with Whistler.com.
- If you are up for the day, consider staying for dinner or doing an activity after your day on the slopes so you’re not caught in the rush home on the highway.
- First Tracks tickets are the best. You get out on the slopes ahead of the crowds with an early upload. It also comes with a $17 Whistler Blackcomb dining voucher for that all-important hot chocolate, Caesar, cinnamon bun or craft beer.
Whistler is one of North America’s largest resorts with lots to explore. Even if you’ve been here multiple times, we promise you haven’t seen, done or tasted everything yet!
Whistler this Winter: Activities
One of the most unique things about Whistler is how much you can do off the ski hill.
Creating a bucket list is a highly personal thing, but there are some winter activities that are more popular than others. Snow school, dogsledding, ziplining and specialty snowmobile tours like the Mountain Top Fondue will sell out at peak times over the season, so again the advice is to book those must-do activities ahead of time. Don’t miss Vallea Lumina, a multi-media experience in the forest or relaxing in the hot pools at the outdoor Scandianve Spa.
As an Olympic destination, you can experience the thrill of sliding down the same track as the Olympians with Passenger Bobsleigh and Skeleton, or try your hand at biathlon at Whistler Olympic Park.
Don’t ski, but love the mountains? Sightseeing on Whistler Blackcomb typically runs from opening day, so the end of November to mid-April. Check the hours of operation page as it will have the dates as soon as they’re released for the 2024/25 season. For more ideas of what you might want to do off the slopes, read Outdoor Activities Off the Slopes.
Whistler Dining: New Cafés
Whistler has an award-winning dining scene and added some new faces to its culinary lineup this winter. Provisions Whistler, owned by the Toptable Group (which also owns Araxi, Bar Oso and Il Caminetto), is located on the Village Stroll and is fast becoming a neighbourhood café favourite. Although it has some hearty and healthy foods on the menu, it’s the stunning sweet treats lined up perfectly in the glass display cabinets that catch the eye.
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Flute & Fromage, a boutique cheese and wine shop, is another newbie to the Village Stroll and a must-try if you love your cheeses. And then there’s the opening of the international Japanese coffee company, % Arabica Whistler whose igloo-inspired interior design is only seconded by its delicious coffees.
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We did say award-winning, so we’ll drop a few of those for you. Wild Blue was voted Best Whistler Restaurant by Vancouver Magazine this year and landed the 31st spot in Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants, and The Raven Room came in at number 23 for Canada’s 50 Best Bars.
Whistler this Winter: Events
Check out the Whistler Film Festival, Whistler Pride Ski & Snowboard Festival and World Ski and Snowboard Festival, all on the calendar for 2024/25.
There are also Whistler Blackcomb’s Fire & Ice Shows, comedy nights, live music, art exhibitions and races of all kinds on and off the slopes to name a few events that happen weekly during the winter. Keep an eye on our events calendar as it starts to fill up for the coming season.
Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025
Whistler Blackcomb is hosting the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025, an international adaptive sporting competition for wounded, injured and sick service personnel and Veterans, happening February 8-16, 2025. The event brings together over 500 competitors from over 20 nations to compete in the first-ever winter edition featuring Alpine Skiing and Snowboarding on Whistler Blackcomb.
There will also be Biathlon and Cross-Country Skiing at Whistler Olympic Park in the Callaghan Valley, and Skeleton at the Whistler Sliding Centre, located at the base of Blackcomb Mountain.
The resort will remain open and operational, with minimal terrain impacts on Whistler Blackcomb. Honour those who serve their country while being a part of the shared journey of recovery. These Games are a demonstration and celebration of the human spirit, and you’re invited to be part of the journey.
Responsible Travel
The Whistler community cares deeply for the environment and strives to preserve the area’s natural beauty by taking meaningful steps toward the resort’s vision of sustainability. Take a read of Whistler’s environmental initiatives and how you can play your part while you’re here on our Responsible Travel in Whistler page.
One big tip is to leave your car at home. Once in Whistler, it’s easy to get around on foot, via local transit (there are free Village Shuttles) or taxi if needed. Parking can add up and as most things are centred around Whistler Village there’s really no need to bring it, take a shuttle instead and avoid the hassle, extra charges and putting on snow chains!
Thanks in advance for being a responsible traveller.
Support Local
If you need some new winter gear or want to give what you have some TLC, buying locally from shops and utilizing local services enhances the Whistler community, connects us all socially, creates jobs and boosts the economy.
What’s New at Whistler Blackcomb
Before we start with what’s new, let’s just recap what’s not changed. Whistler Blackcomb is North America’s largest ski resort and with 200+ runs over 8,100 acres of terrain, it’s proving grounds for both powder hounds and cruisey carvers.
Whistler enjoys reliable snowfall and moderate temperatures, thanks to its West Coast locale and has been voted Best Ski Resort in North America multiple times. It’s a quality AND quantity kind of place.
What happens here is big mountain skiing, the kind of skiing and snowboarding you see in the movies. You know, powder in the face, graceful, arcing turns on long, vertical descents and cliff drops with pillowy landings. Not quite there yet?
Fifty-five per cent of Whistler Blackcomb’s terrain is green and blue (beginner and intermediate), so you can work your way up to those powder turns, or cruise the corduroy at your own pace and take in the incredible views of the Coast Mountains.
New Jersey Cream Express Chairlift
The newly upgraded Jersey Cream Express chairlift will make its highly anticipated debut this winter. This new high-speed, six-person chair will improve uploading capacity, getting guests on the snow faster in the Glacier Creek Zone of Blackcomb Mountain.
It’s one of several lift upgrades Whistler Blackcomb has invested in in recent years, as just last year the Fitzsimmons Express was replaced with a high-speed, 8-person chairlift. The upgrade helped reduce lift line wait times out of the base at Skier’s Plaza in Whistler Village, increasing uphill capacity and improving circulation in the mid-mountain area.
Skip the Ticket Line with a Mobile Pass
This year, you can buy your lift ticket or pass online and then activate it in the My Epic app. When you arrive at a Whistler Blackcomb chairlift or gondola you’ll get scanned by low-energy Bluetooth ® technology designed for low-energy use. This gives you a hands-free, one-stop app for lift access, real-time resort updates, personalized stats and account info.
To ensure a smooth transition, Whistler Blackcomb will continue to provide and activate physical cards for passes and lift tickets during the 2024/25 season, as requested.
New and Enhanced Dining Experiences
The Horstman Hut is back! Sitting at the top of the 7th Heaven Express chairlift on Blackcomb Mountain, this alpine gem will be serving a European-style selection of sausages, sauerkraut, pretzels and mustards.
Check out the regionally inspired Indigenous dishes created in partnership with the culinary team at the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre and available at Merlin’s (base of Blackcomb) and the freshly updated Raven’s (top of Creekside Gondola). To round out your ski day, celebrate at the newly renovated Corona Mountaintop Lodge at the Roundhouse Lodge on Whistler Mountain.
Winter Lift Ticket Limits
To prioritize the guest experience, Whistler Blackcomb has set a winter lift-ticket limitation for each day of the season. This means if you don’t have a pass, you might find getting up the ski hill on popular days more challenging than in the past if you decide to come last minute.
The availability of lift tickets will be visible on the Whistler Blackcomb website in the coming weeks. If tickets are sold out online, guests will not be able to purchase them at ticket windows. Our advice is to purchase your lift access in advance – whether it is a Whistler Blackcomb Day Pass, Season Pass, or Edge Card (for the latter two call Whistler Blackcomb Guest Services at 1.800.766.0449).
Passes, including Day Passes, and Pass Holder benefit tickets will not be limited and are your best option to access the mountains with more savings, perks and variety. There is also no impact to guests who enroll in ski and ride school lessons that include lift access.
Cashless Transactions
From ordering food to buying that cool toque (Canadian for hat) you saw at the on-mountain retail store, all transactions happening at Whistler Blackcomb will be cashless again this season.
Whistler Blackcomb Snow School Daily Lessons & Camps
Whistler Blackcomb’s Ski & Ride School has various group programs at all three of the resort’s base locations (Whistler, Blackcomb and Creekside), along with an enhanced Whistler Kids: Kids 5 Day Ski Adventure Camp and the Adult 4 Day program.
Kids who are in snow school might just find themselves dancing away with Bart the Bear and Rave-On the Raven, the Whistler Blackcomb mascots who are part of the Whistler Kids Live show that happens every Thursday at noon at Blackcomb Base.
Women’s Only Ski and Snowboard Clinics
Whistler Blackcomb is growing its offering of ski and ride camps for women this season. Whether you picked up the sport last year or enjoy a double black diamond with your morning coffee, these clinics help hone your skills under top, female coaches. You can ski or snowboard, and both clinics are two days of slope-filled fun.
Read more about what a Women’s Ski Camp is like in our blog, Confidence Boost: Women’s Weekend Ski Camps.
At its core, Whistler is about not just seeking out adrenaline-pumping activities but also finding opportunities for joy, quiet, connection and freedom. Go where winter goes big. Go Whistler.
Get some early festive feels and a deal! Book 3+ nights between November 21 and December 20, 2024, to receive a free $100 CAD Whistler Shopping Voucher, with rooms starting from $175 CAD per night, accommodation and lift packages at 25% off and rentals at 35% off.
Come experience Whistler Blackcomb’s extensive terrain and adventure at every turn to see why we're known as one of the best resorts on the planet. Secure your mountain getaway with Whistler.com for personalized service and the local knowledge of our Whistler-based team. If all this has you dreaming of Whistler, enter the Find Your Edge contest to win a six-night trip, including flights, accommodation and adventures.
