Thick snow across B.C. has ski hills racing to start their lifts early this year.
Whistler is slated to open 13 days ahead of schedule, while Big White near Kelowna projects one of its earliest start dates in 50 years.
"We're all pretty excited up here on the mountain," said Michael J Ballingall, a senior vice-president at Big White.
Snow fell heavily on that mountain over the past seven days, boosting its base to 50 centimetres.
In Whistler, cool temperatures and strong snowfall along with determined snow-making has the mountain scheduled to open with five lifts in operation.
Meanwhile, Environment Canada is predicting snow and freezing temperatures for Metro Vancouver.
The federal weather agency says the region can expect snow flurries on Saturday, and again on Tuesday, with temperatures dipping down to minus 2 C early next week.
Doug Lundquist, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said a cold front is moving in, but the snow likely won’t stick in the city on Saturday.
“This is not a crippling snow event for Metro Vancouver,” he said. “But we may see some snow stick on the ground at higher elevations.”
Lundquist said despite the winter forecast, November has been unseasonably warm. He said Tuesday’s highs of 14.6 degrees C broke the record set in 1953.
