The rockslide occurred early on Thursday morning before the hill was open. Photo: Courtesy of Whistler Blackcomb
A rockslide early on Thursday morning at Whistler Blackcomb took out a little over 300 feet of terrain between the West Cirque and Monday’s double black diamond runs. Thankfully, it happened before the mountain was open and no one was injured.
“There are giant rock blocks that have come down,” Jeff Crompton, a researcher at the Geological Survey of Canada, told the CBC. “It’s a huge event to be happening in such a populated area and it’s scary. I was a little bit angry, kind of like I knew that this is going to happen, and it’s only a matter of time.”
The slide prompted mountain operators to close Whistler Peak and the Peak Express Chair until further notice. Although the exact cause of the rockslide isn’t clear, Crompton suspects that it might have something to do with the strange weather much of the British Columbia west coast has been experiencing. Recent rain and unseasonably warm weather can add moisture to rocks, and when temperatures plummeted on Wednesday evening, Crompton thinks that could have set the slide in motion.
“Last night, temperatures were getting really cold and with that wind,” Crompton said. “If there’s a lot of water and that water freezes and expands, that can act as a trigger to cause the rockslide.”
As of this writing, Vail Resorts, which owns Whistler Blackcomb, hasn’t provided any further detail.
