Whistler’s alpine is on track to potentially experience one of the most unusual summer seasons in the resort’s history.
That’s according to Arthur De Jong, mountain planning and environmental resource manager for Whistler Blackcomb.
“What we’re seeing this year is potentially a one in 50 or a one in 100 years situation,” said De Jong. “This may be one of the few years in our brief history here, our history as a resort, where we may see glacial advance. There’s a very high probability of it this year.”
De Jong said due to the ocean-atmospheric phenomenon known as La Niña, the intense winter and cooler summer has resulted in a significant snowpack remaining in the alpine, which is very unusual for this time of year.
“We had a kickass winter, one of the best ever, and it is the outcome of a strong La Niña,” said De Jong. “This cooling trend has been prolonged for this summer, but as a caveat to that, summer isn’t over. We still have August and September.
“I’ve studied the weather for a long time and the thing I’ve noticed is that while seasonal averages can fluctuated considerably, annual averages don’t fluctuate much. So if you have a very wet spring to mid summer often you have a drier later summer (and) fall. Historically that’s what we’ve seen.”
In fact, De Jong noted that during an early morning hike in the alpine on Monday (Aug. 8) there was frost on the ground at higher elevations, which is also very rare for this time of year.
While the cooler winter season may have spelled success for Whistler’s glaciers, the lasting effects into the summer may not be so positive for local wildlife.
“We’ve seen some interesting occurrences,” said De Jong. “Like two wolves spotted just a short ways up the Fitzsimmons valley in the ski area a month back. That is very unusual.”
On top of that, De Jong said there have been more deer, cougars and bears in the valley than normal.
“Because of the limited food opportunities at higher elevations, these populations are more concentrated so it’s forcing some, like wolves, to come through here on late hunting patterns that they would have otherwise avoided,” he said. “They’re being forced down lower.”
One of the most adversely affected are the hoary marmots, which typically feed on plants located higher up, De Jong noted.
“They’ve had a very difficult situation this year because of all the snow still in the alpine, so their food supply is very limited,” explained De Jong. “So they have to move further in order to get food down-slope, which exposes them much more-so to their predators which are principally coyotes. Therefore, with the prey and predator relationship, the predators have a huge advantage and there’s no doubt the marmot populations will be affected this year.”
De Jong also suggested Whistler’s bear population might also take a hit if things don’t warm up enough for the berries to grow.
“These mountain berries are the principal food supply for bears — it’s what really fattens them — and right now it doesn’t look good,” he said. “It’s been too cool and there’s too much snow, but if it stays warm and not too hot through the month into September then we may still see some resilience for production and things may bounce up for the bears.”
If not, De Jong said a poor berry season much like last year’s could lead to a further drop in the bear population as there weren’t many cubs born this year.
For now, summer life in the alpine seems to be just getting underway, be it a few weeks later than normal. Wildflowers are now beginning to bloom and the alpine hiking trails are now open — five weeks later than normal.
As for the coming winter season, the U.S. Weather Bureau recently released a report stating that La Niña may make a return, leading to another intense Whistler winter and a potentially cooler second summer in a row.
“That’s potentially great news for skiing,” said De Jong, adding that it may not be so great for next year’s wildlife.
