Warm and wet weather forced the shutdown of three B.C. ski resorts Monday, including Cypress Mountain, which will host freestyle and snowboard Olympic events in just over a month.
West Vancouver's Cypress closed Alpine and Nordic areas for at least a day, with mountain staff promising to reassess the situation Tuesday to evaluate damage and determine what actions will need taken before runs are reopened.
"There's really no point in opening when there's inclement weather," spokesperson Kent Rideout told ctvbc.ca.
Rideout says they will likely repair damaged and bald patches by moving existing snow from less frequented runs in higher altitudes and pushing it down the slopes with Snowcats.
The mountain's only snowmaking system is currently designated for Olympic use only.
The resort has promised rain would not cancel an Olympic event, but it could affect the snow quality -- making it a little too soft and difficult for the athletes to compete.
The Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee has a snow management system in place that includes keeping a large amount of snow in reserve in the chance there isn't enough natural snowfall leading up to the events.
"They have been making snow since November. They have about two metres of man-made snow in addition to what's on the venues," Rideout said.
For three months, VANOC has been converting 95.3 million litres of water into snow.
"Over the next three weeks the snow will be pushed down the mountain by snow grooming machinery where it will be shaped by machine and by hand to create the freestyle and snowboard courses," the committee said in a statement Monday.
The federal government has provided $9 million in weather forecasting services during the Games, from weather stations to wind monitors and a state-of-the-art $1 million Doppler system just outside of Whistler.
Not panicking
At North Vancouver's Mount Seymour, alpine skiing, tubing and tobogganing all shut down Monday, with management citing inclement weather conditions. The resort has not seen new snow in more than seven days.
"This is obviously not business as usual but there have been years we have had to miss a day or two because of rain," ski and snowboard school manager Jonathan Mosley told ctvbc.ca.
"We're not panicking. There's still a good amount of snow on the ground -- especially in the higher elevations," he said.
Soggy conditions also hampered nearby Grouse Mountain, which put downhill operations on standby in the early morning.
Rain, rain and more rain
A rain warning was issued for B.C.'s north shore early Monday, with up to 50 millimeters of rain expected throughout the day.
Temperatures are forecast to reach a high of 11 degrees Monday, with temperatures between 8 and 11 degrees predicted until Thursday.
Rideout said snow enthusiasts should not be overly discouraged.
"Don't get too downtrodden -- the weather will change and it will change quickly."
Mosley agrees.
"Being right on the coast we have bigger fluctuations in our weather. We can go from marginal to world class in less than a week."
He said January and early February can easily see a metre to two metres of fresh powder.
"If we can get anywhere near that we'll be in great shape."
