[caption id="attachment_11270" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Top of the mountain - skiers. Photo by Justa Jeskova[/caption]

Whistler, Canada & Val Thorens, France are both opening this weekend ahead of schedule, with more snow forecast to arrive so that powder deep fresh tracks can be made on Saturday.

Whistler Blackcomb are comparing the words ‘opening day’ and ‘early,’ to peanut butter and jelly or a more British bangers and mash saying that they always go together so well but we know which we'd get more excited by! Mother Nature has certainly been kind in Canada with a minimum of 70-100 centimetres of snow accumulating over the past seven days, check out the photos from yesterday of the snow cat which looks it should have been taken in January rather than November! And, with the cold front moving across the south Coastal Mountains, forecasts indicate another 65 centimetres of snow could fall by opening day. Combine that with the power of an arsenal of over 160 snow guns, and this early season is off to a very white start. “With all the excitement about the new snow and early opening rumours being spread throughout Whistler Village, among our online communities, and within our mountain staff, this Saturday morning will no doubt be epic,” says Doug MacFarlane, mountain operations manager at Whistler Blackcomb. “Our mountain operations, grooming and snow making teams have all been working incredibly hard this week to ensure that we have the best possible snow conditions for not only opening day, but for all season long. We’ve got a lot of work to do between now and Saturday, but we’re up for it, and stoked!”   It's a similar picture on this side of the Atlantic too, with snow addicts being able to get their first turns in at Val Thorens, France - Europe's highest resort. How can this scene from this afternoon not get your toes tingling? Winter has truely arrived en France with 55cm of snow in the heart of the resort (at 2300m) and 85cm on the summits and it's not just the super enthusiast skiers and boarders amongst us who will be able to enjoy as green, blue & red runs between 2300m & 3000m will be open. It's all there waiting for you... what are you waiting for?

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