Gazing out from the GLC patio, one of the most popular après spots at the heart of Whistler village in British Columbia, the view was moist yet rosy. 

“It’s definitely worth the journey to Canada, the people are lovely and there are no crowds,” declared Victoria Morum of Bournemouth. She and her new husband Samuel were basking in the warmth of an outdoor gas fire on an ultimate snowlovers’ honeymoon, having gotten engaged on a previous ski getaway in Bansko, Bulgaria. 

They’d hurdled the mandatory pre-departure test (Britons now also face compulsory arrival testing and isolation while they await results) and despite the West Coast drizzle, husband Samuel seemed chuffed by the upgrade to Canada’s top resort: “Up at the mountain top, it was a real powder day,” he said. 

Whistler Blackcomb, as it’s officially known, opened for the ski season on November 25 with a robust three-metre snowpack – though the past weeks have been no honeymoon for British Columbia. Pummelled by three “atmospheric rivers” – airborne rivers that drop water vapour by the bucketful – the southern part of the province suffered floods, mudslides, and extensive road and rail cut-offs. But at Blackcomb’s top elevation, just over 2,200m, precipitation that day was falling in the form of fresh, if slightly sticky, snow.