Photo courtesy Mount Washington Alpine Resort

Mount Washington, Vancouver Island – The first thing that comes to mind when I think of the weather on Vancouver Island is that in the late winter in Victoria there is a community competition to count the billions of blooms.

It seems so contrary to what happens at Mount Washington, just a 90-minute drive north of Nanaimo, and less than a 30 minute-drive from sea level. Here skiers can experience some of the deepest snow in the world!

Currently, the mountain’s five year snowfall average is 14 metres (46 feet!) In five day span in Dec 2012 skiers got a monster winter wallop: more than three metres of snow fell on the alpine resort, stranding some guests for two days, and with some of the more adventurous ones actually tunneling out of their lodgings.

Itʼs the seaside location, with the help of some classic  orographic precipitation, which creates the resortʼs epic all-natural snowfall. Which means visitors have the the unique opportunity to ski, golf, surf, or kayak in the same day.

Another feature that make the family-oriented resort special is that itʼs one of the easiest places to learn to ski and snowboard in North America – aided by the fact you can travel up the mountain using the largest covered network of magic carpets in North America.

Mount Washington was named in 1864 for Rear Admiral John Washington, hydrographer for the British Navy. You can follow the snow situation on the Twitter feed of four-season Mount Washington Alpine Resort @MountWashington