WHAT’S NEW FOR SKIERS AND BOARDERS

For those who know their Gear Jammer and Gnarly Knots from their Renegade and Sorcerer, there’s nothing like chasing the freshest powder on Blackcomb Mountain.

And this season the resort offers a faster way to have you shredding those first tracks.

You’ve sat on your last Wizard and Solar Coaster high-speed quads, replaced this season by the new Blackcomb gondola. (Perhaps you’ve even seen your last lineup: The 10-passenger gondola can whiz up 4,000 people per hour.)

Part of a $66-million investment, the 12-kilometre long ride connecting the PEAK 2 PEAK (and Whistler Village) gondolas completes the longest circuitous lift system in the world, according to the owners, Vail Resorts.

If you’re a regular on that side, you’ve also already waved goodbye to the Catskinner triple chair.

It’s been replaced with a high-speed quad bringing Super Pipe aficionados up for more air quicker, and opens up the less-used Catskinner glades in that hood.

Over on Whistler, the Emerald Express quad — in the busy Family Zone and the corridor used by skiers and snowboarders to switch between Harmony and Symphony bowls — is now a high-speed six-pack.

Incentive enough to pack on the layers and have you ho ho ho-ing down the Jolly Green Giant before your speedier ride up.

Added bonus if you’ve bought the resort’s Epic Pass?

It now allows holders to ski 26 days in total across France, Switzerland, Italy, and Austria, to boot.