7th Heaven Express Opening Dates
7th Heaven Express usually opens in December, most often in the first half but sometimes not until the week after Christmas. It opened on 6 December 2024, and between 25 and 28 December 2023 in a poor season. It typically opens a day or two after Peak Express on Whistler.
Where 7th Heaven Express sits in the opening order
7th Heaven is Blackcomb’s alpine — the sunny, south-facing bowl above Rendezvous, topping out at the Horstman Hut at 2,284 m, the highest lift-served point on the mountain. Sunburn, Cloud Nine and Xhiggy’s Meadow all hang off it.
That south-facing aspect cuts both ways. It bakes in spring sunshine, which is why 7th Heaven is the lift that runs latest into May. But in early season the same sun works against it, melting thin cover that a north-facing slope would hold.
Blackcomb’s order in a typical season: Blackcomb Gondola, Jersey Cream, Excelerator, Catskinner and Excalibur on day one; then Crystal Ridge; then 7th Heaven; then Glacier Express; and finally the Showcase area.
7th Heaven Express at a glance
| Lift type | Four-person high-speed detachable quad |
|---|---|
| Built | 1987, Doppelmayr — the oldest surviving detachable lift on Blackcomb |
| Top elevation | 2,284 m at the Horstman Hut, the highest lift-served point on Blackcomb |
| Vertical rise | 589 m |
| Length | 1,774 m |
| Ride time | About 6 minutes |
| Capacity | 2,800 people per hour |
| Terrain served | Sunburn, Cloud Nine, Hugh’s Heaven, Panorama and Xhiggy’s Meadow — entirely above treeline |
| Aspect | South-facing, the sunniest major lift at the resort |
Historical opening dates
Whistler Blackcomb does not publish a per-lift opening archive, so these dates come from the resort’s own Terrain Alert announcements and from archived snapshots of its lift status feed.
| Season | Opened | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | Between 25 and 28 December 2023 | Confirmed closed 25 Dec; the resort’s ops blog said “we recently opened up 7th Heaven” on 28 Dec |
| 2024-25 | Friday 6 December 2024 | Whistler Blackcomb: “pushing up Peak Chair to Thursday, December 5, followed by 7th on Friday” |
| 2025-26 | After 10 December 2025 | Still not open on 10 Dec; open by 1 January |
| 2026-27 | Expected mid-to-late December | See the El Niño note below |
How much snow does 7th Heaven Express need?
Using settled snow depth recorded at the Roundhouse weather station at 1,835 m on the day the lift opened.
| Season | Opened | Snow on the ground | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 6 Dec 2024 | 97 cm | 45.6 mm of rain fell that day |
The one opening we can pin precisely came with 97 cm of settled snow at 1,835 m — very close to Harmony’s threshold, and rather less than Peak Express or Glacier Express need.
A detail worth noting from that day: 45.6 mm of rain fell in the alpine on 6 December 2024, and 7th Heaven opened anyway. Rain during an early season is damaging over weeks, but a single wet day does not by itself keep a lift shut.
Rain is the enemy, not lack of snow
What delays the alpine is not a quiet November — it is a warm one. In 2023-24 there were 20 days of rain at 1,835 m before New Year, totalling 252 mm, plus 40 days above freezing. Snow fell, then washed away or froze into crust, and the alpine stayed shut deep into January.
Compare 2016-17: zero rain days in the alpine before January and a single day above freezing. The snow that fell stayed, and the alpine opened early.
What to expect for 2026-27
Whistler Blackcomb has confirmed a target opening day of Friday 20 November 2026, conditions permitting.
There is one significant caveat this season. NOAA has issued an El Niño Advisory giving a greater than 90 per cent chance of a very strong El Niño through winter 2026-27, with a real possibility of the strongest event in the record dating back to 1950.
El Niño winters have historically started slowly at Whistler. Across the last thirteen seasons, El Niño Novembers delivered an average of 33 cm of snow at Roundhouse against 109 cm in La Niña Novembers, and roughly half the settled snow depth by the end of November.
Two things stop that being a prediction. El Niño mainly delays the start rather than ruining the season — by New Year the snowfall gap narrows considerably. And the strongest El Niño in our records, 2015-16, saw Whistler open early on 19 November with 332 cm down by New Year. Treat it as a tendency worth planning around, not a forecast.
Treat every date on this page as a planning window rather than a fixed commitment. Lift openings are decided on the morning, on the basis of snow depth, avalanche control work, wind and visibility.
When does 7th Heaven Express close?
7th Heaven is one of the last lifts running at the resort each year. In 2026 its final day was 18 May, matching Blackcomb’s closing day, and it ran a full month after Whistler Mountain shut on 19 April.
Through Blackcomb’s spring operations it runs on reduced hours, typically 10:00 to 16:00 from late April, and weather permitting.
Common questions
When does 7th Heaven open on Blackcomb?
Usually in December. It opened on 6 December 2024 and between 25 and 28 December 2023. It typically follows Peak Express on Whistler by a day or two.
How much snow does 7th Heaven need to open?
The one precisely dated opening came with 97 cm of settled snow at 1,835 m, which is similar to Harmony and less than Peak Express or Glacier Express require.
Is 7th Heaven open in spring?
Yes, it is typically one of the very last lifts running. In 2026 it ran until 18 May, a full month after Whistler Mountain closed. Its south-facing aspect makes it the classic Blackcomb spring lift.
Does 7th Heaven open before Glacier Express?
Usually yes. 7th Heaven opened on 6 December 2024 while Glacier Express followed around 21 December, and Glacier needs roughly 132 cm of settled snow against 7th Heaven’s 97 cm.