Catskinner Express Opening Dates
Catskinner Express opens on or within a couple of days of Blackcomb’s opening day. It was an opening-day lift in 2021-22 through 2024-25, and opened over the first weekend in 2025-26. For 2026-27 expect it from 20 November 2026 or the days immediately after.
Where Catskinner Express sits in the opening order
Catskinner is the terrain park lift, serving the Highest Level and Catskinner parks plus Choker and Zig Zag on Blackcomb’s upper-mid mountain.
It is almost always in the opening-day package, with one recent exception: in 2025-26 the resort opened on 21 November with the gondola and Jersey Cream, and brought Catskinner online over that first weekend with access to Easy Out.
Park riders should note that the lift opening and the parks opening are different things. Terrain park features need to be built, which takes time and snow beyond what the lift itself requires.
Catskinner Express at a glance
| Lift type | Four-person high-speed detachable quad |
|---|---|
| Built | 1997 by Doppelmayr as Whistler’s Emerald Express; relocated to Blackcomb in 2018 |
| Base elevation | 1,538 m |
| Top elevation | 1,859 m |
| Vertical rise | 321 to 337 m (sources differ) |
| Capacity | 2,400 people per hour |
| Terrain served | Highest Level and Catskinner terrain parks, plus Choker and Zig Zag |
| Predecessor | A Yan fixed-grip triple that ran from 1980 to 2018 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | 25 November 2021 | Opening-day lift |
| 2022-23 | 24 November 2022 | Opening-day lift |
| 2023-24 | 23 November 2023 | Opening-day lift, with Lower Catskinner |
| 2024-25 | 21 November 2024 | Opening-day lift |
| 2025-26 | First weekend of the season | Opened just after 21 November, with Easy Out |
| 2026-27 | 20 November 2026 expected | Or the first weekend after |
What Catskinner Express needs to open
Catskinner’s terrain sits at a good elevation and holds snow, so the lift itself is rarely delayed. The terrain parks are a separate question — building features takes both time and a substantial amount of snow, so do not expect a full park setup in November.
What to expect for 2026-27
Whistler Blackcomb has confirmed a target opening day of Friday 20 November 2026, conditions permitting.
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 Catskinner Express close?
Catskinner is one of the last lifts running each season, finishing on 18 May 2026 alongside 7th Heaven and Jersey Cream on Blackcomb’s closing day.
Common questions
When does Catskinner open on Blackcomb?
On or within a couple of days of opening day. It was an opening-day lift from 2021-22 to 2024-25, and opened over the first weekend in 2025-26.
When do the Blackcomb terrain parks open?
The lift opening and the parks opening are different. Park features need to be built, which requires more snow and more time than simply running the lift, so a full park setup in November is unlikely.
Was Catskinner always a high-speed quad?
No. The current lift was built in 1997 as Whistler’s Emerald Express and relocated to Blackcomb in 2018. The original Catskinner was a fixed-grip triple that ran from 1980 to 2018.