The skiing and snowboarding are great in western Canada

Ski resorts — and their patrons — from the Sierra to the Rockies are cursing La Niña. Up in western Canada, however, they’re singing its praises.

This weather phenomenon, and a resulting high-pressure ridge in the eastern Pacific, is being blamed for pushing the moisture-bearing jet stream north. That’s bad news for mountain ranges from California to Colorado but good news for the western Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta.

At Whistler Blackcomb, in British Columbia, more than 17 feet has fallen. Some 75 inches has come since Christmas, two feet of that after New Year’s.

Red Mountain, on the east side of British Columbia north of Spokane, Wash., was able to open 100% of its runs earlier than normal. Something of a throwback, the resort relies entirely on natural snow, yet skiers and snowboarders are ripping on all of its 88 trails.

That usually doesn’t occur at Red until later in the season. To lure Yanks north, the resort is offering free lift tickets to U.S. skiers and snowboarders for the next 30 days.

Whistler isn’t offering any deals like Red’s, but it would be a great place for a winter sports vacation even with only half the snow it’s received.

Home to the 2010 Winter Olympics, the resort has two huge mountains — Whistler and Blackcomb — that have a combined 8,171 skiable acres of terrain, more than another other destination in the U.S. or Canada.

Moreover, it boasts a vertical descent of more than 5,200 feet, more than 200 trails, three glaciers, 37 lifts, 16 alpine bowls and the nearly three-mile-long Peak 2 Peak Gondola — which spans the valley between the two mountains. Then there’s ice skating, zip-lining, bobsled rides at the Whistler Sliding Centre and the lively ski village at the resort base, with lodging from basic to luxurious digs at hotels such as the Four Seasons Whistler.

Tourism officials report that December was one of the resort’s best Decembers ever and that it has been busy, but not overly crowded since then.

Jim Douglas, general manager of the two Pan Pacific hotels at Whistler, said several families who came over Christmas told him they had changed their plans to vacation at Lake Tahoe and Colorado.

“They said they wanted to come to where there was good snow, and we certainly have that,” Douglas said. “In fact, we got several more inches today.”

Douglas said the huge snowpack has lured some U.S. skiers and snowboarders to British Columbia who hadn’t visited in several years because of the strengthening Canadian currency.

Four years ago, the Canadian dollar was worth 20% less than its U.S. counterpart. Today, the two currencies are on par.

“With all this snow and the lack of it down your way, people are overlooking the flat exchange rates,” he said.

But Douglas isn’t gloating about Canada’s good luck this year.

“I really hope the weather turns around for resorts all over North America,” he said. “That would be best for the ski industry. It’s a darn shame for a lot of resorts in the States.

“But if you want to ski or snowboard, we’re certainly happy to have you come up here. After all, we’re only three hours away from Los Angeles by plane and then a two-hour drive from the airport.”

travel@latimes.com