The governments of the Canadian provinces of Alberta and BC, home to most of Canada's best known ski areas, have decided clocks won't change there for winter daylight saving from this autumn onwards, meaning darker morning and lighter afternoons.
Most resorts in the two provinces are announcing their ski days will begin and end later from now on as a result, although some are being more nuanced, with later opening in the darkest days of winter but reverting to normal hours when it gets lighter in late January or February.
Overall, the move hasn't been popular with most ski areas that have publicly commented on the changes.
"Come Sunday November 1st, North America will have a mess of time zones - thanks to the government of Alberta ignoring the results of a 2021 referendum," (…ED: which rejected changing the time zones), a spokesperson for Banff Sunshine ski area, which is due to start Canada's 26-27 season in just over a week, said, adding, "As a winter resort, if Alberta were to pick one time zone our wish would have been to stay on Mountain Standard time. At present, as our team gears up for winter we're now adjusting our operational procedures to account for the loss of morning light. We remain committed to providing a safe and fun experience for all our guests. This year our ski hours will be 9:30 to 4:30 daily."
On the shortest days sunrise at Banff Sunshine won't now be until 9.45am, instead of 8.45am previously.
Among other things the change means a new 1 hour time difference in winter between BC and US states south of the border which are changing their clocks as usual.
Canada's two largest resorts, Sun Peaks and Whistler have also announced their ski days won't now start until 9.30, but that will also continue to run an hour later to 4.30pm, keeping the seven hour length unchanged.
Resorts have said the darker mornings are likely to make slope preparation work including avalanche control, safety inspections and lift preparations before slopes open, more challenging.