From mid-December to early January the West was fairly quiet while the East and Midwest got the most snow. Storms in the second and fourth weeks of January first hit California and then mainly the Southwest. The best regions of the West are now only average, and most regions have had at least one very dry month so far this season.
Only a few areas post season-to-date snowfall on their websites. At the end of the regional sections, I list selected Ski Central or RSN month-to-date snow totals for other resorts, making educated guesses as to which resorts have supplied complete data for the month.
California : Season snowfall: 73" lower and 155" upper Squaw (66% of normal), 160" Mammoth (87% of normal). Both January storms were unusually low in water content and hit Mammoth more than Tahoe. Thus there has been some outstanding powder, but base depths are still a far below normal 4-7 feet after the December drought. A few expert sectors, such as Heavenly's Mott Canyon and Squaw's Silverado, remain closed. Southern California and Arizona are in full operation. See Current California Ski Conditions for more details on Southern California and Mammoth.
Ski Central December Snow: Alpine Meadows 42, Northstar 28, Heavenly 14.
Ski Central/RSN January Snow: Alpine Meadows 88, Northstar 75, Heavenly 57, Kirkwood 100, Arizona 74.
Pacific Northwest: Skiing is good at the 2 major destinations despite the below average start. Whistler/Blackcomb has clearly the best conditions in the Northwest or western Canada: full operation on 6 feet of base and frequent small snowfalls since New Years. Mt. Bachelor's base is 5 feet with the Summit open (weather permitting) since Christmas. Washington base depths (except Mt. Baker's 6-7 feet) are now 4-5 feet after 1-2 feet of snow the past two days. The new snow has covered some previously exposed obstacles. Washington and Oregon have had less than half normal snow since before the holidays. Only Alaska had an above average January.
Ski Central December Snow: Whistler 42 (likely incomplete), Baker 59, Stevens 47, Crystal 49, Hood Meadows 50.
Ski Central/RSN January Snow: Alyeska 148, Whistler 61, Baker 74, Stevens 41, Crystal 30, Bachelor 35, Hood Meadows 38
Canadian Rockies and Interior B.C.: Sun Peaks has the highest proportion of terrain open on 39 inches. Fernie, Sunshine, Big White, and Silver Star are around half open on bases up to 3 feet. Most other areas are even more restricted. The Kootenay region is having its worst start in over 20 years with rocky conditions at Fernie and Red Mt. in restricted operation for lack of cover. Low snowfall areas such as Lake Louise (54 inches YTD snow, 42% of normal) should be avoided as this season is even worse than 1993 and 1998 so far. The Okanagan is not hurting quite as badly as the Banff and Kootenay regions, but Gem Lake at Big White is not yet open this season. Just a few inches of new snow have fallen each week in January. Cat and heliskiing operations have adequate snow only above 6,000 feet.
Ski Central December Snow: Lake Louise 26, Silver Star 34.
Ski Central/RSN January Snow: Sunshine 22, Big White 34, Fernie 14.
U. S. Northern Rockies: In early October Big Sky got a freak dump of over 3 feet and opened some intermediate runs on weekends, increasing to daily operation on 900 acres on Nov. 11. Big Sky's base is now 38 inches and it has been 90% open since Christmas. Jackson has had 156 inches snowfall so far this season (70% of normal), and opened the tram Dec. 23. Grand Targhee is in full operation on a 42-76 inch base. Schweitzer and Big Mountain (YTD snow 91", 49% of normal) are like interior Canada: thin with minimal advanced terrain. Sun Valley has received 90 inches this season, 81% of normal. January has been much drier than normal throughout the region, as super reliable Grand Targhee fell short of its previous 24-year low January snow total of 55 inches.
Ski Central December Snow: Big Sky 35, Targhee 50.
Ski Central/RSN January Snow: Schweitzer 26, Big Sky 19, Targhee 44.
Utah: Alta has received 215 inches since Nov. 1 (79% of normal) after the 65-inch head start in October. Cottonwood areas base depths remain around 6+ feet. The California storms brought modest snowfalls to the Wasatch but hit Brian Head hard. Snow Basin, Park City and The Canyons are fully open, with base depths reported 5 feet. The Wasatch had a strong start but has had a little over half normal snow since Christmas.
Ski Central December Snow: Brighton 92, Park City 83, Brian Head 25.
Ski Central/RSN January Snow: Brighton 46, Park City 36, Snowbird 61, Brian Head 115.
Northern and Central Colorado: YTD snowfall totals, with about a foot of recent new snow: Breckenridge 117" (79% of normal), Vail 187" (97% of normal), Winter Park 207" (107% of normal), Steamboat 197" (97% of normal). Nearly everyone is 90+% open now. Conditions are no better than the past 2 years, which had poor holiday skiing but lots of snow in January. This year was the opposite: a strong start but about half normal snow since Christmas.
Ski Central December Snow: Copper 64, Keystone 48, Loveland 76.
Ski Central/RSN January Snow: Copper 16, Keystone 22, Loveland 18.
Southern and Western Colorado: Wolf Creek's continent-high base depth is 98-114 inches after last week's storms. It has been in full operation since early November with 216" since Nov. 1 (117% of normal) after 54" in October. The January storms from California hit New Mexico and southern Colorado hard, improving conditions to a 4-6 foot base at Durango and Telluride and 6-7 feet at Taos, which needs at least that much for its steeper terrain. With excellent snow preservation, these resorts should offer quality skiing for the rest of the season. The first January storm missed Aspen and Crested Butte and last week's was only a foot, so the base remains in a now below average 3-4 foot range with Snowmass' Cirque and CB's North Face not yet open.
Ski Central December Snow: Aspen 28, Crested Butte 55, Telluride 27, Durango 42, Taos 30.
Ski Central/RSN January Snow (note the dramatic north/south split): Aspen 23, Crested Butte 21, Telluride 71, Durango 77, Taos 86.
Northeast: Warm weather knocked out the first snowmaking attempts by November 15. Since then snowmaking cranked up for a week and Killington, Okemo, Sunday River and Hunter Mt. were about 30% open for Thanksgiving. December snowfall was near record high. Base depths did not reflect this, due to the one weekend (Dec. 16-17) of torrential rain. After the holiday dump of up to 2 feet, nearly all areas have been close to full operation. Conditions have been excellent since Christmas with ongoing new snow and cold temperatures in January. The month ended with some freezing rain, but the northern areas received more snow. As my report is an overview, I strongly recommend checking Vermont No-Bull Ski Report or First Tracks Online Ski Magazine No-Bull Ski Reports for up to date information in this region, where both weather and surface conditions can change so rapidly.
Ski Central December Snow: Mont-Sainte-Anne 46, Tremblant 31, Sugarloaf 64, Jay 95, Stowe 89, Sugarbush 72, Stratton 49, Snowshoe, WV 34.
Ski Central/RSN January Snow: Mont-Sainte-Anne 35, Tremblant 22, Sugarloaf 53, Jay 77, Stowe 62, Sugarbush 48, Stratton 43, Snowshoe, WV 39.