Western snow conditions progressed from poor in mid-November to well above average in most regions by mid-December. Snowfall was modest at best from Christmas to mid-January but then picked up again, particularly in the Northwest and Northern Rockies. February snowfall was well below average in most regions, but winter has returned for a colder and snowier March. Only the Southwest continues to suffer dry weather and sketchy coverage during its normally best month of the season.
Only a few areas post season-to-date snowfall on their websites. At the end of the regional sections, I list selected 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: Mammoth 293 inches (96% of normal), Kirkwood 472 inches (116%), Squaw 374 inches (96%) at upper elevations and 201 at the base. Squaw's KT22 and Heavenly's Mott Canyon opened by December 7. The Sierra had the best holiday conditions with 3-4 feet of new snow. Most of January was dry, but 2-3 feet of new snow late in the month restored the surfaces over a 5-10 foot base. The surface was refreshed a few times in February, but spring conditions emerged for a couple of weeks. Winter has returned in March, with 6-9 feet new snow at Tahoe and 4-5 feet at Mammoth. See Current California Ski Conditions for more details on Southern California and Mammoth. Natural snow dependent areas in Arizona and Southern California are experiencing near-record drought and have yet to open this season.
RSN December Snow: Northstar 122, Heavenly 117.
RSN January Snow: Alpine Meadows 59, Northstar 44, Heavenly 38.
RSN February Snow: Alpine Meadows 38, Northstar 18, Heavenly 30.
RSN March Snow: Alpine Meadows 108, Northstar 70, Heavenly 67.
Pacific Northwest: The entire region built a deep base with heavy snowfall from late November through mid-December. The Northwest received mostly rain the first week of January, but since then Washington and Oregon got 2 feet new per week for over a month, building the base to 6-14 feet and producing several outstanding powder weekends. Whistler received about half as much January snow, but got 90 inches in February, probably the most snow of any western area. Whistler alpine season snowfall is 392 inches, 111% of normal with a 118-inch base. The Northwest powderfest has continued in March, with Mt. Baker's season total now 760 inches, 138% of normal. Including presumed November snow, the Mt. Bachelor numbers below imply 140+% of normal snowfall in Oregon this season. Washington and Oregon base depths now range from 8-15+ feet and there have been numerous powder days this season reminiscent of the 1998-99 world record year.
RSN December Snow: Mt. Bachelor 149.
RSN January Snow: Mt. Bachelor 106.
RSN February Snow: Mt. Bachelor 54.
RSN March Snow: Mt. Bachelor 121.
Canadian Rockies and Interior B.C.: Big White had the earliest natural snow skiing in North America, opening October 20 with 2 high speed lifts over 20% of the terrain. Sun Peaks and the Okanagan areas have been in full operation since before Christmas and base depths are now 5-9 feet. Red's Granite Mt. and Fernie opened Dec. 7 with better conditions than they had all last season and maintained 6-foot bases through the holidays. Since New Year's most of the Northwest storms have continued into Canada, bringing consisent snow to all regions but highest in the Kootenay area along the border. Lake Louise's snowfall is 182 inches (100% of normal) and Banff conditions are excellent, with the only downside being a couple of March weeks of subzero temperatures.
RSN December Snow: Fernie 103, Red Mt. 64, Sunshine 42.
RSN January Snow: Fernie 101, Red Mt. 40, Sunshine 61.
RSN February Snow: Fernie 68, Red Mt. 37, Sunshine 51.
RSN March Snow: Fernie 104, Red Mt. 47, Sunshine 43.
U. S. Northern Rockies: Jackson Hole's season snowfall is now 299 inches (89% of normal) with 4+ feet of snow so far in March and conditions have been better than normal for spring due to cold temperatures. Grand Targhee has a 63-154 inch base. Big Sky and Bridger are in full operation with 2 feet new in late February and a bit less than that so far this month. Schweitzer has built a 86-152 inch base with continuing snow from the Northwest. Even Sun Valley has added 4 feet in March to reach 174 inches season snow, 104% of normal. Big Mountain's season snowfall is 350 inches at the peak (126% of normal) and 223 inches at the base, with 7 feet this month.
RSN December Snow: Big Sky 33, Bridger 57, Targhee 82, Schweitzer 120.
RSN January Snow: Big Sky 43, Bridger 82, Targhee 85, Schweitzer 84.
RSN February Snow: Big Sky 56, Bridger 58, Targhee 39, Schweitzer 46.
RSN March Snow: Big Sky 20, Bridger 19, Targhee 55, Schweitzer 45.
Utah: Alta's snowfall since Nov. 1 is 468 inches (110% of normal) and the base is 10-12 feet throughout the Cottonwood Canyons after 6-8 feet so far in March. The Park City region received about 10 feet of snow in late November/early December, so all 3 areas were in full operation on 5-foot bases since the second week of December. After 5 feet of March snow, Park City region base depths are up to 8 feet. The Wasatch was mostly dry from Christmas to mid-January with variable conditions, but the surface was restored by a 2-3 foot dump at the end of January. February weather was very cooperative for the Olympics, clear and cool with just a few days of new snow to keep the surface nice. Brian Head missed the big November storms, just reached full operation by New Year's, and has continued to get about half as much snow as the areas farther north.
RSN December Snow: Snowbird 84, Solitude 82, The Canyons 50, Brian Head 45.
RSN January Snow: Snowbird 74, Solitude 62, The Canyons 41, Brian Head 24.
RSN February Snow: Snowbird 39, Solitude 37, The Canyons 23, Brian Head 14.
RSN March Snow: Snowbird 91, Solitude 89, The Canyons 75, Brian Head 37.
Northern and Central Colorado: This region has experienced its normal pattern of ongoing small snowfalls since New Year's, with gradual opening of advanced terrain. This region has received 2-3 feet in March but little in the past week. The high snow areas of Vail (254.5 inches snowfall, 84% of normal) and Steamboat (282.5 inches snowfall, 95% of normal) have been in full operation since before Christmas. Winter Park (231.5 inches snow, 76% of normal) is completely open except for the hard-to-cover Vasquez Cirque. Breckenridge (185 inches snow, 79% of normal) and Copper are in full operation. Keystone is 93% open on 109 inches natural snowfall, Loveland is 95% open and A-Basin is 90% open as the Continental Divide lags well behind its normal snowfall. These areas usually get a lot of spring snow, but the base is only 4 feet and they will close early if they don't get it this year.
RSN December Snow: Copper 60, Loveland 43.
RSN January Snow: Copper 46, Loveland 33.
RSN February Snow: Copper 46, Loveland 24.
RSN March Snow: Copper 30, Loveland 18.
Southern and Western Colorado: Wolf Creek's season-to-date snowfall is 228 inches (73% of normal) with 4 feet in March after a dry February. Crested Butte's North Face partially opened in mid-January, bringing the area to 80+% operation. Telluride has been close to full operation including the new Prospect Bowl since Christmas and Aspen/Snowmass reports 90+% operation. 2-3 feet of March snow has improved coverage to about 4-5 feet, but this is well below normal for the usually peak month for this region. Farther south in Taos conditions are worse, with a 42-48 inch base and only 137 inches season snow, 60% of normal.
RSN December Snow: Telluride 64.
RSN January Snow: Aspen 48, Crested Butte 29, Telluride 21, Taos 43.
RSN February Snow: Aspen 30, Crested Butte 25, Telluride 18, Taos 13.
RSN March Snow: Aspen 45, Crested Butte 29, Telluride 26, Taos 13.
Northeast: A record heat wave closed most areas the first week of December. The weather finally turned cold for the rest of December. For the holidays most areas were only 20-40% open and even at snowmaking leaders about 50-70% of runs were open. Significant natural snow during December was confined to far northern Vermont. Conditions steadily improved through January, with excellent conditions over the MLK weekend. The Northeast then had a January thaw followed by some rain/snow mix, but the major areas remained 80+% open. Maine and Quebec held up the best in late January. February conditions were difficult much of the time on a base of only 2-4 feet, though most areas remained 80-90% open. The East experienced a premature spring the weekend of March 9-10, which melted down many areas to under 50% open. After barely hanging on awhile, the Northeast just had its best natural snow week of the season with 2-3 feet new snow. I strongly recommend checking Scenes of Vermont Ski Page 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.
RSN December Snow: Sugarloaf 19, Wildcat 17, Jay 63, Stowe 50, Killington 20, Stratton 17, Tremblant 20, Snowshoe 11.
RSN January Snow: Sugarloaf 41, Jay 86, Stowe 77, Sugarbush 51, Killington 50, Stratton 45, Mt. Tremblant 18.
RSN February Snow: Sugarloaf 14, Jay 36, Stowe 47, Sugarbush 26, Killington 41, Stratton 33, Mt. Tremblant 27, Mt. St. Anne 47.
RSN March Snow: Sugarloaf 19, Jay 71, Stowe 40, Sugarbush 27, Killington 27, Stratton 38, Mt. Tremblant 30, Mt. St. Anne 29.