2005-06 Ski Season Progress Report as of January 16, 2006

There were 2 northern storm tracks in November and the first week of December. Both hit Washington, Oregon, the Northern Rockies, and Northern and Central Colorado, and most areas in these regions were close to full operation by mid -December. The earlier storms hit western Canada, while the later storms dumped on previously dry Utah. The second week of December was mostly dry but there was moderate snow in the week before Christmas in several regions. Christmas week was stormy but warm in most of the West, with some rain at lower West Coast elevations but 3 feet of snow up higher, and cement-like snow at some areas in the Rockies. A final intense storm hit much of the West over New Year's weekend, with a break in weather for the next few days. Since then the Pacific Northwest has been continuously stormy, with considerable snowfalls in most other regions. The far Southwest continues to lag behind, with some areas restricted on less than half normal snow.

More areas are posting season snowfall since 2003-04, so I track the less reliable numbers from RSN on a more selective basis. I now include season snowfall from several areas italicized from SnoCountry and RSN through December. The Snocountry season totals are only reliable enough to use beyond New Year's for a handful of areas.

California: Mammoth opened a few runs on snowmaking Nov. 10. Boreal was the only other area to make enough snow to open for Thanksgiving. After 3 feet the following week, most Sierra areas opened for the first weekend of December, but with less than half of terrain. A surprise storm dropped 3 feet at higher elevations Dec. 18-19, so Mammoth, Kirkwood, Mt. Rose and the upper parts of Heavenly were in decent shape by Christmas. The Christmas week storms were stronger, averaging 3+ feet, folowed by huge dumps of 3-10 feet over New Year's weekend. Snow levels fluctuated, but were occasionally as high as 9,000 feet. High elevation base depths reached 12+ feet, but holiday conditions were still sketchy below 7,000 feet and just adequate up to 8,000 feet. Last week's 2+ foot storm was colder and has improved the lower elevations. See Current California Ski Conditions for more details on Southern California and Mammoth.
RSN December Snow: Heavenly 75, Northstar 78, Sierra-at-Tahoe 80.
RSN January Snow: Heavenly 72, Northstar 41, Sierra-at-Tahoe 71.

Pacific Northwest: Mt. Baker opened Nov. 8 with 100% of terrain and a 5-7 foot base. Crystal opened Nov. 4 on about 4 feet as did Blackcomb and Timberline on lesser amounts. Another 2-3 feet of snow fell on Washington and Oregon areas in early December, and these areas had 3-6 foot bases for the holidays with variable surface conditions due to low elevation rain. Whistler had only 20 inches in the first half of December, and then it rained to the top on Christmas. Christmas to New Year's storms finally opened up the Whistler alpine with up to 7 feet of snow, but lower elevations were variable and snowmaking dependent. Mt. Bachelor and Mt. Hood had more snow and less rain than other Northwest areas through the holidays. Since New Year's Whistler and the Washington areas have been pounded with up to 10 feet of snow and now have outstanding conditions.
RSN January Snow: Mt Bachelor 40.

Area	Season Snow	Pct. of Normal	Pct. of Area Open
Whistler	236	121%	100%
Stevens Pass	253	113%	100%

Canadian Rockies and Interior B.C.: Snow was above average in November but far below average in most of December. Skiers reported that low snow sectors like the front of Lake Louise, lower half of Kicking Horse and upper parts of Panorama were sketchy through the holidays. Conditions have improved in January with at least 2 feet of snow throughout the region in the past week and more like 6 feet in snow stashes like Fernie.

Area	Season Snow	Pct. of Normal	Pct. of Area Open
Lake Louise	69	87%	95%
Fernie	219	117%	100%

U. S. Northern Rockies: This region has had a very strong start since early November. Big Sky opened Lone Peak at the end of November, a rare occurrence. Jackson Hole opened all lifts December 10. All areas were close to full operation with excellent conditions by mid-December, and most of these areas had 3-5 feet more through the holidays, and another 3-7 feet so far in January. So far this is the best season in the region since the records of 1996-97.
RSN January Snow: Bridger 38, Big Sky 41.

Area	Season Snow	Pct. of Normal	Pct. of Area Open
Big Mountain	209	137%	100%
Grand Targhee	302	141%	100%
Jackson Hole	245	137%	100%
Sun Valley	175	196%	100%

Utah: Utah was much drier than normal for most of November and thus Alta opened a week later than scheduled. But huge dumps from late Thanksgiving weekend through early December brought season totals above normal. The Cottonwood Canyon areas have since been in full operation, and the other Wasatch areas were in full operation for the holidays after 2+ feet the week before Christmas. About 2 feet of very wet snow fell during Christmas week and 3+ feet over New Year's. Last weekend's storm dropped another 3 feet. Brian Head has been south of most storm tracks but got 16 inches last weekend.

Area	Season Snow	Pct. of Normal	Pct. of Area Open
Alta	282	127%	100%
Snowbird	248	130%	100%
Brighton/Solitude	272	155%	100%
Park City	188	150%	100%
Snowbasin	196	140%	100%
Brian Head	63	48%	75%

Northern and Central Colorado: Loveland and A-Basin had a couple of runs open on mostly snowmaking since mid-October. November snowfall was much above normal, and by December 1 this region had as much terrain open as at an average Christmas. With another 5-8 feet (10 at Steamboat) in December, everyone was close to full operation for the holidays with the best season start since 1995-96. January snowfall has continued steadily above average, 2-4 feet so far.

Area	Season Snow	Pct. of Normal	Pct. of Area Open
Beaver Creek	166	115%	100%
Breckenridge	187	155%	100%
Copper Mt.	207	185%	100%
Keystone	162	199%	100%
Loveland	189	139%	95%
Steamboat	252	155%	100%
Vail	236	149%	99%
Winter Park	206	130%	90%

Southern and Western Colorado: Aspen is well above average and Crested Butte about average from the northern storms, but everything farther south has been much drier than normal. Advanced/expert terrain is often not open until January in these areas in normal years, and the southern areas will need help to reach full operation by February. Farther south in Arizona and New Mexico the season remains a complete bust.
RSN January Snow: Telluride 20.

Area	Season Snow	Pct. of Normal	Pct. of Area Open
Aspen	165	173%	96%
Crested Butte	99	103%	95%
Durango	57	56%	75%
Wolf Creek	89	61%	100%
Taos	35	31%	28%
Arizona Snowbowl	12	13%	0%

Northeast: The remnants of Hurricane Wilma turned into a Nor'easter that dumped 2-4 feet of snow in parts of New England, prompting Wildcat (24 trails) and Killington (22 trails) to open more terrain on October 29-30 than would be normal for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately both areas closed Oct. 31, and ensuing warm weather wiped out most of the natural snow. Several areas opened on snowmaking the weekend before Thanksgiving, by which time the snowmaking leaders were about 20% open with cold temps and some new snow. Several trails closed with rain at the end of November, but first half of December snowfall and snowmaking conditions well above average, opening about half of terrain. The week before Christmas brought 2-3 feet new snow to much of Vermont, bringing many areas to 90+% open. Conditions degraded some Chrismas week with a mix of rain and snow but improved during a colder first week of January. Unfortunately the past week has seen more rain than snow and trail counts have declined. Percents open: Killington 58%, Okemo 87%, Stratton 84%, Sugarloaf 63%, Sunday River 69%, Hunter 85%, Mt. St. Anne 58%, Tremblant 56%, Snowshoe 100%. I strongly recommend checking 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: Killington 44, Stratton 24, Okemo 28, Sunday River 33, Mt. Ste. Anne 60, Snowshoe 30.
RSN January Snow: Stratton 19, Okemo 12, Sunday River 14, Mt. Ste. Anne 11, Snowshoe 13.

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