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 has come on strong again since then in most regions, with some big powder days particularly in the Northwest and Northern Rockies.
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 216 inches (123% of normal), Kirkwood 285 inches (123%), Squaw 240 inches (107%) at upper elevations and 119 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. January was mostly dry until last weekend, but 2 feet of new snow have restored the surfaces over a 4.5-10 foot base. See Current California Ski Conditions for more details on Southern California and Mammoth. Natural snow dependent areas in Arizona and Southern California are not yet open.
RSN December Snow: Northstar 122, Heavenly 117.
RSN January Snow: Alpine Meadows 48, Northstar 38, Heavenly 28.
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 over 8 feet of snow has fallen in Washington and Oregon, building the base to 6-12 feet and producing the last 2 outstanding powder weekends. Whistler received about half as much January snow, but conditions are still excellent with total alpine season snowfall of 230 inches, 107% of normal and a 91-inch base.
RSN December Snow: Mt. Bachelor 149.
RSN January Snow: Mt. Bachelor 106.
Canadian Rockies and Interior B.C.: Big White had the earliest natural snow skiing in North America, opening October 27 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 5-8 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. In a similar pattern to the Northwest the Kootenay region had first rain and then 4-6 feet of new snow in January. Lake Louise's snowfall is 122 inches (97% of normal) with 3 feet of new snow since mid-month.
RSN December Snow: Fernie 103, Red Mt. 64, Sunshine 42.
RSN January Snow: Fernie 77, Red Mt. 39, Sunshine 61.
U. S. Northern Rockies: Jackson Hole's season snowfall is now 209 inches (98% of normal) with 4+ feet new snow since mid-month. Grand Targhee has a 49-95 inch base. Big Sky and Bridger are in full operation. Schweitzer is in full operation on a 108-149 inch base with recent dumps from the Northwest and Sun Valley is in full operation with 117 inches season snow, 110% of normal. Big Mountain's season snowfall is 209 inches at the peak (116% of normal) and 128 inches at the base, with 5+ feet of new snow since mid-month. There are recent skier reports of snorkel-depth powder at some of these areas.
RSN December Snow: Big Sky 33, Bridger 57, Targhee 82, Schweitzer 120
RSN January Snow: Big Sky 38, Bridger 81, Targhee 78, Schweitzer 75
Utah: Alta's snowfall since Nov. 1 is 286 inches (109% of normal) and the base is 7-8 feet throughout the Cottonwood Canyons. The Park City region received about 10 feet of snow in late November/early December, so all 3 areas have been in full operation on 5-foot bases since the second week of December. Snowbasin is also 100% open. Utah had been mostly dry since Christmas with variable conditions, but has received 2.5-4 feet of snow since mid-month. Brian Head missed the big November storms, just reached full operation by New Year's, and remains thin as January storms have mostly stayed north.
RSN December Snow: Snowbird 84, Solitude 82, The Canyons 50, Brian Head 45.
RSN January Snow: Snowbird 51, Solitude 45, The Canyons 31, Brian Head 14.
Northern and Central Colorado: This region has experienced its normal pattern of ongoing small snowfalls all month, with gradual opening of advanced terrain. The high snow areas of Vail (190.5 inches snowfall, 102% of normal) and Steamboat (178.5 inches snowfall, 92% of normal) have been in full operation since before Christmas. Winter Park (171.5 inches snow, 92% of normal) is now completely open except for the hard-to-cover Vasquez Cirque. Breckenridge (112 inches snow, 81% of normal) is 95% open and Copper is 91%open. Keystone is 93% open on 74.5 inches natural snowfall, Loveland is 95% open and A-Basin is 67% open.
RSN December Snow: Copper 60, Loveland 43.
RSN January Snow: Copper 42, Loveland 31.
Southern and Western Colorado: Wolf Creek's season-to-date snowfall is 147 inches (83% of normal) after several inches new last week. There has been partial opening of expert terrain on Crested Butte's North Face and at Aspen/Snowmass since mid-month, bringing these areas to 80+% operation. Progress in the Southwest has been slower. Taos is now 67% open. Telluride has been close to full operation including the new Prospect Bowl since Christmas, but on a 34-38 inch base there are surely considerable obstacles on the steeper runs.
RSN December Snow: Telluride 64.
RSN January Snow: Aspen 42, Crested Butte 28, Telluride 10, Taos 29.
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 is currently undergoing a January thaw, but the major areas are still 80+% open. 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 83, Stowe 74, Sugarbush 45, Killington 50, Stratton 45, Mt. Tremblant 15.