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 modest in most regions, so overall western snowfall is now below average. However, most areas have maintained full operation on the early season base. Coverage is marginal only in the Southwest.
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 241 inches (90% of normal), Kirkwood 351 inches (99%), Squaw 275 inches (81%) at upper elevations and 130 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 with no new snow for almost 2 weeks there are now spring conditions at the lower elevation resorts. A 2-3 foot storm is predicted by next weekend. See Current California Ski Conditions for more details on Southern California and Mammoth. Natural snow dependent areas in Arizona and Southern California are experiencing 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: None
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 340 inches, 109% of normal with 109-inch base. The Northwest was the highest snow region for both February and the season to date. Only Whistler has received a few inches so far in March, but Washington and Oregon expect snow later this week.
RSN December Snow: Mt. Bachelor 149.
RSN January Snow: Mt. Bachelor 106.
RSN February Snow: Mt. Bachelor 54.
RSN March Snow: None
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 rain in early January and snow nearly every week since then. Lake Louise's snowfall is 167 inches (102% of normal) as the Okanagan and Banff regions have had over a foot of new snow this week.
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 2, Sunshine 18.
U. S. Northern Rockies: Jackson Hole's season snowfall is now 249 inches (83% of normal) with 5 feet of late January snow but only about 3 feet since then. Grand Targhee has a 49-133 inch base. Big Sky and Bridger are in full operation with 2 feet new in late February. Schweitzer is in full operation on a 76-135 inch base with similar snow to the Northwest. Sun Valley is in full operation with 125 inches season snow, 87% of normal, but none for nearly 2 weeks. Big Mountain's season snowfall is 265 inches at the peak (110% of normal) and 169 inches at the base, after a big January and 3 feet in February.
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: Targhee 6.
Utah: Alta's snowfall since Nov. 1 is 354 inches (95% 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. 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 remains thin as later storms have mostly stayed 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 7, Solitude 4, The Canyons 4, Brian Head 2.
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. The high snow areas of Vail (238 inches snowfall, 91% of normal) and Steamboat (248.5 inches snowfall, 93% of normal) have been in full operation since before Christmas. Winter Park (213.5 inches snow, 82% of normal) is completely open except for the hard-to-cover Vasquez Cirque. Breckenridge (165 inches snow, 82% of normal) and Copper are in full operation. Keystone is 95% open on 96 inches natural snowfall, Loveland is 95% open and A-Basin is 78% open as the Continental Divide lags well behind its normal snowfall. These areas usually get a lot of spring snow, but the base is thin 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 7, Loveland 4.
Southern and Western Colorado: Wolf Creek's season-to-date snowfall is 181 inches (69% of normal) with only one foot new since January. 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. However, with subpar February snowfall and well below average regional base depths of only 3-4 feet there are surely considerable obstacles on the steeper runs. With a similar base Taos is now 90% open with expert runs open on a rotating basis. March is traditionally the best month for this region, but on the current sketchy base conditions will be much worse than normal without substantial March snowfall.
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 9, Crested Butte 1, Telluride 4, Taos 1.
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. After another week of mixed precipitation and variable temps, Killington and Sugarloaf are only 2/3 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 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 2, Jay 4, Stowe 3, Sugarbush 1, Mt. Tremblant 1, Mt. St. Anne 6.