2001-02 Ski Season Progress Report as of April 10, 2002

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 returned for a colder and snowier March. Only the Southwest continued to suffer dry weather and sketchy coverage during its normally best month of the season. Spring is much more advanced than normal as it has been warm with no new snow anywhere in the Western U.S. so far in April, and in many resorts for the last week of March also. Many of the more remote resorts closed April 7, and most of the rest will close this weekend.

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 294 inches (89% of normal), Kirkwood 472 inches (108%), Squaw 374 inches (88%) 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 returned for most March, with 6-9 feet new snow at Tahoe and 4-5 feet at Mammoth. For the past two weeks the Sierra has been dry and very warm and has lost quite a bit of base. Spring skiing will still be good in April, but May will be sketchier than normal, with only the top 1,000 vertical of Mammoth likely to last until Memorial Day. See Current California Ski Conditions for more details on Southern California and Mammoth. Natural snow dependent areas in Arizona and Southern California experienced near-record drought and were open only a few days on a very restricted basis 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 109, 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, 106% of normal with a 108-inch base. The Northwest powderfest continued in March, with Mt. Baker's season total through March 24 of 760 inches, 132% of normal. Including presumed November snow, the Mt. Bachelor numbers below imply 130% of normal snowfall in Oregon this season. Washington and Oregon base depths now range from 6-12+ feet and there have been numerous powder days this season reminiscent of the 1998-99 world record year. There was some snow the last week of March, but it's all spring conditions now. Bachelor and Whistler will have excellent spring skiing through the end of May at least on their deep bases.
RSN December Snow: Mt. Bachelor 149.
RSN January Snow: Mt. Bachelor 106.
RSN February Snow: Mt. Bachelor 54.
RSN March Snow: Mt. Bachelor 122.

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 were 5-9 feet for most of the season. 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 201 inches (102% of normal) and Banff conditions remain excellent, as this is the only western region with any new snow in April. Expect good spring skiing at Sunshine through mid-May.
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 105, Red Mt. 50, Sunshine 54.

U. S. Northern Rockies: Jackson Hole's season snowfall through April 7 closing was 302 inches (85% of normal) with 4+ feet of snow in March and conditions were better than normal for spring due to cold temperatures. Grand Targhee has a 58-150 inch base. Big Sky and Bridger had 2 feet new in late February but only 2 feet total for March. Schweitzer had 373 inches of season snow through the end of March with storms from the Northwest. Sun Valley added 5 feet in March to reach 183 inches season snow, 103% of normal. Big Mountain's season snowfall through April 7 closing was 351 inches at the peak (118% of normal) and 223 inches at the base, with 7 feet in March.
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 21, Bridger 23, Targhee 58, Schweitzer 50.

Utah: Alta's snowfall since Nov. 1 is 480 inches (102% of normal) and the base hit 10-12 feet throughout the Cottonwood Canyons after 6-8 feet new snow in March. The Park City region received about 10 feet of snow in late November/early December, so all 3 areas reached full operation on 5-foot bases during the second week of December. After 5+ feet of March snow, Park City region base depths peaked at 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 continued to get about half as much snow as the areas farther north. The Alta/Snowbird base is now 8-9 feet, and Snowbird will have excellent spring skiing through April and limited operation in May.
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 102, Solitude 93, The Canyons 79, Brian Head 37.

Northern and Central Colorado: This region 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 3 weeks, resulting in more spring conditions than normal and some terrain closures. The high snow areas of Vail (257 inches snowfall, 77% of normal) and Steamboat (284.5 inches snowfall, 89% of normal) were in full operation since before Christmas, but Vail now reports only 77%. Winter Park (240 inches snow, 72% of normal) is also about 3/4 open. Breckenridge (187 inches snow, 72% of normal) and Copper report full operation but on a current 4-foot base April skiing will be much sketchier than normal without a return of winter and more snow. Keystone is 72% open on 115 inches natural snowfall, and Loveland and A-Basin (both currently 90+% open) are unlikely to have their long spring seasons as the Continental Divide lags well behind its normal snowfall. Base depths never exceeded 5 feet this season, and expert terrain such as Pallivicini is already closed.
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 40, Loveland 28.

Southern and Western Colorado: Wolf Creek's season snowfall through April 7 closing was 238 inches (70% 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 was close to full operation including the new Prospect Bowl since Christmas and Aspen/Snowmass reported 90+% operation since early February. 2-4 feet of March snow maintained coverage at about 4-5 feet, but this is well below normal for the usually peak month for this region. Farther south in Taos finished March with a 39-44 inch base and only 143 inches season snow, 60% of normal. This was the poorest overall season for this region since 1990 and most areas are now closed.
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 48, Crested Butte 32, Telluride 33, Taos 19.

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 had its best natural snow week of the season March 18-25 with 2-3 feet new snow. Conditions have been variable since, but Sugarloaf and the northern Vermont areas still have most runs open this week. 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 31, Jay 81, Stowe 53, Sugarbush 42, Killington 34, Stratton 46, Mt. Tremblant 43, Mt. St. Anne 37.

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