There was some snow in the Northwest and some of the Rockies in early to mid-October. However, the past month has been mostly warm and dry, so most western areas are well behind schedule in opening terrain and building a natural snow base for the holidays. It is a distinct negative sign that high snowfall areas like Alta, Grand Targhee, Kirkwood and Vail did not open as scheduled for this weekend. Therefore I will attempt wherever possible to exclude October from season totals later this year. Whistler has been the conspicuous exception, opening 1,200 acres today after a substantial dump last week. At most areas the early Thanksgiving will be marginal at best, and I would recommend delaying commitments for the holidays if possible.
California: Mammoth opened a very sketchy snowmaking ribbon on Broadway Nov. 9. Natural snow last
weekend in the Sierra was 2-8 inches. No near term relief is in sight, so odds of a bad Christmas like last
year are 40-50%.
Pacific Northwest: Whistler has had 47 inches of snow in November and more is expected. It is
clearly the best bet for early season skiing in North America this year. Only a modest amount of snow has
reached Washington and Oregon, 9 inches so far at Mt. Bachelor, and Mt. Baker's base is only 18 inches.
But some snow is predicted for next week.
Canadian Rockies and Interior B.C.: Snowmaking is underway at Lake Louise and one trail opened
Nov. 9. Natural snowfall (probably much of it in October) has been 8 at Fernie, 26 inches at Lake Louise, 36 at Sunshine,
and 56 at Kicking Horse. But 10-12 inches came last week at the latter 3 areas, and Sunshine claims to be half open
on a 14-28 inch base. These areas do not have as much early snow as last season, but they are at least average and
doing much better than the U.S. West or the Kootenay and Okanagan regions.
U. S. Northern Rockies: Last week Targhee got 21 inches and Jackson 14. But there was minimal base before that,
so no one in the region is open yet.
Utah: The Cottonwood Canyons had up to 4 feet of snow in mid-October, bringing out substantial
numbers of backcountry skiers Oct. 21. But the with ensuing warm and dry weather nothing is open except
a couple of beginner runs on snowmaking at Solitude. Alta received 53 inches in October but the
current natural base is only 21 inches there after 5 inches new last week. Alta and Park City have
delayed their previously scheduled openings.
Northern and Central Colorado: Loveland received 22 inches snow in October and has had 105 acres
open since Nov. 4. The Summit County areas are 2-5% open and the season snow totals of 22-29 inches nearly all
came in October. Odds of coverage for the holidays are trending toward the 25th percentile analyzed in the
Colorado Profile charts I created this past summer. At this point I would expect about half of terrain open
by Christmas, particularly with the high snow areas of Steamboat, Vail and Winter Park lagging so much now.
Southern and Western Colorado: The
Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, located at Gothic 9,400 feet between Crested Butte and Aspen, had
34 inches of October snow, but it is all gone now and there has been none in November. 2 inches natural snowfall
at Wolf Creek so far. This region tends to accumulate a snow base gradually in normal years. Avoid advance commitments
until at least mid-January.
Northeast: Sunday River made enough snow for a "marketing opening" on Halloween. A few areas opened
for the weekend of Nov. 10-11, and many more for this weekend, assisted by over a foot of new snow at many areas.
Stowe, Killington and Mt. Snow are 12% open and Mt. St. Anne 10%. So far in November rain has been confined to low
elevations and the region is off to an above average start.
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.