2002-03 Ski Season Progress Report as of November 17, 2002

Much of Colorado has had near record snowfall in the first half of November. Elsewhere it is still too early to discern a clear trend to the season.

California: The recent storm dumped 2-4 feet of snow in the Sierra. Some areas have about 1/3 of terrain open with very good conditions for this early. Since no new snow is predicted for a while, the next 2 weekends should be better than Thanksgiving, when crowds may chew up the remaining snow. Expect high altitude Mammoth to hold up best if the dry weather persists. See Current California Ski Conditions for more details on Southern California and Mammoth.

Pacific Northwest: This region is off to a slow start with only about a foot base accumulated at Mt. Bachelor and in the Whistler alpine. At lower elevation it's been all rain so far.

Canadian Rockies and Interior B.C.: This region has also had a slow start. Lake Louise has a few snowmaking runs. Fernie and Red have had rain at their base areas.

U. S. Northern Rockies: Targhee and Jackson have had about 5 feet of snow far, so they are on track for normal late November and early December openings respectively. Farther north there has been similar dry weather to western Canada.

Utah: Alta has a 34-inch base and will open in about a week. It had 2 feet of snow in October and another 2-3 feet so far this month. Only Brighton is open now, and with only 15% of terrain.

Northern and Central Colorado: After a few lean early seasons this region had near record snowfall so far in November. Leading the pack is Vail, with 98 inches snowfall and half of its 5,100 acres open already including some of the back bowls. Winter Park has had 76 inches and will open Mary Jane next week. Loveland is half open on a 38-inch base and Copper are 30-40% open with 5-6 feet of snowfall. Most of these areas have more terrain open now than they did at Christmas 3 of the past 4 years.

Southern and Western Colorado: Wolf Creek can claim another year as North America's early season leader. It reached full operation as of November 9 and currently has a 51-64 inch base. It had 6 feet of snow in October and another 40 inches since November 1. Elsewhere it's early but there are positive signs. Aspen/Snowmass has had some terrain open on weekends, Telluride claims up to 7 feet of snowfall and Taos has advanced its opening date to Thanksgiving.

Northeast: Northern New England had a nice run of cold weather at the start of November plus over a foot of natural snow. As a result Killington was 30% open and Okemo 15% November 9, likely records for that early. A one week thaw has rolled back half of that terrain to a more normal levle for November. 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.

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