Western snow conditions have progressed from poor in mid-November to average at the end of November to well above average in most regions now. Overall, holiday ski conditions in the West will be the best since 1996-97, with nearly all areas in Utah, the Northwest, the Sierra and Western Canada being in midwinter full operation already.
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 134 inches (170% of normal), Kirkwood 185 inches (184%), Squaw 142 inches (146%) at upper elevations and 63 at the base. Mammoth is in full operation on 7-8 feet and Tahoe areas are in full operation on 4-9 feet of base. Squaw's KT22 and Heavenly's Mott Canyon opened by December 7. See Current California Ski Conditions for more details on Southern California and Mammoth.
RSN December Snow: Northstar 75, Heavenly 71.
Pacific Northwest: Washington and Oregon areas are in full operation on 5-10 foot bases with ongoing storms, topped by 12 feet new snow at Mt. Baker this month. Whistler has had less recent snow but had a 3-foot alpine base by Thanksgiving, now up to 6 feet. Whistler/Blackcomb is now 90% open and skier submitted reports from early December were excellent.
RSN December Snow: Whistler 72, Mt. Bachelor 112.
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 are now in 85+% operation on 4-7 foot bases. Red's Granite Mt. and Fernie opened Dec. 7 on 3-5 foot bases with better conditions than they had all last season. Lake Louise is open with snowmaking plus 67 inches (106% of normal) natural snow so far, and Sunshine is now 90% open on a 49-inch base.
RSN December Snow: Fernie 84, Red Mt. 52, Sunshine 37.
U. S. Northern Rockies: Jackson Hole's season snowfall is now 106 inches (108% of normal) and it is 70% open to the top of Apres-Vous, Bridger and Thunder, with the tram expected to open within a week. Grand Targhee is 100% open on a 4 foot base. Big Sky and Bridger are about 2/3 open. Schweitzer is in full operation on a 7-8 foot base and Sun Valley is in full operation with 80 inches season snow, 163% of normal. Big Mountain's season snowfall of 111 inches at the peak (136% of normal) and 61 inches at the base has opened 90% of its terrain.
RSN December Snow: Big Sky 22, Bridger 28, Targhee 59, Schweitzer 83
Utah: Alta's season snowfall is 213 inches (172% of normal) and the base is 79 inches. All 4 Cottonwood areas are in excellent shape. The Park City region has received about 11 feet of snow, so all 3 areas are close to full operation on 5-foot bases. Snowbasin is also 100% open.
RSN December Snow: Snowbird 67, Solitude 67, The Canyons 43, Brian Head 36.
Northern and Central Colorado: The high snowfall areas are on track for a good holiday. Vail is now 95% open with 95.5 inches snowfall, 101% of normal and Steamboat is 92% open on 93 inches snowfall, 98% of normal. Elsewhere, advanced terrain will likely be limited for the holidays. Winter Park (73 inches snow, 77% of normal), Breckenridge (51 inches snow, 75% of normal) and Copper are all about half open. Keystone is 29% open on 25.5 inches natural snow, Loveland is 37% open and A-Basin is not yet open.
RSN December Snow: Copper 27, Loveland 20.
Southern and Western Colorado: Wolf Creek's season-to-date snowfall is 115 inches (133% of normal) and has all lifts and most terrain open. Aspen/Snowmass and Telluride are about 2/3 open on base depths of 3 feet. On December 15 Crested Butte opened 50% of terrain (but no North Face) on a 2-3 feet base and Taos opened 22% of terrain on a 3-4 foot base. Skiers at most areas in this region should not expect expert terrain to be open at Christmas with current base depths.
RSN December Snow: Telluride 39.
Northeast: A record heat wave closed most areas the first week of December. Despite several inches of new snow and some snowmaking this week, even the best areas are less than 10% open on December 15. 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. I'll modify my normal advice and recommend that Eastern skiers head West for the holidays this season.
RSN December Snow: Sugarloaf 8, Wildcat 5, Jay 20, Stowe 8, Killington 6, Stratton 12.