2015-16 Ski Season Progress Report as of December 31, 2015

October was warmer and drier than normal in most ski regions, but there were widespread small storms through most of the West each week in November, contributing to the usual early openings on snowmaking. However, only areas in western Canada saw major storms and had much more terrain than normal open. Wolf Creek was also in full operation since mid-November with much more snow than other western US areas. The Pacific Northwest had a series of major storms in early December, spreading in lesser amounts into adjacent regions. The week before Christmas brought widespread storms to all western regions, with heaviest concentrations on the West Coast and in Utah. The West Coast and western Canada had an excellent holiday season, with all other western regions average or better. Christmas Week had scattered snow in most regions. Early January is expected to be clear with a southern El Nino influenced storm track developing by the second week of January.

All snowfall totals are since November 1 and at mid-mountain locations where possible. "Mid-estimates" are for areas that only post upper info online, and apply a long term mid-to-upper ratio to those posted figures.

California: The first storm started with snow levels over 9,000 feet but eventually lowered. Later storms were colder and snowed as low as Lake Tahoe but not yet enough to build a solid natural base. Mammoth and Mt. Rose opened Nov. 5 and several other areas opened mid-November. Mammoth had much more snow up high during the first storm and thus had by far the most open terrain in California in the early season. The Northwest storms moved into the Sierra the second week of December, dropping 2-4 feet and opening over half of terrain at most areas. The week before Christmas brought another 3-4 feet. A final December storm Christmas Eve dropped 2 feet more, bringing all areas close to full operation with base depths of 4-6 feet. Most Tahoe areas had more snow by Christmas than in all of last season. See Current California Ski Conditions for more details on Southern California and Mammoth.

Pacific Northwest: The November storms had variable snow levels and were strongest to the north. Thus only Whistler had extensive terrain open. There were 3 major storms in early December, totalling 6-8 feet of snow except for lower elevations that got rain during the second storm. The week before Christmas brought another 3-6 feet with another 1-2 feet during the holidays. Base depths average 6-9 feet, with 118-153 inches at Mt. Baker.

Canadian Rockies and Interior B.C.: The November storms were strongest here. Some areas near the US border had some rain/snow mix like the Northwest, but other areas were far above average in both snow and open terrain. The December Northwest storms pushed into the region, with snowfall ranging from 2 feet at the Banff areas to 5 feet in the Kootenay areas. Snowfall during the second half of December ranged from under a foot at Banff to 3+ feet in the Kootenays. Base depths average 4 feet, with over 5 feet at Big White, Whitewater and Revelstoke. Sun Peaks and Silver Star have been 95+% open since mid-December.

U. S. Northern Rockies: November snow was below average but Targhee as usual had some of the most terrain open in North America in early season. The first half of December Northwest storms dumped 4+ feet in Idaho but lesser amounts in Montana and Wyoming. The week before Christmas dumped 3-4 feet upon the entire region, bringing base depths up to 4-6 feet. Christmas Week brought 1-2 feet of snow to the Tetons and near the Canadian border, with less than a foot at areas in between.

Area	Season Snow	Pct. of Normal	Pct. of Area Open
Whitefish	139	120%	100%
Bridger	117	117%	100%
Grand Targhee	156	96%	100%
Jackson Hole (mid)	116	88%	78%
Schweitzer	125	126%	100%
Brundage	166	154%	100%
Sun Valley	111.5	162%	97%

Utah: Most of the November storms split before reaching Utah, which thus had substantially below average snowfall plus a dry first week of December. The Northwest storms dropped 2-3 feet of snow during the second week of December, 3-5 feet fell the week before Christmas, and another foot over Christmas. Base depths are 5+ feet in the Cottonwoods and 3-4 feet elsewhere. In the far south Brian Head is fully open on a 50-inch base.

Area	Season Snow	Pct. of Normal	Pct. of Area Open
Alta	162	92%	95%
Snowbird	170	107%	73%
Brighton/Solitude	165	100%	93%
Park City (mid estimate)	103	107%	76%
Snowbasin	118	114%	97%

Northern and Central Colorado: October was much warmer than usual so snowmaking was delayed until the last week and Loveland and A-Basin each opened a snowmaking run October 29. The consistent modest November snowfalls accumulated base depths of 2+ feet with mostly average terrain openings (Keystone the positive exception) for early season. December snowfall has been consistent each week, totalling about 4-5 feet at most areas but 8 feet at Steamboat. Base depths average 3-4 feet. A-Basin is 86% open.

Area	Season Snow	Pct. of Normal	Pct. of Area Open
Beaver Creek	119	107%	92%
Breckenridge	112	107%	75%
Copper Mt.	89	94%	69%
Keystone	114	148%	94%
Loveland	126	116%	71%
Steamboat	165	131%	100%
Vail	117	96%	98%
Winter Park	137	116%	91%

Southern and Western Colorado: The central Colorado mountains had a below average November, while the southern mountains and New Mexico were above average. Wolf Creek's base reached 50 inches by the end of November. The second week of December storms were also stronger in the southern (2-3 feet with 4+ at Wolf Creek) than central (1-2 feet) mountains. 2-3 feet of snow fell during the week before Christmas and an average 2 feet (4 feet at Wolf Creek) during Christmas Week. Taos is 91% open on a 76-inch base and had its second best holiday season in over 20 years.

Area	Season Snow	Pct. of Normal	Pct. of Area Open
Aspen/Snowmass	86	110%	96%
Gothic Snow Lab	124	110%	N/A
Crested Butte	71	90%	34%
Telluride	151	176%	92%
Purgatory	134	161%	100%
Wolf Creek	253	188%	100%

Northeast: Mid-October cold allowed Killington and Sunday River to open first in North America on October 19. After a week of skiing the snow melted and snowmaking did not resume for nearly 3 weeks. With minimal natural snow and sustained unseasonably warm temperatures, terrain open at Christmas was the worst on record. Terrain open has increased moderately in Quebec with a foot of snow during Christmas Week but only slightly in New England: Okemo 22%, Stratton 13%, Hunter 14%, Sugarloaf 19%, Sunday River 30%, Tremblant 35%, Mt. St. Anne 54%.

Area	Season Snow	Pct. of Normal	Pct. of Area Open
Jay Peak (mid estimate)	31	30%	12%
Stowe	26	23%	22%
Sugarbush	26	29%	21%
Killington	10	12%	16%
Whiteface	29	44%	19%
Le Massif	44	54%	58%

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