Top Western Ski Area Winters

Top Western Ski Area Winters

The September 2026 feature on OpenSnow https://opensnow.com/news/post/top-10-deepest-winters-in-the-west-since-1980 prompted me to review my data and refine the exercise. The OpenSnow writers have my raw data but not a fair amount of my work breaking down and analyzing individual seasons.

My methodology had the same priorities:

Focus on the Western U.S. and Southern Canada – The only difference is that I included Alyeska among the Pacific Northwest areas
Focus on seasons with heavy snowfall (relative to average) across large portions of the West – I defined this as seasons more than one standard deviation above average.
Focus on seasons with ski resorts that experienced record or near-record (top 5) winters. - I gave extra credit for record high seasons. Record highs can have recency bias as it’s easier to have a record high in 10 years of data than in 40 years.
Consistency of snowfall, including strong starts to the season. -- I examined November/December snowfall as a percent of average as a tiebreaker among close seasons using the above 3 factors
Were many areas left out of the snowfall bounty? -- I examined areas that were below average with an extra hit if they were more than one standard deviation below average. This was another secondary tiebreaker.

Snowfall and Snowpack Data

The devil is in the details here, and I worked diligently to avoid recency bias. That can happen easily when there is more data for recent seasons than for those longer ago. I combat that problem in two key ways.

1) I count areas with high, record high, below average and low snowfall not as absolute numbers but as a percentage of total areas reporting data.

2) Since volume of data varies by region I calculate percents of average snowfall within 7 major western ski regions, then average those 7 numbers. Some regions have more areas reporting than others, and the data disparity among regions might be quite different in 1985 than in 2025.

I do not like to use SNOTEL snowpack data as a surrogate for snowfall. It works OK in places like Colorado where it never rains in the winter, but in places that get rain and highly variable water content snow it’s not very accurate.

From OpenSnow:

In particular, past-season snowfall data is lacking across the Southwest, and to a lesser extent, the Northern Rockies and the Interior of Canada.

Full season data does not go back as far, but December-March data does for many locations. Accordingly I use December-March for the Southwest before 1995 and for the US Northern Rockies before 1989. In Canada Sunshine, Lake Louise and Mt. Fidelity near Rogers Pass have complete data to the early 1970’s.

From OpenSnow:

The availability of snowfall and snowpack data at or near ski resorts is extremely limited prior to 1980. While there were certainly some amazing winters back in the day, it was too difficult to compare pre-1980 winters to post-1980 winters due to the lack of data.

When I started collecting data in 1992 from the Westwide Network, their history generally started with the 1978-79 season so I consider data very adequate since then. Data declines gradually going back from there but there is at least something representative with full season data in each of the 7 regions starting with 1973.

In the table below I list the number of areas reporting for each candidate season and separate out the years before 1978-79.

Areas Reporting	Season Percent Normal	California	Pacific Northwest	Interior Canada	U.S. Northern Rockies	Utah	Northern & Central Colorado	Southern & Western Colorado	Combined 7 Western Regions
77	10-11	166%	134%	122%	133%	136%	146%	118%	137%

78	22-23	179%	103%	93%	112%	166%	101%	114%	124%
77	94-95	163%	109%	93%	121%	130%	114%	131%	123%
80	16-17	161%	115%	123%	126%	124%	100%	110%	123%
59	81-82	146%	121%	99%	133%	125%	107%	123%	122%
78	07-08	94%	131%	111%	135%	125%	114%	142%	122%
73	96-97	98%	125%	115%	133%	116%	126%	131%	121%

82	92-93	146%	91%	76%	105%	128%	130%	132%	115%
78	05-06	123%	114%	101%	132%	118%	109%	98%	114%
64	82-83	170%	102%	79%	108%	113%	112%	101%	112%
77	98-99	119%	153%	124%	113%	88%	102%	84%	112%

28	73-74	98%	164%	116%	133%	122%	117%	98%	121%
32	74-75	116%	129%	90%	117%	114%	119%	137%	117%
39	77-78	131%	79%	89%	126%	107%	125%	126%	112%

Overall percent of season snowfall should be the first criterion in evaluating the western ski seasons. Of the 11 seasons in the three post-1980 groups, 10 are the same seasons chosen by OpenSnow though not in the same order. 1992-93 is the extra season in the list above.

2010-11 is in a class by itself. The difference between #1 and #2 on that list is greater than the difference between #2 and #11. And it’s not just the overall total. 2010-11 is the only season with 6 regions over 120% (blue) and with no regions under 110% (yellow).

The next group of six seasons from 121-124% should be considered essentially the same with other criteria to be considered in separating them. The same is true for the four seasons between 112-115%.

So now let’s look at the big years.

Season	Percent Record High		Season	%>1 SD Above Average
1998-99	18%	35%	2010-11	47%
2010-11	17%	64%	1981-82	46%
2022-23	15%	42%	1992-93	40%
2007-08	13%	45%	1996-97	33%
1983-84	9%	42%	1983-84	33%
1994-95	5%	32%	2016-17	33%
2004-05	4%		2007-08	32%
2016-17	4%	36%	2022-23	27%
1982-83	3%	27%	1994-95	27%
1996-97	3%	36%	1982-83	23%
1992-93	2%	43%	2005-06	19%
2005-06	1%	21%	1998-99	17%
1981-82	0%	46%
			1968-69	56%
1968-69	19%		1973-74	45%
1973-74	13%	58%	1971-72	42%
1971-72	12%		1970-71	41%
1970-71	5%		1977-78	36%
1978-79	4%		1974-75	34%
1974-75	3%

The standout seasons are in bold, but only 2010-11 is in the top echelon of both groups. 1981-82 and 1992-93 had among the most areas with big seasons at least one standard deviation above average but very few all time records. Conversely 1998-99 (Northwest and adjacent) and 2023 (Utah and California) were huge seasons in some part of the West but more average in many other parts. The middle column adds those two stats together for an overall “big season” rating. If you’re wondering about the high rating for 1983-84 in the above table, that was all in Utah and Colorado. The aggregate snowfall was only 105% because all four of the other regions were below average.

Here are the results for the fewest areas which had below average and bad seasons.

Season	Fewest% > 1SD Blw Avg		Season	Percent Below Average
1996-97	0%	16%	2010-11	6%
2010-11	0%	6%	1981-82	15%
2007-08	1%	22%	1996-97	16%
1981-82	2%	17%	2005-06	19%
2016-17	3%	23%	2016-17	20%
1994-95	3%	29%	2007-08	21%
2008-09	4%		1994-95	27%
2005-06	4%	23%	1992-93	28%
1982-83	6%	42%	1995-96	33%
2019-20	6%		2022-23	33%
1998-99	8%	49%	2008-09	34%
2022-23	8%	41%	1982-83	36%
2023-24	8%		1998-99	41%

1992-93	17%	45%
			1968-69	13%
1970-71	0%		1970-71	14%
1974-75	0%	20%	1974-75	20%
1969-70	5%		1973-74	26%
1978-79	6%		1977-78	31%
1973-74	6%	32%

Once again 2010-11 leads the pack, with 1981-82 and 1996-97 being the other best examples of having fewest areas with bad or below average seasons. The middle column adds the two stats together.

Here are the best November/Decembers.

Nov.-Dec. Percent Normal	California	Pacific Northwest	Interior Canada	U.S. Northern Rockies	Utah	Northern & Central Colorado	Southern & Western Colorado	West
83-84	147%	106%	75%	116%	230%	206%	210%	156%
96-97	161%	158%	133%	170%	155%	161%	150%	156%
10-11	223%	135%	87%	129%	175%	152%	146%	*150%*

84-85	158%	149%	128%	118%	146%	98%	127%	132%
03-04	128%	123%	97%	127%	175%	103%	131%	126%
15-16	132%	136%	119%	122%	117%	119%	132%	125%
94-95	154%	149%	113%	135%	146%	74%	103%	125%

Even in this narrow category 2010-11 is in the top group, joined by 1996-97. In terms of a single month December 1983 set records in much of Utah and Colorado.

For overall rankings, the envelope please:

Season Percent Normal	Combined 7 Western Regions	Big Years	Big Years - Below Avg Yrs	Early Season	Bestsnow Rank	Open Snow Rank	El Nino/ La Nina
10-11	137%	64%	57%	150%	1	2	LN++
81-82	122%	46%	29%	112%	2	3
07-08	122%	45%	23%	108%	3	6	LN++
96-97	121%	36%	19%	156%	4	8
22-23	124%	42%	1%	118%	5	1	LN
16-17	123%	36%	14%	105%	6	7
94-95	123%	32%	3%	125%	7	10	EN+
73-74	121%	58%	26%	118%	8		LN++
92-93	115%	43%	-2%	122%	9
82-83	112%	43%	0%	111%	10	4	EN+++

05-06	114%	21%	-3%	108%		9	LN
98-99	112%	35%	-14%	97%		5	LN++

74-75	117%	37%	17%	97%			LN
77-78	112%	36%	-3%	117%

There’s no doubt whatsoever 2010-11 is #1 no matter how you slice the categories. 2010-11 was the highest snow season in Front Range/I-70 Colorado, the most popular ski region in North America, and was a top 5 season in 5 of the other 6 western regions.

For the next group of six, three of them have the highest proportion of big years with two of them also excellent in having few ski areas with below average seasons. The numbers say 1981-82 is #2 and 2007-08 is #3 but they are very close. 1981-82 long had the reputation of being good everywhere, supported by having 5 regions over 120% and only 15% of areas below average, records that were since exceeded only in 2010-11. The dry November of 2007 was soon forgotten after 100+ inch per month snowfalls over much of the West in December, January and February.

The next two are more subjective. I’d rate 1996-97 as #4 due to the breadth of above average or better skiing across the entire West plus the spectacular November/December but many people might rate 2022-23 #5 higher due to all those record highs in Utah and California. In December 1996 Jackson Hole mid-mountain had 211 inches of snow, the only 200+ inch month ever recorded at a Northern Rockies ski area. In 2022-23 the 166% of normal snowfall in Utah blew away previous records as the next highest season was 140% in 2004-05.

The next by the numbers are 2016-17 as #6 and 1994-95 as #7 but they are fairly close. In 1995 A-Basin had a record August 10 closing and Mammoth a record August 13. Mammoth’s 245 inches in January 2017 rivalled January 1969, when its 3-story Main Lodge was nearly buried.

Moving down to the next snowfall group, 1992-93 #9 and 1982-83 #10 are extremely close, with the former season having a little bit more snowfall and most of that excess being in November/December. 1992-93 was the “sigh of relief” banner season after six consecutive subpar years. The South Lake Tahoe shoreline had receded a quarter mile by summer 1992 but was it was completely refilled in 1993. The record 1982-83 Sierra snowpack is discussed below.

There’s a significant decline in the big years stat for the other two years in the 112-115% group. I believe we have to consider 1973-74, which would be in the higher snowfall group and with the big years stat has a strong case to be considered as #2 overall even though there is not as much data as we would like. I say we know enough that it’s clearly in the top ten. As a minimum 1973-74 should be #8 as part of the 121-124% group and could easily be argued higher. There are also some big numbers from 1968-69 and 1970-71, but since some regions have no data at all we can’t draw overall conclusions for those years.

1973-74 makes an interesting comparison with 1998-99, the season it displaced from the top ten. 1998-99 is famous for the Mt. Baker world record season and was 153% in the Pacific Northwest, where most of the 19% record highs were. But 1973-74 was 164% in the Northwest with 13% record highs, and Mt. Baker was one of several areas for which there is no 1973-74 data. One of the most impressive stats from 1973-74 is that the Whistler base had 425 inches of snow, and not coincidentally 1973-74 was the strongest La Nina season since the records began in 1950.

The 1982-83 season in California is an interesting case in terms of the snowpack many of us recall, and how that varies by water content and spring temperatures as well as snowfall. Most of the 1982-83 snowfall records were later beaten, though often not by much, in 1995, 2011, 2017 or 2023. Spring/summer Mammoth stats:

Season	1982-83	1994-95	2005-06	2010-11	2016-17	2022-23
Snowfall	591.25	540.15	555.70	652.50	619.50	714.00
New SWE	73.49	74.97	71.51	73.39	87.38	87.07
Max base March	207	221	240	214	215	281.5
Base end April	206	155	175.5	143	173	185
Base end May	144	126	101	115	102	121.5
Closing date	28-Jul	13-Aug	4-Jul	4-Jul	6-Aug	6-Aug

It snowed every weekend at Mammoth from Jan. 15 – May 15 in 1983, so the snowpack melted much more slowly than in most springs. You can also see that water content of snowfall varied from 11.2% to 13.9% in these high snow seasons. The 2011 snowpack lasted several more weeks but management closed skiing July 4 in that post recession era.