October was mostly average, with small
amounts of snow in many regions but nothing that will impact the
season. At the end of the month a major storm hit the West Coast, but
snow levels averaged 9,000 feet, so only Mammoth was able to open some
natural terrain from it. The storm moved on to Utah, where the
Cottonwood Canyon resorts received nearly 4 feet of snow, allowing
Snowbird to open Nov. 7. The storm continued into Colorado, but the
snowfall there averaged about a foot. There was scattered snow during
the second week of November but very little last week. Therefore most
areas are slightly behind schedule and Thankgiving skiing will be
marginal. It’s still too early to predict materially above or below
average conditions for the Christmas holidays.

California:
Mammoth received 21 inches of snow near its base and opened a run Nov.
2. But much more fell on the upper mountain, which opened Nov. 7. Total
snow after a smaller storm Nov. 8 is 38 inches. The solid upper
mountain base remains, but after unseasonably warm weather most of it
has been through a melt/freeze. Mammoth is about 30% open with good
conditions on the open groomed runs. Total snow at Tahoe has been about
2 feet at 8,000+ feet, but mostly rain at lower elevations.

Pacific Northwest:
There have been 37 inches snow in the Whistler alpine, but it is
sticking with its scheduled Nov. 27 opening. Mt. Bachelor has had 48.5
inches of snow, but must also have had rain because its base area has
only an 8-inch base. No one in the region has as much as a foot at base
elevation yet, though a storm is predicted for some areas this weekend.

Canadian Rockies and Interior B.C.:
Lake Louise opened a run on snowmaking Nov. 8 and is now 3% open on 25
inches November snow. Sunshine opened Nov. 15 and has had 36 inches in
November. 31 inches at upper elevations of Kicking Horse and 40 inches
at upper elevations of Revelstoke.

U. S. Northern Rockies: November snowfall 40 at Jackson and 48 inches at Targhee, which will open tomorrow. Just 7 inches at Whitefish.

Utah:
Snowbird opened Nov. 7 after a storm of nearly 4 feet. After more snow
the next week, all 4 Cottonwood areas were open for the weekend of Nov.
15-16 (ranging from 39% at Alta to 11% at Solitude). Season snow 69
inches Alta, 59 inches Snowbird, 42 inches Solitude. Surface conditions
are variable after a week of warm weather, and Park City delayed
opening because it was too warm to make snow.

Northern and Central Colorado:
Loveland and A-Basin opened their first snowmaking runs Oct. 15.
Loveland is currently 10% open and A-Basin 6%. Copper (6%) and
Breckenridge (4%) are also open on snowmaking since Nov. 8. Vail and
Winter Park (both 2%) just opened. Below average snowfalls since Nov.
1: Loveland 19, Breckenridge 18, Copper 18, Vail 18, Steamboat 27,
Winter Park 26. The pace will need to pick up to get most terrain open
by Christmas.

Southern and Western Colorado:
Aspen has had 19 inches in November. Wolf Creek has opened, but it’s
somewhat marginal on 25 inches total snow. These are also below
average, and much advanced terrain is unlikely to be open by Christmas
unless there is another big December like last year.

Northeast:
Natural snow in late October totalled 11 inches at Stowe and Jay Peak.
Sunday River opened Oct. 31 and Killington opened Nov. 2 on snowmaking.
Weather then turned warm and rainy, so Killington closed after 5 days
while Sunday River has maintained marginal operation on weekends. This
past week has been good for snowmaking, so several eastern areas have
opened a few runs: Killington 9%, Sunday River 7%, Hunter 24%,
Tremblant 11%. Stowe and Sugarbush will open tomorrow. Season snow
Killington 31, Stowe 19, Cannon 11.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 4th, 2008 at 2:59 pm and is filed under Powder Forecasts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.