Report From: Powderchasers.com
Happy Holidays everyone! The past several weeks have been very active for the West. Park City Mountain Resort who saw a slow start to the season quickly caught up with over 33 inches last week and a respectable 133 inches YTD. Snowbasin, Powder, Alta, Snowbird, Solitude, Brighton all did well with an overall win at the lesser known Sundance Resort who led the State in base depth last week (Nabbed 30-50 inches in 7 days). Colorado fared well with over 40 inches at Telluride (7 day) and a incredible 77 inches at Wolf Creek (3 day storm total). Wolf Creek Pass was closed for an extended period. The Tetons did very well with consistent 4-8 inch dumps all week creating epic conditions, significant low elevation snowfall and the opening of the “Hobacks” for the 1st time of the season at JHMR. Grand Targhee somehow managed to sneak out a surprise 22 inch dump! Currently you can’t go wrong with most resorts in the Rockies, Sierra, or PNW.
New Mexico got hammered in the south with over 3 feet in 24 hours at Ski Apache (Southern most ski resort- near Texas and sits at 12,000 feet- Summit). Taos got skunked to the north but logged a respectable 20 inches in 7 days.
The Northwest and Sierra got hammered with deep snow surpassing snow totals for the entire 2013/14 season in many areas. I was at Crystal and Stevens Pass where over 80 inches of snow fell in 5 days. Conditions were epic to say the least (Light winds and medium density). 100% of terrain is open!
The week ahead is our first forecast of the season where no significant snowfall will be falling in the West. The East Coast nabs its first storm of the season where 5-8 inches will fall in central and southern resorts and 6-10 inches further north. Northern Maine into southern Canada may see 9-15 inches. Southern and central New England will likely see an evil sleet layer work in late today with slightly warming temperatures. Light snow is likely for the Oregon Cascades (2-4) Wasatch (1-3, Tetons (1-3) and western Colorado (2-3) in the next 24 hours. Beyond that time frame we see a teaser storm work into the Pacific Northwest early next week which might drop south into the Sierra and across the southern Rockies. The forecast that far out is not very reliable however just the hint of some moisture will get us dreaming again. Please follow us on Facebook and Instagram.