Report From Powderchasers.com
Happy Holidays everyone!
Santa delivered one of the deepest dumps of the year to the southern Rockies with 43 inches being reported at Eagle Mountain Ski area in Beaver Utah (Southern part of the State). Other notable winners were Brian Head (32 inches), Powder Mountain (34 inches). “Arizona delivered big time with 25-30 inches near Flagstaff (Arizona Snowbowl). In Colorado Wolf Creek nailed the 2 foot mark with other significant amounts falling at Telluride, Silverton, Purgatory “I chased to Solitude early Saturday where it was 5-9 inches deep by 10 AM (2 inches on the snow report). “Solitude delivered free refills all morning (Low crowds) and 100% of it’s terrain open. I elected to head over to Little Cottonwood in the afternoon and did 4 tram laps at Snowbird (still dumping).
“Put your gifts on hold” as XMAS day delivered huge rewards with continued heavy snowfall in most of Colorado (south/central) and most of Utah. Resorts from Park City (18-20 inches) to Powder Mountain (30 inches) all nabbed the biggest rewards during the day Even the Tetons snuck in 6-9 inches of low density fluff for those that were luck to be at JHMR on Sunday.
THE UPCOMING CHASE FOR POWDER:
Model consensus is good for a very deep storm to impact the Cascades Monday night-Wednesday (Oregon and Washington). The Eastern Cascades, Panhandle of Idaho, Central Idaho, and the Tetons will reap deep leftovers from the Western Cascades Tuesday/Wednesday.
Cascades: Light snow will be falling by 2PM Monday in many areas. Snow and wind increase Monday night (snow levels rising slightly to 3,000) Expect some wind holds on upper mountain lifts especially Tuesday with 7-12 inches of fresh for 1st chair (Crystal, Baker, Stevens, Mount Hood Meadows, Timberline, Bachelor). Higher amounts will likely be found in the central or northern Cascades (Baker, Stevens, Alpental). The Good: Decent overnight snow for Tuesday morning. The Bad: Wind impacted areas and lift holds. Moderate snow will continue Tuesday-Wednesday with decreasing snow levels (Lighter density). Winds should begin to taper early Tuesday afternoon or late in the evening. Westerly flow will continue to pump periods of moderate snow to most of the Western Cascades into Wednesday (2-3 feet likely by late Wednesday). The Eastern Cascades and Northern Idaho will deep spillover on Tuesday/Wednesday (9-14 or more). Interior BC will also see moderate amounts!
IDAHO, MONTANA, WYOMING: Snow will be falling from Ketchum north on Tuesday morning. Brundage could get deep by noon and even Sun Valley may hold respectable amounts (Wildcard due to West winds-Usually prefers southerly flow). Resorts near Schweitzer in northern Idaho and Brundage should earn 9-15 inches by Wednesday morning. Resorts further south will see less (5-9). Northern Montana perhaps near Whitefish and Teton Pass should fare well (6-10) but areas to the south (Big Sky and Bridger) may only earn a tease (3-5 inches).
“Moderate snow will be falling over the Tetons by 2 PM Tuesday.” Snow will continue through Wednesday morning with models showing 7-12 inch storm totals (No single period of 2-3 inches per hour rates but steady light to moderate snow) The Good: Mostly late day and overnight snow- 1st chair Wednesday (2-3 from late Tuesday and 6-8 from overnight). Westerly flow should benefit both Targhee and JHMR however we think the Eastern side of Teton Pass may see the highest amounts (JHMR). This all falls on top of a refresh that occurred on XMAS (4-9).
The northern Wasatch (Perhaps look at Beaver Mountain near Logan or any resorts near the Idaho border) will grab the southern fringe of moisture by Wednesday as well as perhaps northern Colorado on Wednesday (low confidence currently). Most moisture will be found along the Idaho and Wyoming borders.
Enjoy the holiday powder everyone! If you want to avoid the crowds consider smaller resorts like Powder, Beaver, White Pass, Brundage, Sunlight, Powderhorn, Solitude, Sundance, Wolf Creek, and a slew of others out there not mentioned on this list. Please follow Powderchasers on Facebook and Instagram (@Powderchasers) as well as the powder alerts at www.powderchasers.com