West - Colorado Snow STINKS this year

At least, all along the I-70 corridor. I've heard that Wolf Creek, Telluride, and Taos NM are good.

Save your money...come up next year....

If you do have an Epic Pass, though, FYI Big Sky will honor it.

http://www.powdermag.com/latest-news/big-sky-offers-free-skiing-in-jan-for-epic-pass-holders/

At least, all along the I-70 corridor. I've heard that Wolf Creek, Telluride, and Taos NM are good.

Save your money...come up next year....

If you do have an Epic Pass, though, FYI Big Sky will honor it.

http://www.powdermag.com/latest-news/big-sky-offers-free-skiing-in-jan-for-epic-pass-holders/

I was in Colorado between 21st and 31st December 2011 and I was quite stunned by the lack of snow. The only positive was fantastic blue skies and spectacular views for the whole week.

I visited Keystone, Aspen Highlands, Snowmass and Copper Mountain and they were all suffering. They are doing a fantastic job with man made snow to keep the runs that are open reasonable. The biggest problem when I was there were the New Year crowds coupled with the lack of runs open. The 'Black Diamond' skiers were stuck on the blues making them very crowded and this was coupled with the beginner intermediates who were just venturing onto to the Blues which made for some quite dangerous situations. (I saw more skier collisions this year than I have for many years!)

I also feel that it was extra busy due to the fantastic early season snow last season tempting many people into coming early this season. (Does not bode well for next year!)

Fingers crossed for some serious snow soon or the season could turn into a major disappointment.

Taos and the Pac NW (Whistler) seem to be the only ones getting snow. Last I saw, Utah had it even worse than we do. :/

Idaho is terrible this year. Bogus Basin doesn't have a start date in site and when it does open, it will be the latest on record. Not pretty.

Park City isn't any better. We were supposed to be there this week and I ended up cancelling due to the awful conditions. No use going out there and spending the money if we can't enjoy ourselves.

Then again, I haven't seen my yard since mid-November, which is an anomaly in itself.

<-- (southern Denver suburbs)

We haven't gone up yet to go skiing this season, although it appears that it may not be worth going this month, at least.

We arrive DEN next week for seven days of skiing. Plans are too far along to cancel so we're now in prayer mode.

Um, the bigger resorts do have this newfangled snowmaking gear, you know.

Um, the bigger resorts do have this newfangled snowmaking gear, you know.

True. But they have that in New England where I live. I was hoping for some nice deep powder which is why I'm flying across the country.
Having said that, conditions at Breck, Vail and Aspen look OK, at least there's some skiing. We'll make the best of it.:)

Steamboat is reporting 11" of new stuff at mid-mountain today. I spent 5 days there last week. It's probably still a while before people can start skiing the trees, but all the runs were in relatively good shape.

I heard this story on NPR last week:
http://www.npr.org/2012/01/13/145149192/mild-winter-could-hurt-western-states-water-supply

Along with poor ski conditions, the lack of snow doesn't bode well for spring snowmelt into the Colorado River.

We've had above-average snowpack the past few years. This was bound to happen. Last time it was this bad was 2002.

FYI...


Portions of China Bowl and Sun Up Bowl will open today, and Pete's Express (#39) is scheduled to open Friday, Jan. 20th.

It's actually been that way all over the country so far.

It was only yesterday out in Oregon and even Seattle hat some snow fell. Many areas it melted right away though.

Guess it is just a warmer winter. Can't complain too much because I'm sure it cuts down on your heating bills.

There was always last year, and there will always be next year :)

Can't complain too much because I'm sure it cuts down on your heating bills.

Actually it's been unusually cold in Denver. As I alluded to up-thread, the snow usually falls then melts after a few days--thus, being able to hit the golf course every once in the while during the winter. It has not been the case this winter, which makes it even stranger that the resorts have a marked lack of snow.

Take my post with a grain of salt, please refer to DenverBrian's signature for the truth. :D

I wanted to reply to psuedoswede but I've been busy shoveling the ten feet of snow out of the driveway so I can get to the general store. :D :D :D

We've had over 100 inches of snow in the North Cascades in Washington over the past 13 days. Mt. Baker has a 181 inch base, Stevens Pass has a 95 inch base, and Snolqualmie Pass has a 124 inch base at the summit. I went skiing over the weekend and the conditions were outstanding, with 10 inches of fresh powder.

FWIW, we're (CO) finally getting some decent snow. Breck's only up to 52 (which would've made me happy in early January, but seems a bit low heading into February), but it's nowhere near as dire as it was a month ago (or even two weeks ago). About time.

Better late than never... finally went up this weekend for the first time this season. I guess it helped Keystone got about 18" over the past week because the snow was pretty darn good.

The parking lots and restaurants were also packed to the gills.

Denver and points south are forecasted to get upwards of 16-24" of snow on Friday. This storm will miss the mountains. :rolleyes:

This storm will miss the mountains. :rolleyes:

Seems pretty standard. This winter feels like, I think, 2 years ago, when every single storm was an upslope. Blech. I guess Echo Mountain will probably get something out of this at least.

We got 17" here in the city and some places up in the mtns got 48". Echo mtn did pretty good in this storm. The resorts on the west side of the divide didn't get anything worthwhile. I think our city total now is upwards of 45" or so for the year with our snowiest month coming (March).

So now that things are improving, I'm headed that way next weekend. Any tips for the best deals on lift tickets?

It probably depends which mountain you're headed to. As I understand it, you'll find the best deals for Vail resorts on their website, but there's no longer anywhere to get a discounted ticket. I believe the same is true for Copper/Winter Park, but it's honestly been so long since I've been to either that I can't say for sure. Loveland may still be discounted at King Soopers.

My local Costco has discounted A-Basin tickets. Don't know the price.

Absolute cheapest prices for Vail/BC/Breck/Keystone are if you buy on-line at least 7 days in advance. Tickets will be mailed to you.

http://inacents.com/2012/01/06/2012-bogo-ski-free-lift-tickets-via-shell-gas-stations/

Looks like Shell is doing the BOGO again this year.

I'm traveling solo, so BOGO doesn't help me much. I have a line on some Keystone & Breck tix via a friend who gets discounts with his season pass. And I found liftopia.com, they seem to have some okay discounts for Copper, A Basin, Loveland.

I have a line on some Keystone & Breck tix via a friend who gets discounts with his season pass.

It isn't that much of a discount: roughly $20/day. What's even stranger is that the ski-with-a-friend tickets go up in price after March 8 through close!

My uncle and cousin are flying in today (another aunt, uncle, and cousin on Saturday). They were supposed to be on a 3:30 DL flight from MSP, but missed it because of a massive delay out of PHL. Now they're on the last flight out, supposed to arrive at 11pm, but now it says 11:45pm.

I just hope they make it up there before the storm hits on Friday--and I hope the roads are clear by the evening because that's when we're driving up!

Looking forward to a nice family reunion and some great skiing. :)

Went to Keystone this past weekend. Wow. It was a whole lotta suck.

A-Basin, on the other hand, looks surprisingly good. We may hit that next weekend.

Went to Keystone this past weekend. Wow. It was a whole lotta suck.

A-Basin, on the other hand, looks surprisingly good. We may hit that next weekend.

Did you make it up? I heard it was mashed potatoes and puddles.

Did you make it up? I heard it was mashed potatoes and puddles.

"Next weekend" as in this upcoming weekend (4/21). :p Alas, we already have spring-time activities lined up down here.

Co-worker went on 4/14 and 4/15; he said as long as you hang around near the summit, the snow is decent.

Maybe in May...

Phew. Totally forgot about renewing our season passes. Fortunately, they extended the deadline a week. We're definitely heading up Memorial Day weekend; hopefully, the summer lift season will be open by then.

Ahh, gotcha... Meh. I think I'm just down to waiting till hiking season starts or hoping fire bans get lifted this year.