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Too tired to do a trip report. First day at high altitude and first day on skis for the season. Here are a few pics. Fair to stay that locals clearly had a great time yesterday, which was a Saturday. The fresh snow wasn't exactly fluffy, but could qualify as "powder." Groomers felt more...

The official name is Red River Ski and Summer Resort. Santa Fe and Taos have very good mountain views. Don't think Red River would impress people in that way. Of course, it's hard to impress younger kids with views, so it doesn't really matter.

For a sense of the level of investment ski areas/resorts in the southeast have done in the last few years, check out the summary on DCSki. The author is the founder/owner of DCSki, which has been around for over 25 years. What's really unusual is that Scott wrote the software himself. This is...

What about Lincoln? I've stayed there a couple times. It's one of the towns in New England with a timeshare resort that's good for ski season. North Conway and Bethel (Sunday River) are two other ski towns where I've done a timeshare trade for lodging. Just stopped by Banner Elk on Wednesday...

For the people who drive from the Boston area and CT/RI, North Conway is certainly a popular ski town. Even folks who live in NYC/NJ consider making the drive for NH skiing. Plenty of good restaurants and lodging options at all price points for a ski vacation or long weekend. I've stayed...

My ski buddy who moved from NYC to Albuquerque decades ago would have Crested Butte in his Top Ten. Truckee is very different from the ski towns that currently appeal to upscale travelers such as Jackson, Aspen, Breck, or Lake Placid. Taos is a ski town. I know retirees who spend 4-6 weeks...

Ikon Base Plus is unlikely to return. The independent Partners such as Alta, Jackson Hole, Aspen/Snowmass are the resorts who don't want too many people using Ikon Base on their slopes. Especially during holiday periods. They are the ones who forced the creation of Base Plus in the first...

As for Texans, we've seen far more jerks from Oklahoma after college exams are over in early December. Now . . . Texans in Taos are another story. ;) When did you leave Pagosa? As with everything, location matters. More people can drive to Wolf Creek from NM, TX, OK than live within a day's...

Not a surprise . . . my primary ski buddy who lives close enough to drive to Colorado in a few hours or Utah in a day has Epic, Ikon, and the MC. I've often had Ikon and the MC since both were available. I know people who live close enough to NY and New England skiing to justify having Indy...

After thinking about when snowmaking first became more widespread in Colorado and Utah, I wondered about Whiteface. I knew snowmaking was important for the 1980 Winter Olympics. That season Whiteface had a very unusual low snow season. Turns out snowmaking was first used at Whiteface in the...

Aha! You are correct for Colorado for sure. The number of acres with snowmaking doubled by the start of the 1981-82 season. According to OnTheSnow, Sun Valley has snowmaking on 645 acres now. Didn't look up any other resort. October 1981...

Correct, Wolf Creek is completely independent and doesn't have any type of pass agreement with another ski area. Ticket prices are around $100 for Adults (13-64), even for busy Peak days. I made the comment to tease because @jamesdeluxe mentioned the map could be good for people planning a...

Thanks for responding. I didn't start skiing Alta regularly until 2008. Before that was a few days in March 1970 and a day in January 1981 or 1982. Always noticed the covered snowguns but didn't gave them much thought during annual April stays at Alta Lodge starting in 2010. Makes sense. I...

Did there used to be general articles about snowmaking in Utah, Colorado, or Tahoe? Meaning before 2018 or so. Or was that a function of increased marketing by destination resorts about their snowmaking capabilities? Presumably those resorts wanted to convince people that planning an early...

Since anyone with an ID can get a lift ticket at any Indy pass, does it really matter? That's always been the case. What's different for 2025-26 is that there was a fall sales period that lasted more than a few days. The office staff is only a few people. An Indy pass is simply a convenient...

Thanks, but I don't need to deal with Reddit . . . have more than enough online timesinks related to skiing. ;) When Indy came on the scene, I sent comments to OpenSnow in the fall a few times about missing locations. It was very hard to keep up with additions. Maintaining a database that is...

Except when someplace is missing. The heart icon in the middle is Monarch. The maroon snowflake near Fort Garland is Cuchara. I'm headed towards Pagosa Springs in a week. Would be nice if nobody else knew why. ;)

The switch has been flipped, Premium features are no longer set for Free Preview as of Nov. 27, 2025. Plenty of places with a note about upgrading. Forecast graphs remain available at "My Location," meaning you could see them when getting ready to ski at a mountain on the OpenSnow list...

Agree that snowmaking in the Rockies and other big mountains out west generally ends by late December. I know there are snowmakers who come in for 2-3 months from the Southern Hemisphere and go home by Christmas. Do you think destination resorts will increase or decrease efforts for early...

I get that completely. Alta Lodge is always fairly empty the last week of the season regardless of snow conditions. One of the deepest powder days I've ever had at Alta was one April 15, without any lift lines to speak of. This thread is about snowmaking as it relates to climate change...