Western North America Conditions 2025/26

[Tony Crocker]

Wait or book?

I would book, since the window for decent airfares might be getting tight.

The current storms that are raining halfway up most B.C ski areas will be all snow in Banff. And since it's not the usual fluff it will beneficial in covering up rocks.

Since you live in SoCal and you have kids, here's the only caveat. Banff is the coldest destination resort region in western North America and you are going there at the coldest time of year. In my 25+ years of Canadian ski trips, I've had below zero F temperatures on about a third of them. Usually it's just a day or two; most persistent case was 6 days in 2018. Two of those trips I took a day off from skiing, and in 3 other cases I would have if I had been riding lifts rather than cat skiing.

If your kids are outfitted for Mammoth or Utah, that may not cut it at Banff. You all need high quality mittens and multiple windproof layers for both upper and lower body. Face masks for the kids would be a good idea too. The odds are better than half you'll be skiing at reasonable temps of 10-15F, but you should be prepared. You don't want to go out your first day and have to buy upgraded clothing/accessories to continue skiing.

After all these years of skiing in Canada, I think the numbers underrate Louise/Sunshine. Yes, Craig Morris in Fernie always made snarky comments about needing Ptex there. You won't be seeing much in the way of a Mammoth snowpack or LCC powder dumps there. But terrain is interesting, skier density is low and snow preservation in that cold weather is excellent. I believe that cold weather also means that October snow sticks around and doesn't melt out like it usually does at U.S ski areas.

 

[socal]

Tony, that's really helpful and I hadn't thought about that. We have some decent gear but they're too young to be buying the best stuff for so they'll be less prepared than the wife and I, hmmm. We canceled a trip to Snowbird last winter due to it being 0 or below 0 temps forecast.

Other option I guess is Mammoth, as of right this minute I don't think we'd want to go given the conditions and knowing without new snow they'll be worse. I'll hold off for now, rather pay more for flights than have to cancel/change plans. Luckily it's the week after new years (lame LAUSD giving 3 weeks winter break) so I think it's a bit more last minute doable. Obviously after new years, mid week mammoth lodging will be easy.

 

[Skieric]

I would book, since the window for decent airfares might be getting tight.

The current storms that are raining halfway up most B.C ski areas will be all snow in Banff. And since it's not the usual fluff it will beneficial in covering up rocks.

Since you live in SoCal and you have kids, here's the only caveat. Banff is the coldest destination resort region in western North America and you are going there at the coldest time of year. In my 25+ years of Canadian ski trips, I've had below zero F temperatures on about a third of them. Usually it's just a day or two; most persistent case was 6 days in 2018. Two of those times I took a day off from skiing, and in 3 other cases I would have if I had been riding lifts rather than cat skiing.

If your kids are outfitted for Mammoth or Utah, that may not cut it at Banff. You all need high quality mittens and multiple windproof layers for both upper and lower body. Face masks for the kids would be a good idea too. The odds are better than half you'll be skiing at reasonable temps of 10-15F, but you should be prepared. You don't want to go out your first day and have to buy upgraded clothing/accessories to continue skiing.

I have skied LL many times in January and Tony is right. It can be cold. It can still be excellent skiing and if you are prepared for the cold, you can certainly enjoy it. However you cant dress like warmer areas and expect to have a nice time. If below 0F, plan to bring an extra mid-layer top and bottom. Since it is in the middle and humidity is very low at -10-25F, it will not get damp. Therefore, it doesnt necessarily need to be the highest performance stuff, but it needs to add warmth. For example on the lower body: base layer, mid layer (worst case, this could be sweatpants or a second oversized base layer), ski pants. I never do well with facemask, but will use a balaclava. I found frost tape very helpful for my cheeks when at KH and LL when temps were -25F https://stride-glide-sports.shoplightspeed.com/copy-of-frost-tape-roll-pink.html. Mid January can be excellent there

 

[Skieric]

I do include Tremblant among the Northeast areas where I have recorded percent of terrain open bimonthly since 2003-04. At that time I made an arbitrary decision which areas without adequate snowfall info were important enough to track percent of terrain open. Apologies to Harvey for not including Gore.

To track in-season snowfall I need certain info:
1) Past historical monthly records so at any date I can calculate percent of normal. Tremblant has season snowfall history on its website here but I don't know for how long it's been online. I have put that into one of my spreadsheets, but have never used it publicly. Why? I distrust season totals because I don't know starting and ending dates, and I want to normalize data on a Nov. 1 - Apr. 30 basis for consistency. It's also much easier to curate monthly data for credibility.
2) The ski area needs to update season totals daily on its website. The Tremblant snow report page is in Alterra's format but it may not have been reporting in-season snowfall pre-Alterra.

There's also my personal perception of eastern Canada based upon:
1) My original Powder Magazine contact Leslie Anthony in 1995. He was a huge fan of Le Massif dating back to it bus shuttle days so that why it's the one eastern Canadian place where I do track in-season snowfall. Leslie grew up in eastern Canada and for the Powder cover story he had me call many upper New England areas to get historical snowfall but never asked me to call Trmeblant.
2) The Jay Peak discussion back in 2015 put the eastern townships and Mt. Sutton specifically on my radar. Sutton's data is also season totals, but opening and closing date history is available too. I had enough Jay daily data to project a Nov. 1 - Apr. 30 average of 243 inches for Sutton and put that on my regional snowfall page.
My perception (see Leslie Anthony above) was that the Laurentians were mostly snowmaking dependent so that natural snow was less important, sort of like southern New England or the Catskills. Those kind of ski areas generally don't maintain accurate snowfall histories in any case.

The Tremblant annual data averages 175 inches, which is similar to Whiteface or Sugarloaf. I would have to model the in-season distribution of those annual totals in order to do in-season snowfall tracking. I'm inclined to get around to that sometime since Tremblant has similar prominence to eastern skiers as Whiteface or Sugarloaf, probably after adding Tremblant to the regional snowfall page at the end of this season.

The primary trails are generally snowmaking dependent for opening in November/December, however they have extensive glades that are natural snow dependent and some trails get snowmaking if natural snow is adequate. Glades started opening early this year at the end of November and are generally skiable into April most years. Upper mountain natural snow base was about 2.5-3 feet when I was there at the end of November. Tremblant snowfall seems more typical of western mountains with 2-3x more snowfall on the upper mountain than the village at the base of the south side. However, I have not yet stumbled upon the snowfall study plot location to know where it is on the mountain. I will be heading there on December 20 and can keep an eye out for it.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Since it is in the middle and humidity is very low at -10-25F, it will not get damp.

Skieric is Canadian. Most experienced California skiers are good with low humidity single digits F in Colorado, but not so much -10-25F. At those temps I need to be in a snowcat or full time gondola (Kicking Horse). Now I can manage down to -5F or so as long as it's not windy too.

I think it's a bit more last minute doable

If referring to Banff, sure you could book a week out with a weather forecast of reasonable temps. If you have FF miles you could book now and redeposit if you don't like the last minute weather forecast. Don't worry about last minute lodging as Banff is like Jackson, primarily a summer resort.

I don't like the idea of Mammoth at all after it's had Dec. 26-31 traffic on anything like the current snowpack. That's why I'm trying to get up there myself as soon as schedule permits.

(lame LAUSD giving 3 weeks winter break)

I think that's great for giving you an entire week after the crush, and most years in mid-December you'll have a list of favorable places to choose.,

 

[Skieric]

Skieric is Canadian

Technically I am dual citizen but I have now been in Canada for 17 years. I am originally from Pennsylvania and grew up skiing the icy Poconos, before moving to the Midwest. Ohio and Michigan were terrible places to be as a skier except for the access to the airport. Now much of my family is in Colorado, hence, my regular visits there. I agree, that even though Ontario doesnt get cold like Alberta and Quebec, the damp wind off the great lakes in the winter gives a much colder feel than anything in Colorado, California or Utah. Coldest places I have ever skied were Tremblant, KH and LL with temps around -20F. Coldest temps I ever experienced was waking up in Lake Louise and it was -50F. Ski area never opened that day , so we went for a hike above the lake and somehow actually overdressed and had to take off layers.

 

[ChrisC]

Most experienced California skiers are good with low humidity single digits F in Colorado, but not so much -10-25F. At those temps I need to be in a snowcat or full time gondola (Kicking Horse). Now I can manage down to -5F or so as long as it's not windy too.

California skiers doing OK at 15F and below. Lolz Doubt it.

Telluride mid-winter can be a bit brutal in the mornings; the cold air sinks into the valley and it easily goes to -5 to -10 F. The only ones who liked it were our insane Labrador mixes that would run into the San Miguel River at 7am in January.

Boston and NYC can be brutal with winds funneled through dowtowns.

If referring to Banff, sure you could book a week out with a weather forecast of reasonable temps. If you have FF miles you could book now and redeposit if you don't like the last minute weather forecast. Don't worry at all about last minute lodging as Banff is like Jackson, primarily a summer resort.

Looks nice.

Banff is one of the few regions without almost any winter rain. Most of Colorado. A bit of Utah.

 

[Skieric]

After 2 years of having to change our pre-booked holiday ski trip plans I decided to just hold off this year and book once snow is on the ground. We'd leave around the 1st of January and ski until the 5th or so. Looking like a trip to Banff might be an option, too early to book? We have an Ikon pass but I guess we could just go to Hawaii if there just isn't enough snow to make sense of the cost of travel and lodging to ski medicore skiing. The kids are old enough to ski most black diamonds, they were pumped to ski Climax last season so we want to ski the whole mountain, not groomers.

Wait or book?

Snow reports for Lake Louise already look like the majority of the terrain is open with well above average snowfall. Also you could always head 3 hours west over the rogers pass and ski Revelstoke on the same trip. Looks like upper mountain has had good snowfall, but lower has had more rain. Hopefully temps and snow levels in BC come down. Right now, I have flights into Kelowna on January 10 prior to Mustang. Hoping to go to Red if they get some more snow, however my backup plan is to go to Revelstoke and LL if the snow levels in southern BC remain so high.

 

[Tony Crocker]

California skiers doing OK at 15F and below. Lolz Doubt it.

There's a reason I used the adjective "experienced." For my first 20 ski years I would rarely encounter ski temps much below 10F and when I did I would sometimes have problems. Once I started the annual Canadian trips in 1997 I needed to figure it out.

Snow reports for Lake Louise already look like the majority of the terrain is open with well above average snowfall. Also you could always head 3 hours west over the rogers pass and ski Revelstoke on the same trip.

I'm not sure about that. It's fairly clear Revy has had a lot of rain possibly as high as the base of the Stoke lift. Note that the impressive snow totals are recorded at a plot at the top of Ripper chair. The OpenSnow B.C. reports plug Kicking Horse and Panorama as having the rain barely reach the base areas. That makes sense to me. The climate divide between warmer/wetter and colder/drier is not the B.C./Alberta border but Rogers Pass. KH and Pano are closer and worth investigating on a Banff trip.

I have flights into Kelowna on January 10 prior to Mustang. Hoping to go to Red if they get some more snow.

Big White and Whitewater have much higher base elevations and are closer. Sometimes it's not worth letting the Ikon Pass tail wag the dog. Besides, interior B.C lift tickets are not as exorbitant as in much of the U.S.

 

[Skieric]

There's a reason I used the adjective "experienced." For my first 20 ski years I would not often ski much below 10F and when I did I would sometimes have problems. Once I started the annual Canadian trips in 1997 I needed to figure it out.

Boot heaters or heated socks, boot glove, down mittens, glove liners, balaclava and neck warmer. It takes some new stuff. I still struggle with the low angle flat light in BC in January. Its almost like the sun barely gets above the horizon and combined with constant cloud cover the light can be challenging. For flat light, I have been seeing information about this new augmented reality goggle from a startup called ProVue. They use a camera and screens to provide a different view to improve flat lighting. Right now, they are running a kickstarter campaign. Any thoughts? https://provuu.com/ https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/xr-goggles/provuu-enhanced-visibility-xr-goggles/community

 

[ChrisC]

Boot heaters or heated socks, boot glove, down mittens, glove liners, balaclava and neck warmer.

That's a lot of cold-weather armor.

I still struggle with the low angle flat light in BC in January. Its almost like the sun barely gets above the horizon and combined with constant cloud cover the light can be challenging.

I am not sure about this. Yes, BC - it's definitely grey - but I never thought it was too bad. Generally, I put on pink goggles, and things are OK.

 

[Skieric]

That's a lot of cold-weather armor.



I am not sure about this. Yes, BC - it's definitely grey - but I never thought it was too bad. Generally, I put on pink goggles, and things are OK.

For the very cold (under -10) its essentially adding an additional layer everywhere. My boots are plug boots and have liner that is only marginally thicker than a sock. Adding the neoprene boot glove in addition to the boot heaters makes a big difference on the very cold days.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Boot heaters or heated socks, boot glove, down mittens, glove liners, balaclava and neck warmer.

I'm a big fan of glove liners with my terrible temperature regulation. Boot gloves I find very effective for subzero temps. I don't want to depend on batteries for anything related to cold weather considering what it does to my cell phone.

combined with constant cloud cover

There's a reason I call it the Great Gray North. We Californians only think about bad vis during storms. Plain overcast is not so common. You can get flat light in Mammoth's alpine, but only before 9:30AM and after 2:30PM in December/January.

I am not sure about this. Yes, BC - it's definitely grey - but I never thought it was too bad.

Neither have I. Part of that is that the tree line goes high up at most interior B.C. areas and I can handle it fairly well with just scattered rocks or scrub vegetation (Fernie/Castle) for orientation. The most notorious flat light up there is in the Whitehorn chutes at Lake Louise, which I've even experienced in late March/early April. Guido said Whitehorn was the worst in his experience.

 

[socal]

I’m fine with the really cold, I’ve skied in Jackson on -10-20F days and snowbird below 0. Easy to just buy all sorts of nice stuff, including my nice heated gloves that are truly amazing. Issue for us is the kids. We buy them stuff but it’s just not reasonable to get them everything they need for that cold given we don’t often encounter it and they’ll grow out of it.

Right now I’m just going to wait and see, like Tony said, a week out we should know temps and I’m fine buying more expensive airfare or even with a connection (spoiled LA resident who never has connections).

Another idea looking at open snow, Schweitzer. Thoughts? I’d obviously hold out till last minute but I have been there and think the kids would really like the moderate steeps and tree runs.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Schweitzer is going to get more rain than snow out of current storms. Mammoth is in far better shape right now.

If you're willing to bite the bullet on the late airfares, Banff really looks like the right choice.

(spoiled LA resident who never has connections)

I wish. It's not true when you want to ski the Alps. Also often not true when you want to use FF miles. I think the areas where we get the best break having direct flights from LAX are Asia and the South Pacific. For flights that long, it's extra appreciated not having to make a connection. It's the mirror image of James' convenience traveling to Europe from NYC metro.

 

[sibhusky]

Whitefish 48% open on 17-37 inch base (perhaps Sibhusky can comment)

I've skied two days and it was a mixed bag on both due to conditions. The last two days I skipped due to rain. Back at it tomorrow.

It's been very warm so far and yet I know that every single year that we have a ragged opening, somehow it's fine for the Christmas visitors and then they hit it hard everywhere and after they leave there's this drought that seems to occur and we're skiing on really beat conditions that we didn't help create..Grrr.

So I just recognize that this is the pattern and in a few weeks it'll be fine. It's good for me to get back to my Pocono roots now and then. Helps keep me on my toes.

 

[berkshireskier]

I’m fine with the really cold, I’ve skied in Jackson on -10-20F days and snowbird below 0. Easy to just buy all sorts of nice stuff, including my nice heated gloves that are truly amazing. Issue for us is the kids. We buy them stuff but it’s just not reasonable to get them everything they need for that cold given we don’t often encounter it and they’ll grow out of it.

Right now I’m just going to wait and see, like Tony said, a week out we should know temps and I’m fine buying more expensive airfare or even with a connection (spoiled LA resident who never has connections).

Another idea looking at open snow, Schweitzer. Thoughts? I’d obviously hold out till last minute but I have been there and think the kids would really like the moderate steeps and tree runs.

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What brand of heated gloves do you own? As I have gotten older, my hands (fingers, especially) get cold much faster and I'm considering buyting heated gloves (I don't like mittens). I've read reviews of many different gloves but it seems like there are always mixed reviews on almost all of the heated gloves.

 

[socal]

I bought the Outdoor Research Prevail heated gloves. Link Here, I think I got them on sale but they're really great. They did break at the end of my second season, one of the rubber "buttons" you use to control them stopped working but they replaced them free of charge. You need to be thoughtful with the amount you use them, so i'll turn them up to high to warm up, then either off or low for long periods. The battery is just not large enough to run them on a long ski day. With that said, they're awesome.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Today's progress report is hopefully the low point of the season. How bad is it? Overall not uniformly bad in all regions like two years ago, but the worst regions are more extreme. As we know the Northeast is having a huge start and western Canada is above average. The regions currently as bad as benchmark 1976-77 are Utah and the washed out PNW. The Northwest may be in line for some big dumps over the next two weeks. However, Crystal and Stevens have road damage from the recent flooding that could take some time to repair. Tahoe and most of Colorado will be awful for the holidays but both regions have had at least three other seasons with comparable starts. Targhee at 63% open is second lowest mid-December percent in the past 30 years. I suspect it will get close to 100% by Christmas with storms over the next week, even if those storms rain at lower areas.

 

[jasoncapecod]

there is a real possibility that it might rain to the top of alta on xmas day. The warm up is impressive