Western North America Conditions 2025/26

[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.