Western North America Conditions 2025/26
- Thread starter ChrisC
- Start date
jasoncapecod
Well-known member
this is where i don't get it.. My ass would have been at mouth of the canyon at 5am...No way on earth would i wait in that kind of line
20 years ago, this was the best practice. Half the snow of the Cottonwoods, but significantly fewer people.
Lift tix were $38, which is $61 inflation adjusted. Today, they're $159.
takeahike46er
Member
I would have avoided skiing entirely. The first major storm after a lengthy dry/warm stretch is seldom worth it IMO. So much stress and effort for maybe the possibility of a couple untracked runs? Small to moderate daily refreshes are where it’s at.
EMSC
Well-known member
Agreed. Either that, or pull out that credit card and find the last overpriced room up canyon so you start at lift opening no matter if the canyon itself is under avi control lockdown or not. Though I can't imagine all that many days per season qualify for that level of spend, even at Alta/Bird.
James’ option would not have worked this season. As of yesterday the Utah areas outside the Cottonwoods had less that half the snow from this storm, and more importantly were still only 60% open on low tide bases because of how bad the season has been.
I’m occasionally annoyed with OpenSnow touting powder days at certain places. It’s not a powder day if there’s not an adequate base under the powder.
In the olden days, as I successfully executed with 17 inches new on President’s Day 2007, I would go to Solitude. I doubt that works any more in the Ikon era.
I’m occasionally annoyed with OpenSnow touting powder days at certain places. It’s not a powder day if there’s not an adequate base under the powder.
In the olden days, as I successfully executed with 17 inches new on President’s Day 2007, I would go to Solitude. I doubt that works any more in the Ikon era.
Last edited:
Then you would be waiting 2.5 hours in the car..then 1 hour up the canyon
So..that .5 hours more than I spent...hmm
I should have went to pc...no traffic..and very good conditions..as i experienced today.
And 9990 had better terrain than what was open at alta..unless you waited on huge Collins line to get to the high T.
Or a 200 foot line to get into supreme bowl.
I skied powder all day today and never waited on anything..
I would agree that 2 feet new at Park City is preferable to 4+ feet and the traffic junkshow in LCC. However, some of Park City must be low tide at now 78% open. Still, that's an improvement over 61% last week.
This week's bonanza of snow has been mostly in the Sierra and Utah's Cottonwoods, but there are a few big winners in other regions: Arizona Snowbowl 46, Wolf Creek 50, Fernie 42. Schweitzer got 32 inches, moving from 55% to 99% open. Most of Colorado had an average week of 1-1.5 feet, which is not going to get those areas out of their big deficit.
The SoCal areas got 3 feet. Snow Summit is 90% open. Geronimo at Bear, Slide Peak at Snow Valley and Mt. High East are not yet open. Baldy's reports in recent years are candid. They are running most lifts, but warning of highly variable coverage due to wind stripping vs. deposition.
Sierra skiers' gloating will be short lived. It's supposed to rain to 8,000+ feet at Tahoe and 9,000+ feet at Mammoth next Tuesday.
The SoCal areas got 3 feet. Snow Summit is 90% open. Geronimo at Bear, Slide Peak at Snow Valley and Mt. High East are not yet open. Baldy's reports in recent years are candid. They are running most lifts, but warning of highly variable coverage due to wind stripping vs. deposition.
Sierra skiers' gloating will be short lived. It's supposed to rain to 8,000+ feet at Tahoe and 9,000+ feet at Mammoth next Tuesday.
Great for skiers but wondering how much of a revenue shortfall ski areas/resorts/adjacent sectors are looking at given that all three "winter holiday" periods (Xmas, MLK, Presidents) are past. For example as noted in the Mammoth thread, United Airlines seems to be stuck with a lot of empty seats on its nonstop flights to western ski destinations. I wonder how Telluride is doing given that they had a strike in addition to the snow drought.
I would expect the Rockies region to be down some in this year’s NSAA Kottke Report. There are no state by state breakdowns though. And the decline will be more modest than in bad years in the Pacific States due to higher proportion of destination skiers who are inflexible.
United is not stuck with the whole tab on those flights. The resorts guarantee a minimum occupancy to get those seasonal flights into resort area airports. This was a big issue with Mammoth’s financial crisis in 2011-12.
United is not stuck with the whole tab on those flights. The resorts guarantee a minimum occupancy to get those seasonal flights into resort area airports. This was a big issue with Mammoth’s financial crisis in 2011-12.
Right, I forgot about that.
snowtrekker
Member
My wife and I leave tomorrow for a week in the San Juans (staying in Telluride and Silverton) with plans to ski Telluride, Purgatory, and a pre-booked 3 days at Silverton. While most of the trip was booked in advance, some potential changes of plans had me searching. There is a huge quantity of relatively affordable lodging options available. I am meeting friends who drove earlier from Denver, and I had originally scheduled a shuttle from Montrose to Telluride, after which we would then cram into one car. But rentals are so cheap now I've cancelled the shuttle and got my own car for the week ($360 for an SUV now vs. >$1000 this fall).
EMSC
Well-known member
Depends on the precise region, but many western resorts also consider much of March as prime season due to the huge numbers of spring break skiers that traditionally come from the east coast during school break weeks. Most years that means weekday lift lines throughout March that are as long as the weekend lift lines at places in the central Colo mtns for example. While I expect those numbers will be less than typical, most of those ksiers are pretty inflexible and will probably come anyway. Especially as even with low-ish totals compared to Tahoe or Utah, you can be sure the email marketing from Vail and Alterra, etc... has hyped the new snowfall to cartoonish levels to make it seem like Colo is now doing just fine.
Purgatory got 30 inches last week and Telluride 21. Telluride is 74% open, which tells you that the steepest terrain in Coloradod is not yet ready for prime time. I do not know where snowtrekker lives, but Silverton requires several days (and preferable a week) of sleeping at altitude before you will be routinely hiking above the lift that tops out at 12,200 feet.
That is primarily a Colorado phenomenon IMHO, as evidenced by Vail's premium day ticket pricing for the entire month that does not apply to their resorts in other states. Mammoth gets a bump during California breaks that are more tied to Easter. But an April spring break week is not at the level of President's Week for example.
What are the largest year-over-year declines in US skier visits? Two stand out.
1980-81 (72% of normal snow, 71% in Nov/Dec) was 18% lower than 1979-80 (94%/82%). Snowmaking was primitive then vs. today.
2011-12 (81% of normal snow, 66% in Nov/Dec) was 16% lower than 2010-11 (130%/142%). Some of that has to be ascribed to the record high snowfall in 2010-11, which tied 2007-08 for highest overall skier visits at that time. The 2011-12 decline was only 10% over a skier visit trendline for that season. So my best guess would be less than a 10% drop in US skier visits in 2025-26 to maybe 56 million, because the Northeast is having a good year. In 2011-12 the Pacific Northwest was the exception region with high snowfall.
Rockies region skier visits declined only 9% in 2011-12 vs. 2010-11 but 39% in 1980-81 vs. 1979-80.
2025-26 was similar to the above seasons at the end of December but as of mid-February had 68% of normal snow (58% excluding Northeast). So it's clearly the worst aside from 1976-77 at that point. As of the end of December 1976-77 had 51% of normal snow (38% excluding Northeast). January 1977 was not much better than January 2026.
Last edited:
snowtrekker
Member
We only have one full day in Telluride, which I have never been to before, so I have accepted that this will be more of an exploratory stop to check out the town and scenery around the resort. Any steeper terrain would be a bonus. The way this season has been going, I am just happy that the Chair 7 lift from the town is open, as that's the most convenient to where I'll be staying.
I live at sea level, so acclimation was a big factor in the itinerary. The Silverton days are at the end of the trip (Thurs-Sat), the first of which is the all-day 6-run heli. So I'll have 5 nights at elevation prior to any significant hiking, assuming the heli day does not get pushed due to weather. Hopefully that timing also allows the fresh snow from this past week to settle and lower avalanche danger some.