Western North America Conditions 2025/26

Wow. Those lines are insane for any day of the week let alone a Wed, non-holiday.

Colo is going to be quite limited in terrain, but not like the PNW of the US. Though that region is going to get a lot more snow than we will from the next couple of forecast storms.
 
EMSC said:
Colo is going to be quite limited in terrain, but not like the PNW of the US. Though that region is going to get a lot more snow than we will from the next couple of forecast storms.
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Yes. The Cascades are forecast to get 2-4 feet this week. Colorado is forecast to get snow in its typical modest but more frequent increments. I'd say it's a close call which region gets the majority of its terrain open first. Utah and the Sierra are also in this dubious competition for least terrain open during the upcoming holidays.
 
One of my Snowbird buddies has been skiing Alta quite a bit in the last week or two. He says there is considerably more terrain acreage open than Snowbird or Solitude. This is not unexpected, as Alta typically does well in early season compared to the others, catching every little bit of snow that comes thru the Wasatch. Alta/Bird is expecting 6-12" of snow this weekend, starting tonight. That could result in a few more trails opening. Snowbird still only has the WROD from Regulator to Big Emma, along with Chickadee. I'm off to San Diego next week for a long planned family gathering. Hopefully, my absence brings a lot of snow :rolleyes:

View of Regulator Johnson and Little Cloud Bowl from 18 Dec 2025, not nearly as white as it's supposed to be:
18 dec snowbird.jpg
 
jimk said:
He says there is considerably more terrain acreage open than Snowbird or Solitude. This is not unexpected, as Alta typically does well in early season compared to the others, catching every little bit of snow that comes thru the Wasatch.
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Alta has more snow and better topography for early season. Base elevation is 8,500 and the lower mountain is mellow on the Albion side and very protected north facing on Wildcat. Relentlessly steep areas like Snowbird need a lot of coverage. Anything under a 50 inch base is a minefield and it really needs 70 for comprehensive coverage. Alta skis remarkably well on 3-4 feet.
 
I view the 4 largest Kootenay areas as a group: Red to the NW, Schweitzer to the SW, Fernie to the NE and Whitefish to the SE. They generally get the same weather with two important exceptions:

1. Fernie gets more precipitation than the other 3.
2. Whitefish has slightly higher elevation range than the others and gets less rain. Despite similar elevation maybe Fernie gets a bit less rain than Red and Schweitzer due to being farther inland.

I have never seen as big a disparity between Whitefish and the other 3 before as there is right now. Whitefish reports 47% open vs. Fernie 4%, Red closed and Schweitzer 1%. I'd guess Whitefish like Whistler is drawing some regional people whose home areas are in bad shape.
 
Tony Crocker said:
I view the 4 largest Kootenay areas as a group: Red to the NW, Schweitzer to the SW, Fernie to the NE and Whitefish to the SE. They generally get the same weather with two important exceptions:

1. Fernie gets more precipitation than the other 3.
2. Whitefish has slightly higher elevation range than the others and gets less rain. Despite similar elevation maybe Fernie gets a bit less rain than Red and Schweitzer due to being farther inland.

I have never seen as big a disparity between Whitefish and the other 3 before as there is right now. Whitefish reports 47% open vs. Fernie 4%, Red closed and Schweitzer 1%. I'd guess Whitefish like Whistler is drawing some regional people whose home areas are in bad shape.
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Whitewater grouped in with those four?
 
From https://www.seattletimes.com/life/o...esort-will-open-saturday-in-limited-capacity/ "Crystal Mountain Resort will open for the winter Saturday with a 1,000-vehicle cap on capacity" vs. "resort’s capacity of approximately 3,000 parking spaces."

Another story in Seattle Times says that when they get snow Stevens Pass will re-open. And even though Seattle-area passholders will have a 100+ mile each way detour to get there, Vail will not be giving refunds at this time. I'd quote more but seems like I quickly ran into a page limit on my laptop that I didn't get on my iPad.
 
tseeb said:
From https://www.seattletimes.com/life/o...esort-will-open-saturday-in-limited-capacity/ "Crystal Mountain Resort will open for the winter Saturday with a 1,000-vehicle cap on capacity" vs. "resort’s capacity of approximately 3,000 parking spaces."

Another story in Seattle Times says that when they get snow Stevens Pass will re-open. And even though Seattle-area passholders will have a 100+ mile each way detour to get there, Vail will not be giving refunds at this time. I'd quote more but seems like I quickly ran into a page limit on my laptop that I didn't get on my iPad.
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I've got a reservation at Crystal on Monday and will report here afterward. Baker just announced that they're opening to pass holders tomorrow (Sunday) and to the general public on Monday. They're claiming 91% open tomorrow, which is totally believable if you look at their latest snow report video — it's amazing how one storm cycle can turn everything around. 86" at 1:00pm Saturday, still snowing heavily.
 
I just booked our lodging at Mammoth, 1/2-1/6 refundable till Thursday night so if the storm doesn't pan out, we'll have flexibility. Praying the snow happens. Just looking at some Tahoe webcams, wow, bare ground at mid mountain and pouring rain.
 
Rain/snow line in the Wasatch forecast:
766327115-lxeWi0doI4JBdPbEwLRChdIf3DlhhfsoA2qQcbnr.png

The Wasatch problem remains that it is consistently on the edge of storms with no real direct hits so far. And when it's on the southern edge like the above forecast the rain/snow line is higher than normal.
 
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