West ski resorts struggling with snowless winter

[RustyK]

I didn't know it was that bad out there.....geez...


http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/b ... 17659.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

UPDATED JANUARY 08, 2018 04:15 PM

SANTA FE, N.M.
A snowless winter has pushed much of New Mexico into drought conditions and has left many ski resort workers unemployed or underworked.

The lack of snow has raised concerns about the volume of water it will take to keep slopes covered throughout the season if storm systems don't arrive.

Ski Santa Fe, which has a seasonal average of 225 inches of natural snowfall, has had only 7 inches so far this winter. It has a calendar-year allotment of 22.7 million gallons of water for snowmaking, Ski Santa Fe spokesman Steven Trafk said.

Temperatures often have been too high for snowmaking, even on mountain peaks. Outside of the man-made snow officials have been dumping on ski areas since November, most slopes in the West remain dry.


A manager at the Pajarito Mountain Ski Area in Los Alamos said the workforce has been cut in half, with just two of six lifts running.

It's not too late for an arctic blast to swoop in and salvage the current season. But the outlook for such a turnaround doesn't appear likely, The Santa Fe New Mexican reported .

Andrew Church, a meteorologist with National Weather Service in Albuquerque, said he expects the next couple of months to be "closer to climatological averages" than the region has seen so far this winter. But the average snowfall for January in the Santa Fe area is a mere 4 inches.

"Unless the storm systems continue," Church said, ". we are going to be looking at a snowpack that's far below average."

The latest report from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows 5 percent of New Mexico has plunged into severe drought.

Neighboring states are suffering similar conditions.

Snow conditions have been so bad in parts of Colorado, the Aspen Skiing Co. set up a soup kitchen last month to provide free meals to underworked employees.

"As long as we can't get those guys fully employed, we'll keep feeding them," a company spokesperson told The Aspen Times.

Even if storms don't bring powder, Angel Fire Resort spokeswoman Krysty Ronchetti said the New Mexico resort has no plans of shutting down.

"We're fully prepared to make snow the whole season if we need to," she said.

[hillbangin]

Vail = less than 1/2 open

Snowbird - no Mineral Basin and only 100 inches of snow

Jackson - hobacks are closed and most of Casper Bowl

Squaw - 1/2 open

Revi - All open

Not good out there - XMas was a disaster

[PinnacleJim]

Northern Rockies OK, southern Rockies (especially New Mexico) is bad. Colorado is doing a bit better in recent weeks, especially the higher elevation areas of Summit County.

[Highway Star]

Reports say that Vail will soon be installing 100% snowmaking:

"We at Vail Resorts are proud to announce 100% by 2020, a revolutionary initiative where we will install 5000 snowguns, 400 miles of snowmaking pipe, 80 large air compressors, and 50,000 GPM of water pumping capacity to make VAIL the first large resort in western North America with 100% snowmaking coverage. At a cost of nearly $200 Million Dollars, this initiative will ensure exceptional coverage and conditions for Vail's valued customers. Giant custom designed snow cannons with 1000 GPM output and 300 yard throw are currently in development for use in Vail's signature Back Bowls. Walk up ticket prices will increase only slightly, to an estimated $300 per day. Buy your Epic Pass now!"

Just think about it. 5000+ glorious acres of icy hardpack!

[brownman]

Return to a zonal flow assures more normalized weather .. Everywhere

As Pinochle Jim indicates, northern Rockies are OK.
Next several days will transform that to Excellent.
All part of 'my little plan'

Vail snowmaking plan for the bowls is dickulous
Spend the $200M on acquiring more resorts for the portfolio.
PWDR has proven, slim return on infrastructure investment.

[RENO]

100% snowmaking at Vail is BS!

[wannabeskibum]

Vail = less than 1/2 open

Snowbird - no Mineral Basin and only 100 inches of snow

Jackson - hobacks are closed and most of Casper Bowl

Squaw - 1/2 open

Revi - All open

Not good out there - XMas was a disaster

Lake Tahoe also very little snow - I cancelled my trip for this week to Tahoe. Weather pattern is changing after this weekend - storm door should be opening for the west.

[SnoBrdr]

Big snows come to California — finally — ahead of long holiday weekend

http://www.latimes.com/travel/deals/la- ... story.html

[boston_e]

There is no snow in the West because this is the year I booked a trip to Utah for the family.

[spanky]

I just got back from 8 days of skiing Alta/Snowbird. Even given the limited open terrain, we still had 7 days of sunshine and mid-30’s temps and one powder day. All with non-existent crowds. I’d say that still beat the frigid temps on the EC last week.

[RustyK]

Today's snow conditions
Squaw Valley Ski Resort: Open

Snow Variable

Open trails 73/110

Open lifts 29/42

Base 18" r*in Showers 36°F
SW 11 mph

Summit 37" Snow 29°F
SW 11 mph

[tyrolean_skier]

I’m at Jackson Hole right now and even though the lower parts of the mountain are closed due to lack of snow, the upper part has plenty of areas with snow to ski. You do have to watch for rocks and stuff. It snowed yesterday and we got 6” at elevation last night but r*in/ice fell in the village. Getting ready to go out. Locals complaining that it’s not like last year.