With below-average snowfall in most of the state, 15 ski areas reporting base depths of 18 inches or less and the Christmas break coming soon, powder-starved Colorado skiers and riders are hoping snowfall due this weekend and into next week signals a shift in weather patterns.
November was generally drier and warmer than normal in the mountains, but the National Weather Service says we’re on the verge of a “pattern change.” The first snowfall is due Thursday night and Friday in the mountains, with snowfalls in the range of 3-6 inches. Another system is predicted Saturday, with more snow possible next week.
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Ski resorts have been relying heavily on manmade snow for the limited terrain they have managed to get open. Aspen Mountain, for example, is reporting a puny natural base of 10 inches, but all eight lifts are running thanks to the installation of additional snowmaking infrastructure last summer on the upper third of the mountain that complemented the existing system below.
“And itap high-tech snowmaking,” said Aspen skier Mike Marolt. “Itap unbelievable what the technology has allowed them to do. Itap still hard snow, but itap good skiing. There’s actually, believe it or not, quite a bit of skiing on Aspen Mountain. If you get off that white ribbon of death, you’ll have a lot of rocks. There’s just no (natural) snow. Itap just brown.”
Tucker Vest Burton, a spokeswoman for Aspen Snowmass, said snowfall has been about 70% of normal. Snowmass also is reporting a 10-inch base, with only six of 21 lifts in operation. Aspen Highlands, which was scheduled to open Saturday, pushed its open date to Dec.18 for lack of snow.
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In the northern part of the state, Steamboat is reporting a 13-inch base with just six of 18 lifts running. Steamboat officials didn’t reply to a request regarding how the resortap snowfall compares to average, but according to government data, the snowpack in the river basin where Steamboat is located is at 60% of normal.
There, too, snowmaking is saving the day.
“For what is open, it is manmade and itap phenomenal, but it is minimal,” said longtime Steamboat resident Chad Fleischer, a former U.S. Ski Team racer and two-time Olympian. “They’ve been making a lot of snow, and they were making that snow since early October, when it was like 5 below zero here. The quality of the snow and the amount they were able to make early was very good. I’ve been up every day. Itap been fantastic.”
Only one Colorado ski area is reveling in bountiful snow. Wolf Creek in southern Colorado has a 47-inch base with eight of nine lifts in operation.
Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone, Breckenridge, Crested Butte, Copper Mountain and Echo Mountain all are reporting 18-inch bases. Loveland is at 20 (five of 10 lifts) and Arapahoe Basin is at 19 (four of nine).
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“The natural snow is below average, but the manmade snow I’ve been skiing on at Loveland, Keystone and Breckenridge has been quite enjoyable,” said C.J. Mueller, who moved to Breckenridge in 1970 to become a ski bum and never left. “Yes, there’s a little bit less terrain open, and the natural terrain thatap open is scratchy, but itap doable. Breckenridge has done a phenomenal job with their snowmaking. When it got cold, they were pumping out an incredible amount of snow. The runs that have snowmaking on them, no rocks, very firm surface.
“Some of the runs, they (groom) them a little bit differently and come out a little bit softer,” he said. “Itap the same at Keystone. We were at Keystone a few days ago, and it was really awesome how soft the grooming had made the snow. And how much terrain, how much coverage they had. I’ve been enjoying going out.”
According to a National Weather Service forecast issued Wednesday, there is good news for skiers and riders.
“Finally looking like a pattern change for Colorado into next week with the breakdown of the persistent ridge which has been over the region for the past week,” the report said. “The flow pattern over Colorado will shift into a northwest flow by early next week with a series of storm systems to bring periodic chances of snow, especially to the mountains, while temperatures will return to near/below seasonal normals for this time of year.”
