Windy Park will be windy.

Saturday - Monday - overcast w base winds 15/20 mph w wind gusts 35/40 mph.

She's going the 27th through 1st. So probably skiing 29-31.

Winter Park is expecting 13 over 10 but I don't know if they will get anywhere close to that number. They're showing snow for 5/6 days but only 2 of those days have a chance of snow above 50%. The others are in the 5-25% range. So they could get 5 or they could get 15. The bihgest issue WP will have will be the winds. The winds this next weekend will likely limit the powder acummulation as alot of what falls will be wind blown. They're already in need of snow so anything will be welcome.

Thank you sir.

29th/30th will be the 2 strongest wind days of the ski season thus far. 15-35 MPH on Sunday and 20/40 MPH winds Monday w the wind leveling out Tuesday to 10 MPH.

Sunday : 30 but feels like 14 night 23 feels like 12
Monday - 23 but feels like 6, night 10 feels like -3
Tuesday - 12 but feels like -2, night 0 feels like -11
Wednesday pre noon - 10 but feels like -8

You'll notice the Monday high is the Sunday low that means temps Will continu to drop all day Monday into Tuesday, then barely rise on Tuesday before falling back Tuesday night. Soooo, don't expect it to warm up from Sunday through Wednesday morning. Once the temps fall, it's staying cold for at least a couple of days.

No other ski hill should see the level of winds that they're catching at WP.

Also, given the low cloud cover it should be some pretty overcast and flat light for the duration of this storm. Hope you guys coming in have some good low light lens combos. You're going to need them.

Without at least a ft, most of the inbounds tree runs arent going to be accessable and if they're you probs don't want anything to do with them. I've been hearing some horror stories from the shops in Vail, Breck, and Beaver about renters going through the trees and catching pro grade core shots.

Moral of the story - if it snows across the State as expected you're probs better off enjoying the ride on the runs that have had the base worked over the last month vs in the trees w a nice top coat w complete savagery under. Itll look enticing to hop into the trees, but I wouldn't do it because once you're in it's probs not going to have cover the full way.

Winter park/jane can be amazing during/after a big wind event. When the wind is scouring summit County to the rocks you can get great accumulation on the stuff under sunnyside. Panoramic used to close if someone sneezed too hard but enjoy the trees while it's blowing then be on panoramic the second it opens.

Untouched powder over on Vasquez is also great.

I took this photo many years ago after an early March snow storm. First run of the day.

See the wind blow Snow Hills on the right side? We call those vertebra and if you ride down the spine it's mostly all pillow fluff POW: mostly people go right down the Middle but if you see it Stacked that way, rip straight down and through it.

Looks like you could ride those x down into that tree gap right side middle where the other run opens right and rip out which ever way is less dense. Looks like there's an open little Channel down past the open to the right and the left side may be up hill, but still looks nice.

Bayou City said:

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See the wind blow Snow Hills on the right side? We call those vertebra and if you ride down the spine it's mostly all pillow fluff POW: mostly people go right down the Middle but if you see it Stacked that way, rip straight down and through it.

Looks like you could ride those x down into that tree gap right side middle where the other run opens right and rip out which ever way is less dense. Looks like there's an open little Channel down past the open to the right and the left side may be up hill, but still looks nice.

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This was before I had any powder skis (still don't really). I was doing this in 88 waist.... yeah, it was tough.

Redneck Texans in the snow.

WC was great yesterday

Any update on Telluride snow in the next 7 - 10 days? The regular weather forecasts I see are predicting only an inch or two. But maybe that's just in town and not up on mountain.

Wednesday it should snow and maybe a shot Friday. Probs like 2-5 Wednesday then maybe 1-4 Thursday through Friday. The 14-15 inches is if the tracks pushes more south. La Niña so not great odds. 95% chance of snow Wednesday 40% Thursday night / Friday. 10-15% end of the year.

Most of the moisture will be staying North of Telly,

Anyone ever skied in Ushuaia, Argentina? Our waiter in Steamboat yesterday evening was from Buenos Aires and that's what he said when I asked him where to go. Thinking about another South American trip next summer. Ushuaia is the Southernmost ski area in the world apparently.

One thing I've learned from working with 10,001+ Argie J-1s: they know absolutely nothing about skiing. Even the ones that ski know nothing.

I've been and it's nothing special. I wouldn't go back. There are several better spots in the region.

Assuming he's talking about Cerro or Martial. We're buying a ski place in argentina and neither of those interested us at all

Went to Portillo and had a great time this past summer. I would not say the skiing was better than Colorado at all but still fun. Where in Argentina would be comparable to Portillo?

We're buying in Bariloche and plan on hitting Catedral Alta/Cerro Catedral/Nubes.

We picked there because during the summer months we're on the beach of Lago Nahuel and during the winter we're 30 minutes away from the "Vail" of Argentina. It's a low elevarion mountain but the area has great on piste and off piste terrain and the only decent snow making capabilities in Argentina. The snow quality is also much better than further south.

When we ski outside of the area we will probs go to Chile and ski La Parva (wife works a camp there) and the other 2 in The Valley: El Colorado y Valle Nevado

SS Vail BC all picked up 3 last night
Breck Key Snowmass 2

Looks like a good chance of snow the next 10 days. Lets see if it materializes.

Taos/ Angelfire REALLY struggling for snow. WC too.

Headed to inlaws in Jackson. 4ft expected over 10 which would be roughly 8ft in 17 days.

Good snow pushing through UT too. Fingers crossed.

If this 10 roller set ends up disappointing, it's gonna be a rough 3+ weeks. We really need a solid 12-15 in CO and probably 24-36 at mnimum to get UT up and moving. They have no base because they've had no help. If they can catch 18-24 inches, it will improve their ability to catch up w man made a ton.

Bad News: PC is 38 degrees today so 1 more day of a hard melt before hopefully a good kick.

Edit to add: not sure if anyone saw the news, we found out last night, that Sophie Hediger was killed yesterday in an Avy outside Davos. She and most of the Swiss National team train in Vail. We actually rented our triplex to her and several of the Swiss and the Dutch Squads last season after we moved. Please send prayers to her family and the rest of the team. I can't imagine what they're going through the week of Christmas w this news.

Forecast for North Central CO was just updated. Snow totals drop as you move south west and dries up completely as you move South east. Here are the Numbers moving from North to South/southwest and then South to South east.

Northwest:

SS expecting 31 over 10

Central/West of Cont Divide

Vail & BC expecting 20 over 10
Snowmass Breck 15
Keystone 12

San Juans (Southwest)

Telly 12
Purgatory 6

Sangre De Cristo (Central South)

Monarch 11

Sangre De Cristo (Southeast)

WC 5

UT:

PCCR 25-30
Solitide 36

And for the BIG BIG BIG winner

JH/GT 49 over 10

And for the BIG BIG BIG LOSER(s)

Angelfire 1
Taos 3

Where's everyone skiing over the Christmas break?

We got invited to heli ski the Skeena Range in BC next week. We're going with Last Frontier and base camping at Ripley Creek. If you've never Heli-Skied Alaska or BC and are looking for a great outfitter, I can't recommend them enough. Amazing operation and unbelievable terrain. Not cheap but well worth it. They have 2 lodges about 2 hours away from each other: Base 2 sleeps 36, Ripley Creek sleeps 24. They tenure over 10,100 square km (2,500,000 acres) with and avg 900m (2,950ft) of vert and a mximum of just over 2000 meters w 1000+ named runs. The average annual snowfall is 20 meters (20+ ft / 780 inches).

To put those Numbers in perspective, Wolf Creek is usually #1 in Colorado w 430 inches and if you COMBINED all of the CO ski Hills together they would be just over 128 sq km. The average heli outfit tenures around 2,100 sq km so you're accessing almost 5x the terrain. Not only that, they run max groups of 4 and only run 3 groups at a time from Ripley and BC2. Because of that, they guarantee your group won't even see another group during the ski day for the entire trip.

If you gals/guys have any questions or are interested in using them, lmk and I can get you a solid price. Their week packages normally run from $16,000-$20,000, their 5 days packages are $11,800 - $15,000 and 4 days are $10,800 - $12,200. I can usually get those prices knocked down 25-30% so anywhere from $7,500 for 4 days to $14,000 for the week.

The 7 Day trip guarantees 30.5k vertical meters (100,000ft) the 5 days guarantees 22k vertical meters (72,000ft) and the 4 days guarantees 17.5k vertical meters (57,500ft).

You can also do a 7 or 10 day safari that moves you from Ripley Creek to Base Camp 2. 7 Day safari is $19,500 and the 10 Day is $24,500. So after discount like $13,750 - $17,500.

Price includes double accomodations & meals, triple Certified guide (ACMG, UAIGM & CSGA), equipment if you need it, all safety gear (transmitter, airbag, shovel, radio & probe), and ground transfer. It DOESNT include airfare.

Hope everyone gets in some good turns over the break and as always be safe!

Heading to Park City 2-6. Really hoping for some snow over the next week. We run groomed blues mostly so won't be too terribly disappointed if it's mainly man made snow.

Who ever asking earlier about good BC off the beaten path ski hills that are never crowded and rip, check out Panorama and Kicking Horse. They are STEEP so not for beginners and most intermediates but if you like steep, they make Taos feel like Ski Cooper.

I don't know how I forgot them. They both slap heavy.

Sounds like we're just going to miss you, I'm headed to Park City with my brother on the 7th, skiing the 8th - 11th. The latest forecasts are looking much better for the next 10 days so really hoping that holds

Headed to Winter Park Friday, will be there thru the 2nd.

How's that looking?!

What Ive seen looks much better when you are there. Snow starting tomorrow.

Should be good on groomers next week. You really want heavy snow about 3/4 days before you arrive because You need them to drop hella rope. They have next to nothing open right now so if they catch 24-30 inches they will be able to catch a base and probs double the amount of terrain open. Bad News is they have to test proof and pass before they drop rope and that normally takes mountain ops at least a couple of days after fat dumps. So if they can catch 2-3ft by Monday then by probs Wednesday they will be able to drop rope. That would be huge as Itll spread out the crowds. 2-3ft on 15% open will be pushed off on whats open by the holiday crowds by the end of the snow day. Crazy but true. Right now the base is getting face ****ed by everyone funneling into the same space. If they can get to 40-50% open, the amount of stress on the base will be light years better and they can finally start stacking fake bake on real vs fake bake on iced over and sun baked fake bake. If you're running groomers the whole time you probs won't feel much diferente outside of not having to worry about gravel from the groomers grooving your bases. To me that's huge as I don't want my bases getting asphalt sand papered. Right now there's not even a Tree run that's accessable and there won't be until they drop more rope so it's probs something you don't even need to worry about.

Heavy snow on 15% open doesn't really do much because the crowds all funnel the same ribbon of death T2B. What you really want is heavy snow the week before or at mnimum 2-3 days before to open more terrain and spread out the crowds. Once more is open THEN 1-3ft will elvate the level of your vibes consciousness. With 15% open, they could catch 3ft in a day and by EOD it's pushed and packed down to maybe 8-10 inches. Rule of thumb is divide POW 4+ by 4 and that's What Will add to the base. So, 36 inches equals about 9-12 inches of base build. To put that in perspective right now PC is short about 24 inches of average base depth. That would mean they need to catch 72-96 inches of powder to pack back to the average. Thats a steep hill to climb but 30 inches will get them about 1/3-2/5 of the way there.

2 expected before Friday w 10-13 between Friday and Monday. SO….itll be as nice as the conditions have been this year. That doesn't mean a ton because It's been a low snow year for WP but it's better than this week or last. They're at 30 base and 61% open. So you should be able to find space and terrain to play. They picked up 3 last night and I've heard the trees arent awful but def need about a ft. So, I think by Tuesday they should be decent fluff w more rope likely to drop Tuesday/Wedneddsy of the forecast is valid.

Only big potencial Ouch right now are the winds. Estimated Thursday night - Monday morning of 15-20 mph winds w gusts reaching 35-40 mph. SO, depending on the wind, you may have some delayed openings or even morning or day lift closeres. WP closes lifts when they record wind gusts of 40.01mph and they stay closed for + 30 minutes from the last recorded 40.01mph gust. Given the direction of the chair lift and the coverage, you may have some that hit that thershold while others that face other directions or are more Protected stay open. If ANY chair records 60+ it's an auto mountain close. So yeah you'll have powder but you may have to navigate delayed opens or midday close depending on how hard this thing blown through. It's supposed to be a FAST and hard hitter Friday and Monday. If I was you, I'd switch from praying for snow to praying for low winds.

Telluride 1/1 - 1/7. Anyone else?

Any opinion on Winter Park compared to this time last year?

We've been this time frame the last 4 years… 2021 was good, 2022 was amazing, 2023 was the suck on busy blues on the Mary Jane side.

2022 may have been first week in January.

Bayou City said:

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Where's everyone skiing over the Christmas break?

We got invited to heli ski the Skeena Range in BC next week. We're going with Last Frontier and base camping at Ripley Creek. If you've never Heli-Skied Alaska or BC and are looking for a great outfitter, I can't recommend them enough. Amazing operation and unbelievable terrain. Not cheap but well worth it. They have 2 lodges about 2 hours away from each other: Base 2 sleeps 36, Ripley Creek sleeps 24. They tenure over 10,100 square km (2,500,000 acres) with and avg 900m (2,950ft) of vert and a mximum of just over 2000 meters w 1000+ named runs. The average annual snowfall is 20 meters (20+ ft / 780 inches).

To put those Numbers in perspective, Wolf Creek is usually #1 in Colorado w 430 inches and if you COMBINED all of the CO ski Hills together they would be just over 128 sq km. The average heli outfit tenures around 2,100 sq km so you're accessing almost 5x the terrain. Not only that, they run max groups of 4 and only run 3 groups at a time from Ripley and BC2. Because of that, they guarantee your group won't even see another group during the ski day for the entire trip.

If you gals/guys have any questions or are interested in using them, lmk and I can get you a solid price. Their week packages normally run from $16,000-$20,000, their 5 days packages are $11,800 - $15,000 and 4 days are $10,800 - $12,200. I can usually get those prices knocked down 25-30% so anywhere from $7,500 for 4 days to $14,000 for the week.

The 7 Day trip guarantees 30.5k vertical meters (100,000ft) the 5 days guarantees 22k vertical meters (72,000ft) and the 4 days guarantees 17.5k vertical meters (57,500ft).

You can also do a 7 or 10 day safari that moves you from Ripley Creek to Base Camp 2. 7 Day safari is $19,500 and the 10 Day is $24,500. So after discount like $13,750 - $17,500.

Price includes double accomodations & meals, triple Certified guide (ACMG, UAIGM & CSGA), equipment if you need it, all safety gear (transmitter, airbag, shovel, radio & probe), and ground transfer. It DOESNT include airfare.

Hope everyone gets in some good turns over the break and as always be safe!

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That sounds amazing. Headed to JH tomorrow and moving to MT in 2 weeks having several ski places within short drives. Hoping my kids get skilled enough and that I stay young enough to do an epic Heli Skication together as family in about 2 years. Merry Christmas.

Nice! Were there now visiting in laws. 39 inches Thursday through Monday so I hope you guys/gals like POW. Then we're off to BC on Wednesday for the heli trip then back to MX until Feb when we're back at Snowmass/Beaver/Vail Not a bad way to close out 2024 and start 2025.

When you're here it should be really nice up through Granny Chutes, Tower 3, Alta, Hoops Gap, & Corbets if you like steep gnar. We're doing the OB hike up to Central Couloir mañana por la mañana.

Bayou City said:

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Nice! Were there now visiting in laws. 39 inches Thursday through Monday so I hope you guys/gals like POW. Then we're off to BC on Wednesday for the heli trip then back to MX until Feb when we're back at Snowmass/Beaver/Vail Not a bad way to close out 2024 and start 2025.

When you're here it should be really nice up through Granny Chutes, Tower 3, Alta, Hoops Gap, & Corbets if you like steep gnar. We're doing the OB hike up to Central Couloir mañana por la mañana.

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POW is great but probably going to take me an hour to dig my truck out, while borrowing the airports shovel.

My Brother his kids and my goofy cousin from the picture above will be there the 30th - 13th. If you want their #, they all rip (not like us and our kids) and my cousin (better than me) was ski patrol there for years so he knows some killer lines.

For the WP crowd, bring some WARM clothes and some gaiters for the wind. It's gonna be 0 to -10 to 7 feels like Thursday - Saturday and -5 to -15 to -9 Monday morning - Wednesday.

If you're waxing skis or having them waxed you REALLY want a solid blue base w a smattering of Carbon. Keep the purp and amarillo at home. If you go out on all mountain wax (purple) or unwaxed, life will be a 2/10 DNB.

2024 SME for Berthoud Pass is within 2% of 2023 at this point in the season. WP doesn't have it's own station like most of the major hills in CO.

Overall the State is in the 18% percentile over 40. So it's a bottom 7 out of past 40 season. Bark bark woof.

BC and CB currently have the best snow. BC is at 108% CB is 104% average base