Its been a tough winter for snowfall in the lower 48. All over the American west we see a lot of red. In the PNW snow totals have not stacked up even as precipitation numbers are strong. Storms have been too warm and come in as rain. Colorado has generally hung around 60%-80% of average and the Tetons are in the middle of one of the worse seasons in years. The northern Wasatch has been one of the only spots which as not done terribly this season so far.
So as skiers what do we make of this? And more importantly how do we make the most of it? For skiers from Colorado–other than planning our ski trips to Utah–we have a couple things to consider when trying to make the most of a dry season.
It is important to understand that storms can produce incredibly varied snowfall distributions. One valley might be bone dry and 15 miles away it can be 40% deeper. The ‘flow’ of a storm is key and if you nerd about about this stuff you become obsessed with the ‘flow’. As skiers we need to look for the nuance in the mountains and see if there are some zones that are ahead of the headlines and not actually as dry as everywhere else.
Early season this is extremely important because there is a critical depth of snow required to resist faceting and remain supportable for skiing. Some places have not got past this threshold and are not really skiable. The places that have been more favored have that depth, and are fun to ski.
The season thus far for the Front Range and Summit Co has been characterized by limited larger storms and prolonged high pressure periods. This has meant that only areas that did really well during the limited storm flows are deep enough to ski.
Instead of lots of smaller storms with varying flows–essentially averaging out snow depths over the larger region–we’ve had a couple big ones. If a pass didn’t get the right flow it just been out of luck and off the table. As we can see here from one of the Berthoud Pass stations, the only thing keeping Berthoud pass in the average range is how well it benefited from two more significant storm events.
Finding those areas that have gotten a critical mass of snow to provide supportable skiing is the key. There are only three passes I’ve been interested in skiing at this season so far.
Using the snotel map at the top of the post can be a great place to start figuring out where to look. The other option is using the CAIC weather station list and sorting the station listings by SWE. This allows me to quickly see which areas are favored. It also lets me see what areas are getting to a more critical depth to allow skiing. This season stations getting over 5″ SWE have been far more supportable for skiing.
As we can see here, a significant number of stations in the vail/summit zone just made it over the 5″ line during the last storm. Hopefully this starts to open up more terrain for skiing. This image also illustrates the variable nature of snowfall. Vail/Vail pass has benefited from flows so far and has almost 30% more snow for most of the season than down south just 15 miles on Freemont Pass. In Colorado its not uncommon to get 5% density snow. That means 1″ of SWE can equate to 20″ of storm snow!
Being successful as backcountry skiers means tuning into and tracking the mountain snow environment. Taking advantage of all the digital resources is a great way to get a leg up on conditions and make the most out of all the effort you put into the skin track.
If you’re interested in taking your backcountry knowledge to the next level consider taking a AIARE course with us. We’re the only provider in Colorado who will guarantee you’ll work with a certified guide. Our philosophy is to focus on tuning into the mountain snow environment and becoming an effective backcountry traveler, we try not to focus on just avalanches. This wholistic approach will help you understand avalanche hazard better in the long term and will help you get the most out of your time in the backcountry.
Sniffing out some unusually fun conditions this January on Berthoud Pass: