Colorado 2021-2022 Colorado Ski Resorts/Conditions/Meetups

[Rdputnam515]

From Dillion/Silverthorne/Frisco/Georgetown I'd only plan on skiing WP on a day I'm headed back to Denver rather than returning back. Georgetown is the best option if weather is good to hop between WP and Abasin, but it requires a mtn pass for either. If weather socks you in, staying in WP or Frisco/Dillion/Silverthorne and skiing what is close by. If you get that much snow, whatever is nearby will be fun to ski.



It's better than Loveland pass IMHO but a bit longer. Less exposed up top than Loveland (berthoud pass is all below tree line) leads to less blowing snow issues and you have a wider highway in most places. Still on either you're liable to need snow tires if there is a significant snow.

Thanks.

yeah my wife would freak lol.

heading over the pass in a BClass with 3 peak tires still seems ok to me but the wife would kill me.

ive been up berthoud lots in summer but never in winter. We usually ski LL or summit.

 

[tball]

So I'm doing a 3 week trip out in Utah Feb-Mar 22, driving out from NC. My last day in Utah will be Mar 15. At this point I'm planning on starting to drive back east but not before getting in some skiing in Colorado. I will have the Ikon pass and will meet up with some old childhood friends that live in Denver and Boulder area. My first stop will be at Steamboat- haven't been there in over 20 years (very sad of me). The plan is to do a couple days there and then move on to either A-Basin or Winter Park for a couple more days. Will end up back in Boulder area and get at least 1 day at Eldora before starting the long drive home.
I've skied both A-Basin and WP, but not in later March. Will one be better than the other at this point? My friends in Boulder (big skiers) said that sometimes WP closes in later March. Since I'm trying to get the lodging figured out ahead of time I'm looking for input and some direction on which place to hit. I really would rather ski 2 days at either resort instead of trying to get a day in at each.

Also, consider Copper with your Ikon pass. It's higher and has more north-facing terrain than WP, so the surface conditions can be better if it's warm in late March. It could also dump and be better at either. Who knows. There is usually plenty of snow at all the resorts in March, regardless.

How will the moguls been on Mary Jane? Big and soft

Big bumps for sure. Soft if it dumps or melts. Firm if not.

Here's an example of MJ bumps in late March when it hasn't snowed for a bit. The first run is on Phantom Bridge which faces north so it's firm and never softened. The second run is on Long Haul which faces east so it softened in the morning but was refreezing in the afternoon when the video was shot.

 

[Chip]

Also, consider Copper with your Ikon pass. It's higher and has more north-facing terrain than WP, so the surface conditions can be better if it's warm in late March. It could also dump and be better at either. Who knows. There is usually plenty of snow at all the resorts in March, regardless.

Trying to go to mountains that I haven't skied in awhile. Been to Copper plenty of times- love it, but want something different.
In the end, I have a feeling the trip will be kind of go where the winds blow at the time.
The only time I was at WP- the kids were little and I really didn't get to ski MJ much- really would love to go back- thanks for the video.

 

[Jerez]

And so it begins.... Winter Park/MJ snow in the hills.

 

[mikel]

Joel has given his early season thoughts on what the weak la nina might mean for Summit County resorts/areas this winter.

"This year, there’s a 70% to 80% chance that La Nina will arrive this winter, and models are showing that La Nina will be weak to moderate.

So what does this mean for our ski season? Unfortunately, not much."

Weak La Nina in the forecast: Here’s what it means for ski season in Summit County

As the ski season approaches, everyone wants to know how much snow Summit County will get this year. Joel Gratz, founding meteorologist of Open Snow, explained that at this point in the year, the only...

www.summitdaily.com

That is a nice shot of A Basin. Looks like it was taken from a drone flying over this area looking over to A basin. I took this the day before the SD shot

 

[nay]

@dbostedo, well my buddy reminds me of the absent minded professor. He may be remembering one time that happened many years ago....

2011/2. Can’t draw anything from that year, A-Basin only made it to early May. WP often closes with max snowpack in late April…at least before they started extending the Jane season into mid-May. It sits on the Continental Divide and benefits from the seasonal shift to max snow there (WP/Loveland/A-Basin) in April/May.

 

[nay]

Joel has given his early season thoughts on what the weak la nina might mean for Summit County resorts/areas this winter.

"This year, there’s a 70% to 80% chance that La Nina will arrive this winter, and models are showing that La Nina will be weak to moderate.

So what does this mean for our ski season? Unfortunately, not much."

Weak La Nina in the forecast: Here’s what it means for ski season in Summit County

As the ski season approaches, everyone wants to know how much snow Summit County will get this year. Joel Gratz, founding meteorologist of Open Snow, explained that at this point in the year, the only...

www.summitdaily.com

That is a nice shot of A Basin. Looks like it was taken from a drone flying over this area looking over to A basin. I took this the day before the SD shot

View attachment 142846

I’m concerned that this return of small and tired La Niña is teeing up a repeat of last year, which would tee up a repeat of this year in terms of fires. It doesn’t seem like the pattern is breaking. But…Colorado isn’t really ENSO affected except in the SW zone, so it doesn’t really mean anything.

Regardless, we did pull the trigger on Monarch season passes this year and expect to close on our new place in Gunnison at the end of Oct . So my I-70 season is going to be split between 3 Copper Days, 3 Loveland Days, I have a pass at A-Basin and we get 3 days there on top, and then we can ski a bunch of stuff on that pass to the west and SW. Pretty stoked about this, I love hunting for good snow on The Ridge in a good season, but this will be a super fun change. And then next year is maybe Epic if we want to pivot to CB - the free bus has a stop right by our place. Time to get these bad boys mounted up.

 

[mikel]

Congrats on your new place. Weekends / holidays will be tough but if you ski Copper during the week let me know. It's been a few years since you've been to Copper? Don't forget about the parking spots up front in Beeler for your new Subie.

 

[jmeb]

Congrats on the new place @nay -- and sticks. Will be nice to have someone to show us around Monarch when we're down there .

 

[nay]

 

[Rdputnam515]

Also, consider Copper with your Ikon pass. It's higher and has more north-facing terrain than WP, so the surface conditions can be better if it's warm in late March. It could also dump and be better at either. Who knows. There is usually plenty of snow at all the resorts in March, regardless.


Big bumps for sure. Soft if it dumps or melts. Firm if not.

Here's an example of MJ bumps in late March when it hasn't snowed for a bit. The first run is on Phantom Bridge which faces north so it's firm and never softened. The second run is on Long Haul which faces east so it softened in the morning but was refreezing in the afternoon when the video was shot.

Dang nice rock hit there. Hopefully no core shots lol. Nice bump work!

 

[Ken_R]

Joel has given his early season thoughts on what the weak la nina might mean for Summit County resorts/areas this winter.

"This year, there’s a 70% to 80% chance that La Nina will arrive this winter, and models are showing that La Nina will be weak to moderate.

So what does this mean for our ski season? Unfortunately, not much."

Weak La Nina in the forecast: Here’s what it means for ski season in Summit County

As the ski season approaches, everyone wants to know how much snow Summit County will get this year. Joel Gratz, founding meteorologist of Open Snow, explained that at this point in the year, the only...

www.summitdaily.com

That is a nice shot of A Basin. Looks like it was taken from a drone flying over this area looking over to A basin. I took this the day before the SD shot

View attachment 142846

Weak La Nina around Nov~Dec generally sucks for i70 resorts (like last year which was -0.9ºC on avg with a peak of -1.4ºC in Oct~Nov) and Colorado in general unless a few solid storms sneak in but overall it will be meh for the start and mid-season, spring is always a wildcard. BUT if the La Nina is stronger by Nov~Dec. then it can be consistently amazing. (strong meaning -3 to -5ºC anomalies) That has not happened since the 2010-2011 winter season.

 

[Andrew Pitts]

Looks like the USFS has given Winter Park the go ahead to replace Pioneer Express with a six pack that includes a MID-POINT LOAD STATION!! With two kids and a wife who snowboards who refuse to use the existing Pioneer due to the ridiculously long flat leading to the lift (I don't blame them either), I heartily approve. Hopefully Alterra will have this in their plan before next season.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/nfs/11558/www/nepa/115259_FSPLT3_5660399.pdf

 

[Errand Wolfe]

Looks like the USFS has given Winter Park the go ahead to replace Pioneer Express with a six pack that includes a MID-POINT LOAD STATION!! With two kids and a wife who snowboards who refuse to use the existing Pioneer due to the ridiculously long flat leading to the lift (I don't blame them either), I heartily approve. Hopefully Alterra will have this in their plan before next season.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/nfs/11558/www/nepa/115259_FSPLT3_5660399.pdf

While I agree the runout was ridiculous it also kept that area relatively open when the rest of the resort was packed. Also in my short time skiing I've started to doubt whether the general public can actually handle mid point load stations LOL.

 

[doc]

Polling on that runout is but a small price to pay to keep the snowboarder crowd down on Pio, and the bumps on Gambler and Aces and Eights reasonably shaped. I'd prefer they keep it as is.

 

[Errand Wolfe]

Polling on that runout is but a small price to pay to keep the snowboarder crowd down on Pio, and the bumps on Gambler and Aces and Eights reasonably shaped. I'd prefer they keep it as is.

Those runs were always good for finding some untouched powder lines mid to late day. This part of the mountain used to be uncrowded but management is gonna fix that!

 

[jmeb]

First weekend of the season at the hill. I love the tundras fall colors. Our junior avy pup got lots of attention. Snuck in a run up Dry Gulch in the afternoon hoping that traffic would die down…that was overly optimistic .

 

[Jerez]

Cute pup.

 

[mikel]

A little stoke from some webcams? ... @tball some nice snow happening. Check out Excelerator's webcam live shot.

 

[ski otter 2]

Boy, this is in the nick of time, since there is a new forest fire above and east of north Silverthorne, just down the road from A Bay, that started near the Ptarmigan trail and they think was probably human caused. Just over 600 homes put on pre-evacuation alert last night and this morning, and two more areas added to that this evening farther in towards I-70 and Silverthorne, as a precaution. About 180 people evacuated.

I was just on that trail hiking on Sunday.

As of right now, a cold rain is falling in Silverthorne and will hopefully dampen the fire and smoke. Lots of smoke, even though still a fairly small fire (maybe 85 acres, seems like). Flames can be seen in a few places still. The weather is calling for snow above 9,500 ft. tonight and maybe tomorrow, so that should help quite a lot.