Western Weather 2017-18 and Later

Didn't even notice the new season's weather thread till today, lol.

Cold fall. Several snow storms in the mtns so far. Super cold from last night through Tues morning (temps in the teens at altitude).

I expect A-Basin to open later this week. Loveland is much iffier; they refuse to cover a blue trail to start out, which would be dramatically shorter in length and thus much less snow making than the ridiculously long green and flat stuff they open with. So I expect them to get 80% of the way there just as the temps warm up barely too much for more snowmaking and push their opening off by days or even a week+. It's just never made any sense to open the way Loveland does, IMO.

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And the winner is....
Timberline to open Palmer October 7th for advanced skiers & riders
Timberline is pleased to announce it will be opening Palmer Snowfield on weekends for skiing and snowboarding starting Oct. 7 and 8 (weather permitting). The Palmer Chairlift will operate from 8am to 3pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Lift tickets are $61 each and will be available at Guest Services in Timberline’s Wy’East Day Lodge. 2017/2018 Timberline Season Pass holders may use their new pass!

There will be some snow grooming on Palmer for a better experience; however, conditions can change rapidly. Early season snow conditions are extremely variable with the possibility of ice in the mornings and thaw in the afternoon. Skiers and riders are urged to use extreme caution. The Palmer Snowfield is recommended for advanced skiers and riders only.

Stay tuned to the Timberline Lodge Conditions page for future operating times and lift schedule. The operating schedule will be dependent on weather conditions.

Terrain parks are not scheduled to open at this time.

For those not interested in skiing or riding but very interested in seeing the snow at Timberline, come up and enjoy hiking and sightseeing around the lodge (sledding and tubing is not permitted). Many of Timberline’s Mt. Hood restaurants will also be open offering breakfast, lunch, dinner, and drinks with a view.

Be advised: Palmer Snowfield conditions are suitable for advanced skiers and riders only.

Be aware and be safe, early season conditions exist.

Purchase your Timberline Season Pass!
 
Tony Crocker":15mu9n2f said:
There will be some snow grooming on Palmer for a better experience; however, conditions can change rapidly. Early season snow conditions are extremely variable with the possibility of ice in the mornings and thaw in the afternoon. Skiers and riders are urged to use extreme caution. The Palmer Snowfield is recommended for advanced skiers and riders only.
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Yikes. I'd take a firm, but newly man-made WROD over that (at least most of the time). BTW A-Basin has been up to 2 trails for the past several days already which, while still crowded, does reduce the craziness a fair bit.
 
I think that's boilerplate CYA language from Timberline. The bottom line is that Palmer is quite depleted by its Labor Day summer closing with a WROD rebuilt every night on the lower third of skiing. So Palmer does not reopen in October without substantial natural snow, of which I heard there was at least 2 feet. In many if not most seasons Palmer does not open at all until late spring, as the lift gets too much ice/rime during winter storms.
 
Some Halloween ghost must have pulled the snow switch at the Great Northern Bar! Steady valley snow totals about 5" to 10". Ski hill has 8" to 10" at the base and 20" to 30" on top. Skining the Benny Up trail I counted 5 fan guns blowing some base on Tony Matt. One run of boot top powder and knee deep flora.
 
Snow continued thru sunday nite. Yesturdays skin up was rewarded with great untracked upper mountain skiiing,the lower half was still fun but took a toll on my skiis.
 
Well I'll see you all Dec 13 to 17...let it snow.
New boots and fat skis too. Since me and Marc had the same boots for about the same amount of time I figured it was time. And last years insane depths , well the 105's weren't big enough. Head Kore 117 should cover it.
 
You'll need something big in early December. All of the weather guys are calling for UT, CA to miss out as far as we can see for November. You might want to check out Targhee, which has already had 90 inches snow and has a 49-inch base.
 
Tony Crocker":2bhqnnjs said:
You'll need something big in early December. All of the weather guys are calling for UT, CA to miss out as far as we can see for November. You might want to check out Targhee, which has already had 90 inches snow and has a 49-inch base.
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You heard it here first. Five weeks out, Kingslug and I are being told to move our mid-December trips away from the Wasatch.
 
Five weeks out is way too early to draw that conclusion. But Targhee is loaded with snow and driveable from SLC if the dry spell persists. Maybe 10-15% odds of that now. If you have a plane ticket and a car rental you have nothing to worry about.
 
I remember several times arriving when conditions where not that good. The Bazinga it dumps and High T open up. Last year we got interlodged it dumped so hard. year before they forecast 3 inches and 18 fell. So..who knows.
 
Yesterdays skin up revealed a more consolidated snow pack 10 "- 15" at the base elevation 4500'. Summit and northern aspects are holding 20" - 30". WMR still says chairs turn Dec. 7 .
 
Saturday the parking lot was filled as all sorts of snow lovers swormed the hill. I checked out the new installation of chair 5 and East Rim skied great. Snow forcast tonite then warming.
 
he weekend storm split and delivered nada, so Sunday I did a silly/stupid tour south of rt.2 near Stanton Creek.A solid snowpack of 20" to 40" from 4000' up to 5500'. Mondays snow began at 10am when I started up. Wet and heavy the skiing was still fun.Today looked like maybe the last decent day before the warm spell.A beautiful skin with breaking clouds and filtered light was rewarded with gorilla turns through smooth styro~snow.
 
So..how much snow does Alta Snowbird need to be..ski able? I'll be there the 13th and its not looking promising. Never seen it like this.
 
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