Is Pomerelle a Powder Paradise?

[nathanvg]

I've never been but Pomerelle claims 500" of snow a year. Anyone know if that's accurate? @Tony Crocker maybe you know?

I enjoy going to smaller ski areas and a big powder day at a low crowd ski area could be really cool. Looking at topographical maps, Pomerelle is low pitch and a little under 1k vertical. So nothing too impressive but might still be worth a stop sometime.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Pomerelle claims 500" of snow a year

Here's the "brochure quote" that he refers to, from this page. Can anyone provide a reality check and (if true) explain why it's never included in the upper echelon of U.S. ski areas for yearly snow?

 

[Tony Crocker]

Trip report from 2010.

Is Pomerelle a powder paradise?

I'd say no, because overall the topography is too flat. Pomerelle has a very successful niche as a learning area with cheap lift tickets.

I've never been but Pomerelle claims 500" of snow a year. Anyone know if that's accurate? @Tony Crocker maybe you know?

I do not know. In general I'm inclined to reject any brochure quote of 400 inches or more without hard data or very persuasive climatology rationale. That's why I rejected Powder Mt.'s claim of 500 well before I had any data from there. It's no higher than Snowbasin and just slightly father north. I have not collected data direct from Powder Mt. but have collected in-season website data Dec.-Mar. for 16 seasons. That data shows PowMow 108% of Snowbasin, which means 350 inches season snowfall vs. 325.

For Zrankings I had to make estimates for areas without directly obtained data, and I also ascribed high, medium or low confidence in the accuracy of the estimates. For Pomerelle I estimated 325 inches with low confidence. Maybe that's harsh, but there's no other ski area in the southern 2/3 of Idaho even close to 300. Farther north Brundage brags of "best snow in Idaho" and it has 36 years of data averaging 296 inches. Lost Trail has a reputation for abundant powder and its brochure quote is 300 inches, which I accepted with medium confidence. Lookout Pass is the most well known snowy microclimate in Idaho. I have 12 years of Dec.-Mar. data, which by indexing projects to 417 inches per season.

Pomerelle is difficult because it's in a completely different sector of mountains from anywhere else. Nonetheless the ski area elevation range is 7,700-8,700 and the highest peak in the region is 9,200. I do not see a climatology rationale for more snow than Snowbasin/Powder Mt.

This inquiry prompted me to look for SNOTELs. It turns out there is one, Howell Canyon #435, in Pomerelle at 7,980 feet. The 21-year average Apr. 1 base depth is 69.2 inches and the 43-year average Apr. 1 SWE is 26.2 inches. The Saddle Mt. SNOTEL #727 in Lost Trail at 7,940 feet has a 23-year average Apr. 1 base depth of 72.6 inches and a 55-year average Apr. 1 SWE of 24.9 inches. The SNOTEL #814 in Park City's Thaynes Canyon at 9,230 feet has a 27-year average Apr. 1 base depth of 66.9 inches and a 36-year average Apr. 1 SWE of 23.5 inches. Nearby Park City Summit house has a 46-year snowfall average of 294 inches. I'm now more comfortable with that 325 inch snowfall estimate for Pomerelle.

Yes there are a few SNOTELs in non-coastal 450+ inch snowfall microclimates (max base/SWE):
Snowbird 9,177 ft: 102.0/42.6
Targhee 9,260 ft: 112.9/46.3
Tower (Buffalo Pass, CO) 10,500 ft: 115.9/47.8
Flattop Mt. (Glacier NP, MT) 6,300 ft: 121.1/46.2

​

 

[nathanvg]

Trip report from 2010.


I'd say no, because overall the topography is too flat. Pomerelle has a very successful niche as a learning area with cheap lift tickets.


I do not know. In general I'm inclined to reject any brochure quote of 400 inches or more without hard data or very persuasive climatology rationale. That's why I rejected Powder Mt.'s claim of 500 well before I had any data from there. It's no higher than Snowbasin and just slightly father north. I have not collected data direct from Powder Mt. but have collected in-season website data Dec.-Mar. for 16 seasons. That data shows PowMow 108% of Snowbasin, which means 350 inches season snowfall vs. 325.

For Zrankings I had to make estimates for areas without directly obtained data, and I also ascribed high, medium or low confidence in the accuracy of the estimates. For Pomerelle I estimated 325 inches with low confidence. Maybe that's harsh, but there's no other ski area in the southern 2/3 of Idaho even close to 300. Farther north Brundage brags of "best snow in Idaho" and it has 36 years of data averaging 296 inches. Lost Trail has a reputation for abundant powder and its brochure quote is 300 inches, which I accepted with medium confidence. Lookout Pass is the most well known snowy microclimate in Idaho. I have 12 years of Dec.-Mar. data, which by indexing projects to 417 inches per season.

Pomerelle is difficult because it's in a completely different sector of mountains from anywhere else. Nonetheless the ski area elevation range is 7,700-8,700 and the highest peak in the region is 9,200. I do not see a climatology rationale for more snow than Snowbasin/Powder Mt.

This inquiry prompted me to look for SNOTELs. It turns out there is one, Howell Canyon #435, in Pomerelle at 7,980 feet. The 21-year average Apr. 1 base depth is 69.2 inches and the 43-year average Apr. 1 SWE is 26.2 inches. The Saddle Mt. SNOTEL #727 in Lost Trail at 7,940 feet has a 23-year average Apr. 1 base depth of 72.6 inches and a 55-year average Apr. 1 SWE of 24.9 inches. The SNOTEL #814 in Park City's Thaynes Canyon at 9,230 feet has a 27-year average Apr. 1 base depth of 66.9 inches and a 36-year average Apr. 1 SWE of 23.5 inches. Nearby Park City Summit house has a 46-year snowfall average of 294 inches. I'm now more comfortable with that 325 inch snowfall estimate for Pomerelle.

Yes there are a few SNOTELs in non-coastal 450+ inch snowfall microclimates (max base/SWE):
Snowbird 9,177 ft: 102.0/42.6
Targhee 9,260 ft: 112.9/46.3
Tower (Buffalo Pass, CO) 10,500 ft: 115.9/47.8
Flattop Mt. (Glacier NP, MT) 6,300 ft: 121.1/46.2

​

Thanks Tony. That's a good idea to use snotel data. I'm more likely to ski other areas in the region but may make it to Pomerelle at some point.

On a related topic, Idaho has some funky areas. I'd like to try out blizzard: https://liftblog.com/platter-blizzard-mountain-id/