Loveland to begin making snow today

[Geoff]

WROD skiing in general does not interest me.

It's way better than the alternative..... not skiing.

Tony has a geography problem It's a massive drive to get to WROD. If the lift is 2 miles from your front door or you have a vacation home and it's 2 1/2 hours to get to it from the flatlands, it's much easier to wander out there for a couple of hours and then go do something else for the rest of the day (like corporate drone telecommuting from the sofa).

Sure, I'd rather every day be a powder day but a couple hours of skiing WROD is a better alternative than going to the gym.

 

[Patrick]

WROD skiing in general does not interest me.

It's way better than the alternative..... not skiing.

Tony has a geography problem It's a massive drive to get to WROD. If the lift is 2 miles from your front door or you have a vacation home and it's 2 1/2 hours to get to it from the flatlands, it's much easier to wander out there for a couple of hours and then go do something else for the rest of the day (like corporate drone telecommuting from the sofa).

Sure, I'd rather every day be a powder day but a couple hours of skiing WROD is a better alternative than going to the gym.

Amen.

Not a fan of WROD, but if it's close...why not. However I'll never understand the bunch of people jumping on everything skiing in September-October to squeeze on their parcel of ice in November and then desert the ski world in March when the skiing is really good and discounted and not some come back until September (I mean - ski forums, ski magazine, ski movies, etc). I don't know, but I don't really read ski mags in ski season, I wait until the summer.

I've been fortunate as my last ski days in November have been far from the WROD, regardless of what Tony says. :mrgreen:

 

[rfarren]

One data point does not a trend make.

Clearly, but what I experienced was a fairly typical system, at least according to my friend who has a condo in Dillon.

Not sure why your experience would be any more instructive than when I skied at Loveland and A-Basin for a week in mid-March during the "Storm of the Century" in 2004. They got 86" at Loveland, 72" at A-Basin, and just under a foot at Vail.

Because those storms buck the trend. If you are familiar with the weather patterns of Colorado, you would know that Vail tends to suck out more moisture per storm than Loveland and A-basin on average. Furthermore, if you are lucky enough to have a friend who splits his time between Vail and A-Basin who confirms that your experience is pretty concurrent with the average, you can say you have seen what happens often.

I trust Tony's data linked below as being much more authoritative.

No doubt about that. He is the man when it comes to stats! In this case I think his stats confirm my hunch based on what I saw.

One thing to keep in mind is that although A-Basin's measurement is taken at a roughly similar altitude as those at Vail/BC and Winter Park, it also tops out upwards of 1000' higher in elevation. I'd be willing to bet that if the measurements were taken near the summit, the difference wouldn't be nearly as stark.

It might not, if memory serves me correctly the summit is not protected. It could be quite wind scoured. Where is the snow stake at Vail?

Additionally, when you factor in the snow preservation factor (Montezuma Basin notwithstanding), I think you'll find base depths at A-Basin the equal of just about any resort in CO this side of Wolf Creek.

Anyhow, you are absolutely right about snow preservation at A-basin.

 

[Tony Crocker]

a couple hours of skiing WROD is a better alternative than going to the gym.

I agree. But for that to be an option, you need to:
1) Live very close-by, AND
2) Have a season pass, as it's not worth the marginal cost of a day ticket.

Clearly, but what I experienced was a fairly typical system, at least according to my friend who has a condo in Dillon.

This is probably true. The Gore Range/Vail Pass is clearly a snow magnet that captures a lot of moisture before it can get to Summit County. Within Vail's vast expanse you can also notice snow depths increase as you move east toward Vail Pass.

However, the spring moisture drawn up to the Continental Divide is a significant source of snow. March is the highest snow month at Loveland/Berthoud/A-Basin, April is 2nd highest, and that 29 inch May average for A-Basin is so anomalous that it likely exceeds even AltaBird for the month. I have heard anecdotally that Pikes Peak gets more snow in spring than winter.

It might not, if memory serves me correctly the summit is not protected. It could be quite wind scoured. Where is the snow stake at Vail?

Loveland/A-Basin are defintely wind-scoured at the top; that's why it takes until January to get some of that terrain covered. Vail's snow stake is very likely sheltered since its trees go to the top in some places. I find Vail's base depth numbers to be conservative relative to other Colorado areas. But it could also be because Vail is one of those places where most of the mountain skis fairly well on 3-4 feet. And there is not a lot of wind.

 

[EMSC]

I have heard anecdotally that Pikes Peak gets more snow in spring than winter.

Tough to tell on the snowfall vs 'snow that sticks' metric for Pikes, Mt Evans and Long's peak etc... (all are east of the divide). I can say easily that they all get blown nearly free of snow above treeline most of the winter and then take on a much more material snow pack/coating above treeline in the spring when the storms are wetter higher up. I've always wondered if Colo got big wet storms in early season if it would help the coverage/opening of steep terrain & cover the rocks like coastal resorts. I tend toward thinking it wouldn't matter as much as one might think since the very cold nights mid-winter would just dry the snow out and turn it into sugar snow just below the surface (big avi danger).

I find Vail's base depth numbers to be conservative relative to other Colorado areas.

And also Abasin in that regard. Most of the others (at least close-to-the-front-range ones), have varying degrees of both storm totals and base depth 'inflation'.

 

[Geoff]

a couple hours of skiing WROD is a better alternative than going to the gym.

I agree. But for that to be an option, you need to:
1) Live very close-by, AND
2) Have a season pass, as it's not worth the marginal cost of a day ticket.

Check

and

Check

Some of us have opted to structure our lives so no thought is involved. What do I do for the winter 6 months? I ski every chance I get and let everything else in my personal life slide. Some days are really good. Some days outright suck. You'll never know for sure sitting on the sofa which it will be. I'm a salt water junkie and pretty comfortable with my social life in New England so I have never opted for what His Editorship did moving to better ski country.

 

[Tony Crocker]

I'm a salt water junkie

We have a few of these out here too. Despite the greater distance from skiing (and surely a higher ability level) Adam seems quite attached to San Diego for the surfing. Like Geoff's WROD, surfing is typically a couple of hours at a time and demands easy access, combined with high frequency if you want to become competent.