Schweitzer or Wolf Creek

H

higgins9875

New member
I'm trying to hit some of my bucket list places. Which would be better this year in the third week of March, Wolf Creek or Schweitzer? I'm looking for powder and trees especially - night life not a consideration. I have been to a couple of the snowcat ops in BC near Nelson and really enjoyed the terrain that Valhalla uses.
My analysis is that I'm trying to balance altitude, weather patterns and crowds. Both places are equally accessable for me from the East coast. Any suggestions would be appreciated. thanks.
 
I can't comment on Wolf creek but Schweitzer is having a great year, they had a huge storm last week (33 inches in 48hrs) on top of a solid deep base. I was there mid Jan and there were no rocks to be found. Sandpoint was a quiet little town with cheap lodging and flying into Spokane was cheap and the drive was pretty easy (flat). I think Wolf creek is pretty good every year, this seems like a standout for Schweitzer and worth a shot. I loved it there, great tree skiing too.

EDIT: Forgot to add that Schweitzer is really a huge mountain that could keep you busy for days and you can really rack up the vertical with the high speed lifts. IF you go during the week it'll be dead, even on a powder day.
 
But March is Colorado's snowiest month. And the Pac NW has more variable surface conditions. And a trip to Wolf Creek could be coupled with Silverton (terrain matched only by Crested Butte or Telluride in Colorado) or Durango MR (terrain quality equal to Schweitzer). Finally, Colorado is more scenic. You could visit Mesa Verde. Durango is nice.
 
Socal's comments on Schweitzer are right on. Schweitzer is a much bigger mountain than Wolf Creek, no real comparison there at all. I had good powder there Feb. 1-2, and there was little competition for it.

But Skrad's comments are correct for the time of year. Schweitzer is low altitude (4,000-6,700) mostly east exposed with almost as much south as north, so late March is not an optimal time. Late March IS an optimal time for most Colorado areas, including all of them in the southwest part: Wolf Creek, Durango, Telluride, Silverton. If you're coming all the way from the East, don't limit yourself to Wolf Creek. Hit some of the other places too.
 
I'd say that this year is probably the year to do Schweitzer. I agree with Tony regarding the elevation and who knows what it will be like in March, my experience of the PNW in March/April is that there is every bit as much of a chance of a major storm rolling in as there is of it being sunny and warm, you just dont know.

Both places tick the boxes and both have plenty alternatives for seeing some other mountains in the vicinity.

I'll be in Sandpoint on the 28th and 29th skiing the 29th and possibly the 30th at Schweitzer and I am quite happy that I will get the goods one way or the other unless there is a huge warm then cold cycle with no snow.

You pays your $1 you take your chances.
 
higgins9875":14llbjv0 said:
Thanks for all the input. For what it's worth: http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/p ... /page2.gif

My naive interpretation suggests that PNW and Idaho would be favored this month. I chose both because they both do have a snowcat op in proximity.
Click to expand...

If you want to cat ski Schweitzer would be a much better choice. They have their cat op off the backside which looked decent but you'd be a (EDIT) 2-3hr drive (in decent weather) up to BC for some real cat skiing. Forget the weather forecast this far out, it's an educated guess at best; on Monday morning in LA it was a 90% chance of rain in LA, it never rained a drop at my office and that was 6 hr out...
 
q":3dhxzhv5 said:
my experience of the PNW in March/April is that there is every bit as much of a chance of a major storm rolling in as there is of it being sunny and warm
Click to expand...
Yes, but on a sunny March day in Colorado the snow will still be packed powder, while in a low altitude east exposed area in the PNW it can easily be slop.

socal":3dhxzhv5 said:
Forget the weather forecast this far out, it's an educated guess at best; on Monday morning in LA it was a 90% chance of rain in LA, it never rained a drop at my office and that was 6 hr out...
Click to expand...
Yes, and last weekend the aforementioned Monday storm was predicted 1-3 inches at Tahoe and it turned out to be 18. :-D
A late March forecast made today is not an educated guess IMHO, it's pure speculation.
 
I ended up finding a open slot for Island lake Lodge for March 21 and 22. I had been planning to spend my first day there at Fernie but was able to day ski at ILL for a total of three days. Although they had had some rain recently, the gamble payed off with three fine days of powder skiing. That's all i could work into my schedule this year. A more leisurely pace hitting some of the resorts in BC will have to wait.

BTW, tragic situation near Nelson while I was there : http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... fatal.html
I always look up with trepidation waiting to board the cat.
 
Island Lake was my first cat ski trip in 1997. Despite being a premium operation they do offer last minute discounts if they are not full. Hope you got one of those. Give the less than reliable weather around Fernie (particularly incidence of rain), I think late booking is the way to go there.
 
Wonder how Wolf Creek was today?

12" easily this morning and snowed all day and still going at 6pm for tomorrow. Should be epic. :stir:
 
I'm sure q's whole trip has been pretty much epic so far, as the PNW and Northern Rockies have been getting almost nonstop snow for over a month. The ongoing snow and which regions would get it were not predictable a month ago though.
 
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