Wolf Creek: 200 Inches and Counting!

B

Barnie

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After a snow-filled December, Wolf Creek Ski Area has surpassed the 200-inch mark, making it the ski resort with the Most Snow in the Nation! With sun-filled days and not another storm coming in for at least a week, this is the best time to discover why boarders and skiers alike have coveted the deep powder and incredible natural snow in Southwest Colorado.

Known for having the "Most Snow in Colorado", Wolf Creek receives an average snowfall of 465 inches per year. Yet, December 2008 has already been a record-breaking month in terms of total new snow.

As one of the last remaining privately-owned ski areas in the country, skiers and boarders enjoy pristine forests, panoramic views of the Continental Divide and down-home hospitality without long lift lines, high prices and crowded slopes. Start your new year off right with sunny skies, deep powder and friendly faces in Pagosa Springs!
 
Barnie, while I appreciate your enthusiasm, I believe that given the "No-Bull" nature of the snow reports here and in the interest of full disclosure you should indicate that you have the public relations contract for Wolf Creek. What you have done here is copied and pasted your press release first issued yesterday.
 
Wolf Creek's long term snowfall average is 384 inches. This data is not entirely clean because in recent years I've included October snowfall in the seasons Wolf Creek opens early. The Nov. 1 - Apr. 30 average is about 365 and inclusion of October and May for all seasons would probably push it slightly over 400.

There were 2 measuring sites near Wolf Creek Pass according to Knox Williams, who ran the Colorado Avalanche Information Center for 30+ years. Most of the data come from a site in the ski area. The other site Wolf Creek Pass 1E, was nearby and exposed to wind, so Knox considered it unreliable. The 1E site piled up 600+ inches of wind-deposited snow a couple of years around the late 1970's and led to the 465 inch claim that we see from time to time.
 
Wolf Creek Ski Area has surpassed the 200-inch mark, making it the ski resort with the Most Snow in the Nation!
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I just finished compiling snow stats for a year-end progress report. Mt. Bachelor is at 230 inches. It would not surprise me to see Mt. Baker or Hood Meadows over 200 also.

Be careful about making unsubstantiated snowfall claims on FTO. :P
 
OK so a PR on FTO. Not the first time or the last.

That being said, I've probably skied wolf creek more than most around here, and it is a seriously snowy place. One of the biggest storms I have ever participated in happened a few years ago around Xmas at WC. Between WC and Silverton, they would be the only two places in the 'continental' snow pack definition that would rival LCC and BCC, in North America.
 
The snowiest spot in Colorado by far is Buffalo Pass. Steamboat Powdercats operates in the area. The data is SNOTEL, thus only water content but supposedly close to Alta for that.

Knox Williams thinks Silverton is much less than Wolf Creek. Wolf Creek has high volatility, so it's not surprising many have experienced massive dumps uncharacteristic of most places in Colorado.
 
For a minute I thought he was talking about Wolf Creek here in Utah which was Wolf Mountain last year and Alpine Meadows or something like that prior. It's a little ski hill by Ogden that I taught my wife to ski at. Good learning area cause it's cheap.
 
chris062":3qpqq1je said:
For a minute I thought he was talking about Wolf Creek here in Utah which was Wolf Mountain last year and Alpine Meadows or something like that prior. It's a little ski hill by Ogden that I taught my wife to ski at. Good learning area cause it's cheap.
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Nordic Valley -> Wolf Mountain -> Wolf Creek Utah Resort
 
Barnie,
Try to be a little less obvious in posting. Your post falls into that PR category as "accurate, as far as it goes, but misleading in what it leaves out". I'm surprised admin took the time to let it drip thru his BS filter, maybe just so people like me can stomp on it.
How about a report of actual ski conditions on a specific ski day, and include info on how unfortunate it is that most of that bounteous snow falls on terrain that's not really steep enough for most non-Texans to enjoy on a deep powder day, except for a few short steep pitches on Alberta face.
I've skied Wolf Creek quite a bit as a cross-border refugee from low-snow years in New Mexico, but now it's a wickedly long drive beyond just about every other Colorado ski area for me now. If the terrain came close to matching the snowfall, the drive might be worthwhile.
 
Tony Crocker":mwpmd3x4 said:
Wolf Creek Ski Area has surpassed the 200-inch mark, making it the ski resort with the Most Snow in the Nation!
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I just finished compiling snow stats for a year-end progress report. Mt. Bachelor is at 230 inches. It would not surprise me to see Mt. Baker or Hood Meadows over 200 also.

Be careful about making unsubstantiated snowfall claims on FTO. :P
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or Alyeska at 286 in.
 
This negative diatribe on Barnie - sure.

But did Wolf Creek have the best snow so in early winter 2008? Yes.

So a 3-day storm but the micro-climate of one volcano ahead in the waning hours....kudos Mt. Bachelor.

Was Wolf Creek the best for Christmas 2008? Yes, by far.
 
Alyeska's website quote is top elevation. Best to use mid-mountain that I get at the end of the season, runs about 80% of the upper number.
But did Wolf Creek have the best snow so in early winter 2008? Yes.
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Not really. Wolf Creek got going well from the same mid-December storm that hit the Sierra, Utah and most of Colorado. It reported full operation after the Thanksgiving storm but at that time had had only 38 inches of snow and a 25-inch base, so it was probably sketchy.

There are years when Wolf Creek catches a substantial early dump and is very well covered by mid-November with 4-6 feet of snow, often when no one else in the West is close. This was the case in Novembers of 2000, 2002 and 2003.
 
mammoth was completely open by that point will good coverage, hangmans was closed but that takes a lot of snow
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Mammoth was only half open, but of course half of Mammoth is still about 3x all of Wolf Creek, and the ratio was probably infinity if you care about skiing anything steep.
 
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