With Snow Guns Running and a Big El Niño Brewing, Western Ski Season Is Taking Shape

After one of the worst snow seasons on record for the West last year, everyone is on bated breath to see what this winter will bring. Many resorts are amping up their snowmaking and banking on what could be a historic El Niño. Some, in fact, are already open. Arapahoe Basin opened October 28 with one lift and one run, and Keystone followed October 30 with 43 acres. Wolf Creek opens on Halloween with about 20 inches of snow and roughly 30 percent of its mountain skiable. It is a small start, and the next storm heading in will decide how quickly it grows.

OpenSnow expects a storm from Sunday through Tuesday to bring 6 to 12 inches to nearly all Colorado mountains, with 12 to 20 inches in some spots. That is good news for Breckenridge and Copper Mountain, both targeting November 6, and Vail, aiming for November 13.

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Utah may see the biggest early totals. Powder’s meteorologist reported is forecasting nearly two feet for Alta, Brighton, and Snowbird, and OpenSnow showed more than 20 inches at Alta through November 4. Brian Head is aiming to open November 6, while Alta and Park City are targeting November 20. It’s worth noting that according to Ski Utah, these are all targets, not promises. Brian Head’s opener slipped to November 21 last year due to conditions.

California is the slower burn. Mammoth is targeting November 13, but last year’s opener slipped to November 20 when snow lines ran too high. A weekend storm could bring 6 to 16 inches to Mammoth depending on elevation, according to the Mammoth Snowman, but warm nights have limited snowmaking this week, and conditions look marginal into early November. OpenSnow’s Tahoe forecaster expects a drier week ahead, with wetter storms possible after November 10.

If the various weather predictors end up being right this time around, it would be a welcome change.