14 Inches Since Friday

We have had 14 inches of snow since last Friday. 5 of the last 6 mornings had measurable snowfall (OK, Monday was only a trace). After a foggy, overcast morning, the sun popped out and we had a beautiful day. This morning one of our Ski Patrollers said on the radio, "The East Wall is back." The hiking and the snow are both excellent.

I understand some of you were a little confused when I mentioned our snowpack is still at 133%. It is. Down in the Front Range or even in Dillon or Frisco, the snow may have melted in your yard. It hasn't melted on the mountain. Our base area elevation is 10,800'. Runoff is no where close to beginning. We are in great shape rolling into April, our snowiest month. Come on out and enjoy the fun and pay attention to this storm coming Friday.

Winter Is Definitely Back

It snowed for a few hours during the middle of the day and, just now, the snow picked back up again. While we had a beautiful, dry and warm March, the weather has definitely turned since the end of last week. We have had about a foot of snow since the change and we are expecting a few more inches tonight to be followed by, what might be a decent storm, on Friday.

I went out for an afternoon ski trying to sample the whole place skiing a bit on the North Side, West Wall, Larkspur, Lenawee Parks and the Lower Mountain. Winter snow has returned. The skiing is excellent and soft. I think Wednesday morning should be outstanding. Tomorrow would be a good day to "adjust" your schedule.

Snowpack at 133%

Watching a squall blow through this afternoon, I was prompted to check on how the snowpack was doing at A-Basin. The US Department of Agriculture has an extraordinary website for Snow Telemetry, SNOTEL, https://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/snow/. It is easy to create a number of reports there. I focus on Snow Water Equivalent (SWE and commonly referred to as the snowpack) and Year To Date Precipitation. SWE is the inches of water on the ground in the snowpack.

Just outside of the ski area is the Grizzly Peak SNOTEL site. As of today, that site has 133% of the median Snow Water Equivalent and 126% of average Year To Date Precipitation. I think the Grizzly Peak site info is very indicative of snow and precipitation conditions at The Basin and it is easily accessible online.

Save Our Snow Celebration

Today, we hosted the 9th Annual Save Our Snow Celebration. We shared ideas on green living and raised funds for Summit County's High Country Conservation Center (HC3). For a mere $10 donation, skiers could demo some great equipment and all proceeds went to HC3. On top of that we donated $1 to HC3 for every skier that came to The Basin.  We are lucky to have such a good partner in HC3 working to make Summit County an even better place to live and visit.

Skiing At The Basin

Clouds Rolling In

At sunrise this morning there wasn't a cloud in the sky. By mid morning the clouds were rolling in. By early afternoon, the sky was completely overcast. The forecast still looks good. I like sunny days as much as the next guy but, it is time for some snow. Bring it on.

Winter Storm Watch

Everybody stay calm. Let's not get too excited. Let's be patient. The forecast does look pretty good. It appears as though we are going into a Winter Storm Watch tomorrow. Don't take it too seriously. We just might...........have some powder days coming. Don't jinx it.

Max The Avalanche Dog

Our avalanche dogs and handlers train quite regularly doing a variety of drills. Here is a sequence of photos that show Max the Avalanche Dog finding a buried patroller and being rewarded with "play" afterwards.