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As we dive into this week’s ski report, the first thing you should know is that most resorts in the state are now open. We’re not looking at new openings this weekend, and after many resorts got clobbered with powder last week, things have been quiet this week.
The weekend will be quiet too! Good for your drive to the slopes...bad for your powder ambitions. Change begins to arrive Sunday - windy, colder, and snow developing north to south through the day.
Breckenridge will see highs in the 30s Friday through Sunday with mainly sunny skies. High-based A-Basin will top out in the 20s. Monarch will experience a slight cooling trend through the weekend from 30 to 25 degrees, and Vail wobbles around in the low 30s. That's the name of the game no matter where you head - so you'll need to dress warmly, but no major gotchas in the cards.
You can expect notable wind gusts on Sunday. By the afternoon, our northern and central mountains will be clocking wind gusts in the 25 to 35 mile per hour range as a chunk of the polar jet stream moves back over the state. If you want to avoid the worst of the wind, avoid westerly facing slopes in the afternoon, as the wind will be coming in from that direction.
Your new powder day arrives Monday, with snow starting in the northern mountains and becoming widespread across the Rockies during the afternoon. With the wind also in play on Monday, driving around could be tricky. I don't see this being a "big" storm by our mountain standards - totals will generally run in the 4-10 inch range even in the best terrain-enhanced locations. This is a fast moving clipper type of system, and it just won't be snowing long enough to give you lots to play with.
Of course, our big story remains our well above average snowpack levels for this time of year. Looking at your base snow leaderboard, Wolf Creek is at a healthy 38 inches, Monarch a respectable 31 with Breckenridge still in somewhat early season conditions with 26 inches of powder on the ground.
For the backcountry enthusiasts, avalanche risk is lower this week due to the lack of recent storms, but some risk still exists. Check the Colorado Avalanche Information Center’swebsite for details.
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