Major Storm May Be The Long Awaited Saviour Of Western US Ski Season

Most ski areas in the Western USA have been enduring one of their worst ever ski seasons with dry, mild weather since last November making the regions famous deep powder very hard to find and leaving many struggling to open much terrain at all. In fact a number of smaller, lower centres have been forced to close for lack of snow whilst the big names battle on, thanks to snowmaking when they can.

Since late January though long term forecasts had projected a return to something more normal by mid-February and now with a series of major storms lining up from the Pacific, its hoped that change is finally here.

Many ski areas including Mammoth Mountain and Palisades Tahoe, were closed on Tuesday as the storm blew in, with violent gales as well as very heavy snowfall, projected to deposit up to 4 feet (1.2m) over the next few days. Initial numbers are just starting to come in but Boreal Mountain and Soda Springs have both posted over three feet (90cm) from the first 36 hours of the storm.

Heavenly was open though, posting, "If you're joining us, remember to ski and ride with a buddy, obey signage, avoid tree wells, and be safe. Oh, and have fun. You aren't going to want to miss the next couple of days."

Many Californian ski areas were already close to full operations already as the state did see one previous big snowfall in late December/early January, unlike most other regions.

The snowy conditions are not expected to be limited to California however, the Pacific Northwest corner of the country and Northern Rockies are also expecting several feet of snowfall initially with hopefully a more lasting change in the weather here too with less than two months of the season left to run for some areas.

So far though the forecasts for parts of Colorado are less enthusiastic with snow-starved Vail only expected to get about 9" (20cm) by the weekend.