Whiteout: Top 5 Colorado ski areas with the most snow, Mikaela Shiffrin #FTW
Plus time to dust off spring skiing costumes
Ample snow has fallen at several Colorado resorts during winter 2022-23, giving skiers and riders epic powder days more regularly than most seasons lately.
Colorado’s mountain resorts have enjoyed an above-average snowfall this winter, where as of March 8, Colorado’s snowpack statewide is 120% of average with every basin over 100% except the Arkansas River basin (75%).
How have individual resorts fared so far? The top 5 might shock you — a little.
1. Irwin – 421″, 2. Steamboat – 362″, 3. Wolf Creek – 356″, 4. Howelsen Hill – 300″, 5. Vail – 276″ — with honorable mention going to Purgatory – 275″. Here are the remaining resorts’ totals.
- Winter Park – 266″
- Snowmass – 264″
- Powderhorn – 259″
- Beaver Creek – 256″
- Aspen Highlands – 243″
- Crested Butte – 242″
- Bluebird Backcountry – 233″
- Silverton Mountain – 220″
- Breckenridge – 219″
- Copper Mountain – 219″
- Telluride – 213″
- Aspen Mountain – 202″
- Monarch – 202″
- Loveland – 193″
- Sunlight – 187″
- Keystone – 185″
- Kendall Mountain – 178″
- Arapahoe Basin – 170″
- Eldora – 160″
- Buttermilk – 150″
- Hesperus Ski Area – 147″
- Ski Cooper – 121″
- Granby Ranch – 103″
- Echo Mountain – 60″
Bring on spring skiing
Winter may be wrapping up, but spring skiing is about to start.
In the tradition of watching or competing in pond skims, cardboard races or general shenanigans during spring on the slopes, one also should don a costume fitting to the participation of said season change.
Some connoisseurs bring out their vintage 1990s Columbia jackets like the Bugaboo, China Bowl, Vamoose, or Whirlibird, while others sport flannels, jeans and plaid hunting caps. Whatever your attire is, more and more costumes (can you say ‘cosplay’?) will dawn the slopes soon.
One spring tradition is the unofficial Chair 4 @ 4 party on Vail’s closing day. Skiers and riders begin gathering around the Mountain Top Express Chair in the early afternoon, enjoying spring weather and riding conditions with friends and fellow riders alike.
Costumes abound, music from portable speakers mixes among the wind in the trees, and the revelry of all is a sight and experience to be a part of.
SNOW REPORT:
Forecast:
Moisture moving in Friday will start stacking up snow totals through Monday with Saturday being the storm day and Sunday the powder day.
The West Elk and Elk mountain ranges look to be the winners from the weekend storm. Resorts in northwest Gunnison County are forecast to potentially receive 24 inches of snow (Irwin, Crested Butte) and resorts in Pitkin County (Aspen, Snowmass) between 12-16 inches of snow.
Recap:
Snows fell Sunday in far northern Colorado with Steamboat, Bluebird Backcountry and Howelsen receiving a few inches to close out the weekend.
Monday through Wednesday were dry and comfortable with temperatures in the 20s and 30s each day. Wednesday night saw a system move through northern Colorado gracing the slopes up north again with 1-4 inches of snow. Interstate 70 resorts picked up 1-2 inches.
Weekend recommendation:
Northern Mountains: Bluebird Backcountry, Winter Park, Vail, Steamboat
Central Mountains: Aspen/Aspen Highlands/Snowmass, Irwin, Powderhorn, Sunlight
Southern Mountains: Telluride, Silverton, Wolf Creek
SNOEWS:
• Will Mikaela Shiffrin reach 86 wins — tying Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark’s World Cup victories record — this weekend?
Her first race is a giant slalom Friday in Are, Sweden, which also happens to be the same venue of Shiffrin’s first career win, Dec. 20, 2012.
Mikaela Shiffrin said after her non-victorious weekend in Norway on Sunday, “…my skiing was good, I was aggressive, so I’m actually really happy with that. In this group of women going around me, to be kind of this fast, that was a really, really good sign,” as reported by the Associated Press. Shiffrin finished fourth (super-g), fifth (downhill) and a weather-affected race in seventh (super-g).
Shiffrin also has been busy talking with fellow Laureus Sportswoman of the Year winners Simone Biles and Missy Franklin about her nomination for 2023.
Biles said she and Shiffrin help support one another during each’s respective competition seasons, commenting on supporting each other during recent rough patches during one another’s Olympic competitions, and reiterating that athletes bounce back and by doing so sets a precedent for other athletes who look up to Shiffrin.
• Closer to home in Aspen, at the 2023 FIS Alpine World Cup, Steven Nyman wasn’t taking a typical two minute, heart-pounding ski run in Saturday’s race. Nyman, for his 214th World Cup start, was taking a farewell run — in JEANS!
Nyman, 41, a three-time World Cup victor in downhill and eight-time podium finisher, retired from ski racing in style, with hugs and fist bumps as he crossed the finish line one last time.
• The Colorado Bureau of Investigation recently used DNA testing and genetic genealogy to identify Gardner Smith, Gaida’s father, as the John Doe whose body was found on Independence Pass in June 1970.
Smith came from a prominent farming family in Northern California. He was a military veteran and a world-class skier, widely considered one of the top American racers of his day.
Investigators are not sure exactly how he died, but they don’t believe it was suspicious.
Upcoming festivals:
- SNOWGA – Granby (March 11,18,25)
- A Day for Jake – Eldora (March 11)
- TELSKI 50th Bash – Telluride (March 15)
- 3rd Annual FATTY PATTY 5OK – Leadville (March 18)
- KickAspen Night Skiing – Aspen (March 24,25)
SNOW LINKS:
RESORT REPORT:
Below are conditions for all Colorado resorts as of Wednesday afternoon.
