Skiing Weatherman: Action West, Cool Down East
Not Quite Spring Yet. More Snow In The Forecast.
While the resorts in the Midwest and East got a solid taste of spring this week as temperatures soared well above normal for a few days, the winter weather action picked up in the West. A cold trough spun its way down the coast from B.C. to SoCal, depositing wonderful low density snow along the way. The highest totals came from the Sierra, thanks to the left hand turn of the trough, which brought the core of the circulation closer to the coast than it was when it passed by further north. The trough will spin across the southern Rockies this weekend and as it does, moderate snow will fall across the western half of Colorado into Wyoming while a major dump will unfold on the Front Range, including metro Denver, so access to the fresh snow is likely to be disrupted.
Over the Midwest and East, the warmth of this week has taken at least a modest toll on trail counts at most areas, but colder air will return this weekend and potentially set the stage for fresh snow next week. With the return of the cold air, this weekend you should seek out sunny trails in the Northeast, where the surfaces have a chance of softening up.
Next week, another low will move from the Gulf of Alaska toward Oregon and California, and snows will return to the Cascades (Monday) and Sierra (Tuesday). That low will track eastward and blanket the Wasatch and central and southern Rockies by midweek, so the prospects for skiing and riding in the West next week are outstanding.
The pattern is going to be very active going forward, as illustrated by this jet stream map for Monday.
The blue areas are upper level storms (cold) and the orange peaks are ridges (milder). The storm over Kansas is the one that will hit the Front Range this weekend and as it works east, we could see a surface low get pushed through the Mid-Atlantic States with high elevation snow during midweek. You can see the storm on its heels along the west coast. That system will arrive in the eastern half of the country by Friday morning as you can see on this map.
The surface map at the same time looks like this…
From a position over the central Appalachians, the low center will head northeastward. With the clockwise flow around the high over Minnesota helping to push cold air into the path of the storm, there is the potential for significant snow, at least at the higher elevations, over the northern Mid-Atlantic and Northeast at the end of the week. Beyond that opportunity, the pattern will remain favorable for late season snow events right through the end of the month. This week’s warmup was just a spring mirage.
REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS:
Pac NW/B.C.:
Coastal ranges in B.C. get moderate snow this weekend. Oregon snowy early next week. Larger storm late next week extends further inland in B.C. and throughout the WA and OR Cascades.
Central and southern Sierra:
Great weekend after fresh snow…another moderate to heavy event early next week. Rest of next week looks quiet.
Rockies:
Jackpot is Front Range in Colorado this weekend. Another moderate to heavy event unfolds central and southern Rockies Tuesday/Wednesday next week.
Midwest:
Northern MN resorts close this week with fresh snow…rain elsewhere. Colder air arrives this weekend will firm/preserve snow. Snow threat across this region later next week.
Northeast:
“Spring Break” ends Friday. Cold weekend firms up the snow. Pattern looks promising for meaningful snow late next week. Season far from over.
Mid-Atlantic/Southeast:
Colder air comes back this weekend. Higher elevation snow potential early next week…again late in the week.
Top To Bottom: Vail
Take A Vicarious Vacation On A Beautiful Blue Run.
A ticket-free run for our readers down the front side of Vail all the way to the bottom. Credit: Glenn Robbins
Here’s a long (15 minute) run down the front side of Vail on a really nice blue. For those who haven’t been there, seeing wide, groomed slopes at Vail may be different from the mental model you’ve had of what it’s like at the fabled resort. This is not the Back Bowls, but still very nice and, for those of us on the lesser side of the risk scale, most do-able.
Curious, we notice the skier Glenn Robbins, isn’t using his ski straps. (See 1:44 and following.) Is this a thing?
Return To The Rockies
Part Five: Jan and Judy Move To Utah
Our residence in Illinois proved to be similar to grad school in Indiana. I progressed in my academic career, we had another baby, and (sigh) there was no skiing. But a phone call changed everything.
At SIU-Edwardsville, we were renting from a colleague on sabbatical, and we had just started looking for a house to accommodate our growing family. Karen, our last child, was born in February, 1966. Then a call came from folklorist Barre Toelken in Salt Lake City. He was leaving, and he sought someone to apply for his position at the University of Utah.
I responded, “Barre, you don’t ski do you?” My interview trip was an eye-opener. I assumed that the season had wound down by late March, but the department chairman assured me. “We’ll have skiing through April.” So it was an easy decision to leave the Midwest again after just one year.
We arrived in Utah at the cusp of the development of major skiing there. Alta and Brighton had been in business since the late 1930’s; Snowbasin opened in 1940, and Timp Haven (later Sundance) started in the mid 1940’s. Park City’s ski resort, then called Treasure Mountains, was in its third season and had its trademark gondola pictured on a patch. You could still buy little houses used by former silver miners for a pittance, and skiers could park within a few yards of the gondola base.
None of the local resorts had much in the way of base facilities or housing at that time. Solitude opened in 1957, then underwent a couple of name changes and at least one closed season before prospering. Park City West opened in 1968, then had several name changes before eventually being acquired by Vail and merging with Park City. Snowbird opened in 1971.
This photo of Judy and me at Alta was taken in 1967. The old Snow Pine Lodge is seen just off Judy’s right shoulder. A luxury hotel replaced it last season.
This was the year we finally got modern skis. I know the exact date (October 31—Halloween—1967). Stein was in the shop representing Head skis, and he signed and dated a poster for us.
As the kids grew up, we shopped for the best family season pass deals. Here’s a photo of us at Solitude in 1972. Left to right: Karen, Erik, Amy, Judy, Jan, and Dana. After the photo was taken I stepped forward to retrieve my camera, leaving Dana without support. She slipped backwards into the trees and had to be rescued.
In 1981 we skied in Austria with two of our daughters. I had developed an interest in the folklore of Romania, and we had all been there twice in the ‘70s. In 1981 I received a grant to return from January through the summer. We brought Amy and Karen with us.
Erik was in college then and stayed in our house. Dana was on an exchange in New Zealand. Both were able to ski, so why not the rest of us? We each packed one ski outfit and hoped for the best.
As we drove south from Salzburg into the mountains in our Renault Le Car, I parked in front of a sports shop in the town of Wagrain. I asked a clerk in my best college German whether there was any skiing nearby. He grinned and pointed to a map on the wall, explaining that we were right in the middle of “The Three Valleys,” a major ski center. There were 45 lifts linking Wagrain with the towns of St. Johann and Flachau.
We rented gear, found a B&B, and had a delightful weekend skiing the Alps. Here are Judy and the girls waiting for the ski bus. Wherever you ended up at the end of the day there was a free bus to take you back “home.” I almost gave up on Romania and switched to Austrian folklore.
Although we never managed to ski in Romania, the weekend in Wagrain made up for it. When we returned to Utah in the fall we learned that Deer Valley was opening that season. Modern skiing had arrived in the Beehive State, and we kept on enjoying it through our middle age and into senior status.
To be concluded . . .
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