Colorado Weather Discussion Thread

[goldenboy]

How much more snow does the butte need before they open the gnar?

Probably one more medium sized storm for headwall and glades (6" or so)

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[Glen1978]

Damn sure a foot around Browns. We got hammered here in Buenie yesterday.

[homebrewd]

Mount your own fucking skis! 🤦🏼♂️
Happy New Year! [emoji898]


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Do this. FKNA

[galibier_numero_un]

Um, that ain't got shit on the evac from the chair at Whitefish, MT. Damn!

https://www.facebook.com/billy.marci.../732080673738/

https://www.facebook.com/billy.marci.../732080688708/

So I told a buddy who grew up skiing at Whitefish about this, and it got me to surfing around - checking out evac. techniques.

There seems to be a broad range of standards in both equipment and technique. There was quite a range of "harnesses" - from inverted "T-seats" (backed up with a "quasi chest harness - a loop of webbing running under your armpits). A Park City video might have been the most through - showing an evac. of a sit-skier.

What surprised me is how many training videos I saw where the patrol instructed people from the ground. Given the average competence level of people, combined with the fact that I'll bet 95% of people have never rapped off a cliff (or anything else for that matter) and that these folks are no doubt nervous and possibly hypothermiated, I'm surprised at the risk level of not being up on the chair supervising it. Of course, there's the time factor to consider: # of patrollers vs. number of people to evacuate.

I'd love to hear some patrollers take on this.

... Thom

[Jellybeans1000]

6-8" in the next 10 days to parts of Central Colorado.

My latest Long term snowfall thoughts for Jan and Feb:
https://longrangesnowcenter.blogspot...m-2nd-jan.html

[The SnowShow]

Better enjoy that cold; January thaw is coming.

[Name Redacted]

Better enjoy that cold; January thaw is coming.

I'll take it. Still won't be warm enough to cause significant melting on much above treeline other than S facing stuff. At least round these parts. Would be nice to get a few more productive storms soon, but that isn't the normal for midwinter in CO. I'm just stoked that we have a good base.

ETA plus lower temperature differential=less faceting. -21ºF at my place this morning but 7ºF on top of the pass.

[smmokan]

Yep, -11 this morning here in Eagle. The dogs won't be getting their morning walk for a little while.

[cmsummit]

Damn, Wolf Creek was something else yesterday.....what an excellent birthday present and start to the New Year! 34" of 5.2% blower pow was definitely a top 3 deepest ever for me. Too bad that mountain doesn't have more steeps!

[adrenalated]

Based on the weirdo's I've met near Brown's I'm going with questionable source.

But it is a SE storm, so who the fuck knows.

No, he was correct, there was 8-12" in the valley near BV by yesterday morning. It was an upslope and didn't drop anywhere near as much up high.

[simple]

My commuter car wouldn't start today. Stupid diesels

[The SnowShow]

Steep Gullies opened 🤙

[Rideski]

Damn, Wolf Creek was something else yesterday.....what an excellent birthday present and start to the New Year! 34" of 5.2% blower ]

What? Missed that one, I was looking around the cams forgot to check WC. Happy Birthday C.

[auvgeek]

Damn, Wolf Creek was something else yesterday.....what an excellent birthday present and start to the New Year! 34" of 5.2% blower pow was definitely a top 3 deepest ever for me. Too bad that mountain doesn't have more steeps!

Yeah, it was super fun! We don't know the mountain super well, so we spent most of the day traversing out to the Waterfall area (and beyond)...like everyone else, I imagine. Wish I could have gone again today with the Alberta lift open and stuff. But alas, had to catch a 7 am flight out of Denver this morning.

And maybe I'm a wimp, but frankly, I was pretty nervous about catching a buried tree/log/stump/rock and wrecking myself. I definitely hit something hard that was buried at least once a run, on average. A little nerve racking. Prolly heresy, but I would have preferred a little more dense to keep me off that hard bottom.

[SKIP IN7RO]

And maybe I'm a wimp, but frankly, I was pretty nervous about catching a buried tree/log/stump/rock and wrecking myself. I hit at least one stump/log at least once a run, on average. A little nerve racking. Prolly heresy, but I would have preferred a little more dense to keep me off that hard bottom.

There were a lot of impalers showing today, so you were right to be nervous. That was some deep fun stuff, but WC really shines with denser snow. A lot of the fun, mellow trees inbetween steeper shots were still inaccessible today for fear of getting stuck.

[BFD]

yea it was fun to choke on some snow yesterday. But agree a lot nicer with denser snow. Snow was a little heavier today. I think things are pretty well covered after this dump settles.

[goldenboy]

Yeah, it was super fun! We don't know the mountain super well, so we spent most of the day traversing out to the Waterfall area (and beyond)...like everyone else, I imagine. Wish I could have gone again today with the Alberta lift open and stuff. But alas, had to catch a 7 am flight out of Denver this morning.

And maybe I'm a wimp, but frankly, I was pretty nervous about catching a buried tree/log/stump/rock and wrecking myself. I hit at least one stump/log at least once a run, on average. A little nerve racking. Prolly heresy, but I would have preferred a little more dense to keep me off that hard bottom.

A mag that no longer posts much ripped his ass wide open at WC a few years ago, so yeah, you can ski scared with a low base...

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[BFD]

the increasing dead fall is a problem I did not factor in before moving here. Fortunately it still covers in a normal year if we have one again.

[Lindahl]

FWIW, I broke my ankle out there on a buried stump a few Decembers ago, so yeah, taking it easy during the early season there is probably a good call. Overnight deep snow is awesome, but it hides shit well.

[galibier_numero_un]

Heros miss major chunks of the season :-(

... Thom

[cmsummit]

yea it was fun to choke on some snow yesterday. But agree a lot nicer with denser snow. Snow was a little heavier today. I think things are pretty well covered after this dump settles.

Can't say I agree it would've been "a lot" nicer with denser snow....but another 20" of base would've been good. Most of the storms I've chased down there in recent years have turned out to be heavy, Sierra Cement style snow (12%-15%)....meh. As it was, it was still off the hook.....stupid deep and I had a fantastic day.

[Name Redacted]

Crazy to me that anyone would complain about 2+ feet of snow as being too fluffy. Get a grip fellas! Way to look a gift horse in the mouth.

[auvgeek]

Not complaining, it was still a super fun day! I was just mentioning that I felt like I was rolling the dice every run, which made the skiing a bit less enjoyable than that amount of snow usually is. Was kind of wondering if I was being too much of a wimp about it, but it sounds like my fears weren't unfounded.

Plenty of people complain like crazy when the snow is too dense, but I don't hear many complaints or comments about snow being too light. Being from the PNW, I'm probably happier and more comfortable with denser snow than most people from CO. YMMV.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

Skiing the Waterfall area when it was too thin is one of the scariest things I've done on skis- got into an area that was 40+ degrees with more stumps and water ice than snow. It was like something out of that French "dry skiing" film. It was the only time I've ever thought "Why the fuck did they open this?" I'd guess patrol didn't expect anyone to traverse away from the gate as far as I did.

[hatchgreenchile]

Their "open" policy is both really cool and really dumb.
I like how they've got a new HSQ and intermediate runs and they don't even bother to update the trail map. That's rad.
When's the Matchless tram going in???