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March, 2024

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Snow elevation - How much rain does your resort get?

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rememberscott
Posts: 1291 - Karma: 5,199
So I was reading somewhere that Alyeska has the most snow than anywhere else right now and after checking the webcams the upper stuff looks incredible but the base area is grass and slushy!

Also Anchorage is hauling snow in by train in order to start the famous Iditarod race.https://www.adn.com/article/20160229/anchorage-so-snow-starved-it-has-haul-snow-train-iditarod-start

I realize that coastal ski areas struggle with rain/snow levels but it has me wondering has anyone actually experienced this first hand at their resort? Have you noticed a difference in snow levels in the past 10 years or so? Are our ski areas slowly going to dry up and shut down? What's your take?
Mar 1 2016 4:10PM
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Lip_Blind_Truu
Posts: 21 - Karma: 402
HP123Are our ski areas slowly going to dry up and shut down? What's your take?


Yep, Whistler mid-February in 5 years:


Alyeska does have the highest total so far, but their base is 4 inches lower than Mountain Creek (and we all know it's been dumping in NJ)


I'm no Alaskan, but I'm going to guess that the fact that the resort is on the water has a lot to do with conditions at lower altitudes.
Mar 1 2016 4:21PM
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PoLaRpEaK
Posts: 439 - Karma: 555
To much.
Mar 1 2016 6:02PM
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Dddsz
Posts: 3042 - Karma: 7,328
I like rainy days. Most of the skiers at my hill puss out when the weather isn't perfect. I can always count on it being empty when it's cold or rainy.
Mar 1 2016 6:10PM
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
My mom grew up in Tahoe and my parents have been living in the bay area for close to 35 years skiing 30 days a year or so. They claim snow levels as a whole have very noticeably trended higher over the last few decades.

I moved up to the Seattle are and have gotten very accustomed to skiing in rain, or having the bottom half of the mountain pissing rain and the upper nuking snow. Rain sucks because it wrecks the snow and if that surface freezes overnight makes relatively mellow areas no fall zones.

But good outerwear makes a big, big difference.
Mar 1 2016 6:27PM
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SkiBum.
Posts: 3597 - Karma: 3,895
Well the base of that ski resort is sea level...yeah it gets cold and snows, but it's at sea level....
Mar 1 2016 6:30PM
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rememberscott
Posts: 1291 - Karma: 5,199
Point.I like rainy days. Most of the skiers at my hill puss out when the weather isn't perfect. I can always count on it being empty when it's cold or rainy.

you have a bright future my friend
SkiBum.Well the base of that ski resort is sea level...yeah it gets cold and snows, but it's at sea level....

yes I realize that was just seeing if anyone has actually noticed a difference at their resort
Mar 1 2016 9:34PM
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Casey
Posts: 7781 - Karma: 23,402
As a resident of the state of Washington I know all about some rainy winters. Last year was basically not a season.
Mar 1 2016 10:11PM
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whiteboi
Posts: 477 - Karma: 1,228
Alyeska's base is shit because it only gets rain, every bit of snow down low is man made. But for every drop of rain at the base, that's snow for the rest of the mountain, and that's the reason why there's 689" on the upper mountain so far this season
Mar 1 2016 11:47PM
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HomeGrownChunky
Posts: 16 - Karma: 58
hey guys i actually ski at Alyeska, unfortunately snow on top and grass on bottom has become the norm. i can assure you this was not always the case Girdwood used to have longs winters with huge piles of snow but unfortunately in the past four years sounthcentral Alaska has become too warm and wet for snow to accumulate... you think you have a bad season in the mid east imagine living in a place where you can see grass on your doorstep and when you were growing up you had to shovel a tunnel to you car form you front door.

I'm scared that the place I love and learned to ski at will one day have to close down do to lack of snow, if this is the case in ALASKA I can only imagine how horrible it is for everyone else.

http://www.anchoragepress.com/cover/1072/last-skiers
Mar 1 2016 11:58PM
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250r
Posts: 2274 - Karma: 1,020
its costal and starts at a low elevation, so just like whistler it snows a lot up top, and is hit or miss down below. go some where like interior bc or utah and you will get more consistent snow quality, but there will be less of it.
Mar 2 2016 12:02AM
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1kewldewd
Posts: 795 - Karma: 1,143
I am from fairbanks so like 6 hours from alyeska but have made trips down there the last couple years and that is what it always seems to be like. The bottom is raining most days and the top is dumping.
Mar 2 2016 12:10AM
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MonnorCartin
Posts: 590 - Karma: 2,753
CaseyAs a resident of the state of Washington I know all about some rainy winters. Last year was basically not a season.


Too true, living just outside Whistler I felt this struggle
Mar 2 2016 3:33AM
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