Praying for Snow in La Parva

Snow Reports:

Arapahoe Basin open H 68° L 36° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open 4 of 8 Base Lower/Upper 52/52

Ashcroft Ski Touring closed H 70° L 38° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of Base Lower/Upper /

Aspen Highlands closed H 70° L 38° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of 5 Base Lower/Upper /

Aspen Mountain closed H 70° L 38° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of 8 Base Lower/Upper /

Aspen/Snowmass Nordic Trail System closed H 70° L 38° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of Base Lower/Upper /

Beaver Creek closed H 69° L 39° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of 25 Base Lower/Upper /

Breckenridge closed H 66° L 41° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of 31 Base Lower/Upper /

Buttermilk closed H 70° L 38° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of 8 Base Lower/Upper /

Copper Mountain Resort closed H 67° L 40° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of 22 Base Lower/Upper /

Crested Butte Mountain Resort closed H 69° L 39° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of 16 Base Lower/Upper /

Crested Butte Nordic Center closed H 69° L 39° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of Base Lower/Upper /

Devil's Thumb Ranch closed H 69° L 37° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of Base Lower/Upper /

Durango closed H 64° L 34° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open 9 of 10 Base Lower/Upper 47/51

Eldora Mountain Resort closed H 71° L 40° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of 11 Base Lower/Upper /

Gold Run Nordic Center closed H 66° L 41° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of Base Lower/Upper /

Grand Lake Touring Center closed H 68° L 40° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of Base Lower/Upper /

Irwin closed H 69° L 39° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of 1 Base Lower/Upper 80/80

Kendall Mountain Ski Area closed H 60° L 38° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of 1 Base Lower/Upper /

Keystone closed H 65° L 38° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of 20 Base Lower/Upper /

Loveland Ski Area closed H 68° L 39° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of 9 Base Lower/Upper /

Monarch Mountain closed H 75° L 45° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of 6 Base Lower/Upper /

Powderhorn Resort closed H 79° L 47° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of 4 Base Lower/Upper /

Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort closed H 80° L 39° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of 10 Base Lower/Upper /

Silverton Mountain closed H 60° L 38° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of 1 Base Lower/Upper /

Ski Cooper closed H 59° L 32° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of 5 Base Lower/Upper /

Ski Granby Ranch closed H 69° L 38° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of 5 Base Lower/Upper /

Ski Hesperus closed H 77° L 44° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of 1 Base Lower/Upper /

Snow Mountain Ranch closed H 69° L 38° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of Base Lower/Upper /

Snowmass closed H 67° L 38° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of 21 Base Lower/Upper /

SolVista Basin closed H 50° L 28° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open 0 of 5 Base Lower/Upper 24/25

Steamboat closed H 76° L 49° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of 18 Base Lower/Upper /

Steamboat Ski Touring Center closed H 73° L 50° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of Base Lower/Upper /

Sunlight Mountain Resort closed H 74° L 42° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of 3 Base Lower/Upper /

Telluride Ski Resort closed H 60° L 38° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of 18 Base Lower/Upper /

Tennessee Pass Nordic Center closed H 59° L 32° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of Base Lower/Upper /

Vail closed H 67° L 40° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of 31 Base Lower/Upper /

Vail Resorts Nordic School closed H 68° L 40° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of Base Lower/Upper /

Vista Verde Ranch closed H 69° L 38° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of Base Lower/Upper /

Winter Park closed H 68° L 39° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of 26 Base Lower/Upper /

Wolf Creek Ski Area closed H 79° L 38° 24 hour snow " 48 hours snow " Lifts Open of 7 Base Lower/Upper /

Praying for Snow in La Parva

[ August 18, 2009 - 12:53pm ]

La Parva 2

Enlarge Photo

Photo by: Drew Stoecklein

Border Crossing: Notes from Afar

Dek:

Here's how to ensure a big storm in Chile: Have a large party the night party. Griffin Post reports from south of the border.

Over the past two weeks I think I've single handily doubled the amounts of hits that snow-forecast.com usually receives. I’ve been looking for that ray of hope, that excitement that a “heavy snow” prediction can create. After two weeks in South America I finally saw that ray—a storm that was poised to dump upwards of one meter of snow on La Parva, Chile. A number of different pre-storm rituals were discussed between the Americans, French, and Chileans in our group. We all agreed on one thing: The only way to ensure a big storm is to have a large party the night before. Led by two French brothers who will remain nameless, we headed into La Parva, a town that has two bars and one disco, and did our best to guarantee the forecasted storm would hit, and hit hard.

As expected, it worked like a charm. In fact, the French tried so hard they were unable to get to the mountain the next day. Ah, the French, so selfless. As for the gringos and the Chileans, we were treated to an all-time storm day. By the end of the day a meter of blower had fallen to satisfy our mid-summer powder thirst. The following day was one I’ll remember for the rest of my life: over a meter of snow and bluebird, cold, and still. I cursed myself all day for not paying more attention in my high school Spanish class. Despite three years of studying the language, “bueno” seemed to be the only word I could muster up for the lifties. Although, I think our ear-to-ear smiles and snow-drenched outfits needed no translation.

The north wind is once again beginning to howl at La Parva, which, as the locals have told us, is a good thing. It was a bit thin before the previous storm, but with another meter of snow, things will really start to go off in the southern hemisphere. And, lucky for us, the French are beginning to drink Pisco Sours again, so hopefully they’ll ensure that once again we’ll have a meter of fresh to ourselves in the morning. —Griffin Post

Griffin Post is a pro skier from Sun Valley, Idaho. He once bloodied his chin break dancing in a bar in Denver—all for the sake of ensuring the next big storm. Photo by Drew Stoecklein.