A series of stacked storms from the west have blanketed Grand Targhee Resort with 37 inches of snow since December 30, 2009. “Thanks to all the fresh snow it’s been a fantastic holiday week for our guests,” said Shannon Brooks Hamby, Communications Manager, Grand Targhee Resort. Photo by Kevin Cass/Powder Day Photography.
Deep snow is falling in the Rockies and Northwest where this season has been a real teaser with heavy snow early in southern Rockies and Washington/Oregon only to give way to a dry spell for the past month. This week turned things around for most of northern Colorado, Wyoming, and Washington with over three feet in many areas. My goals are to go for the deepest snow and this took me to Grand Targhee, a hidden gem of a ski area over Teton Pass from Jackson Hole.
Aside from a maze of highways leading to Driggs, Idaho, and my GPS taking me down back roads, I ended up making the first chair on New Years Day with a full maze of locals behind me. I was lucky for good visibility that day with continued snow showers on top of almost 10 inches of new super dry powder that had me ring in the New Year with what I would consider to be the best conditions of the West. This is one place where a snorkel could have sold that day.
Other notable dumps this week were at Snowbird and Alta where over 18 inches fell making for some of the best turning conditions of the year especially on the back side of Mineral Basin. In Colorado, the clear winners were Vail, Beaver Creek, and Steamboat where over a foot of new powder fell during the week making locals happy for some of the first clues of mid winter conditions and the opening of more terrain. New England is measuring in feet in the past three days especially Sugarbush who recorded over 27 inches this week.
Mount Baker in Washington was measuring several feet of snow and Crystal Mountain hit the 225 inch for annual snowfall with Grand Targhee in Idaho approaching the 200 mark. Jackson Hole still needs a significant amount of snow to cover the most advanced terrain but also had over 15 inches fall over the New Years weekend.
The upcoming week will be less active with several light snow events for the northern Rockies keeping things fresh for a while. Stay tuned to www.powderchasers.com for the next chase for powder and remember that things can change very quickly where heavy snow could break at a moments notice. —Powderchaser Steve
