I see that most well-known resorts in North-America claim to have an annual snowfall around 10 meters (33 ft) per year, or more. Is this actually true, or have some clever marketing guys figured out that they can get more people to come by boasting inflated numbers (measuring depth in wind-pockets etc)? It seems like there would be permanent glaciers on every ski resort with that kind of snowfall. I am from Norway myself, and the most popular resorts here get around 2-3 meters (6.5 - 10 ft) per year. There are a couple of resorts in Norway that average 6 meters per year (20 ft), and they claim to have trouble keeping the lifts open because they are buried in snow. Most places that get more than 6 meters per year inaccessible in the winter. Here's why: http://youtube.com/v/CD7I_tGAe6U (this is what the roads look like when they're about to be opened for the summer in the middle of May).
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Not sure... but the rockies are a lot warmer in summer than the norwegian mountains so I imagine the snow melts a lot faster hence no glaciers on every hill. They (resort staff) certainly are quite selective about where they measure the snow depth in european resorts, sometimes its laughable what they claim when you see how much snow is actually on the terrain!!!!
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
zoltar, Rockies snow is so damned light and fluffy aswell it may fall and register at 20cm for the day but you can be assured that packs down to very little.
zoltar, Rockies snow is so damned light and fluffy aswell it may fall and register at 20cm for the day but you can be assured that packs down to very little.
Is that also true for Mount Baker? I hear they get an amazing 16 meters on average per year, and they say that's wet coastal snow, not dry inland powder. If this is correct, they must have some really hot summers over there to melt all that snow.
A little off-topic, but on the topic of Mount Baker: I might be going to Seattle for a conference in late August. Are there any places within reasonable driving distance that offer summer skiing? I'd hate to visit Washington for the first time and not get to ski there. (Google turned up surprisingly few locations for summer skiing in the USA.)
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
zoltar wrote:
If this is correct, they must have some really hot summers over there to melt all that snow.
North America definitely gets more snowfall and less sunshine in Winter than Western Europe.
But, I agree, it does feel like most North American resorts do routinely overestimate.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Baker gets plenty of snow - I've been there on 3 separate visits and never failed to get what would be classified as an excpetional powder day in Europe on each visit. 30cm accumulations for 24 hours are not uncommon.
Western US and Canada just gets more snow than Europe on average over the regular ski season (and it often starts earlier). course people ski everywhere inbounds and near access out of bounds so skier packing occurs almost daily. Then it summer it gets pretty warm as in a number of places the actual altitude isn't great.
Mt Hood or Blackcomb are your only real options for summer skiing but neither is that local to Seattle - maybe each 4 hours or more away.
After all it is free
After all it is free
Americans? Exaggerate? This is a bit of a shock
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
zoltar wrote:
Are there any places within reasonable driving distance that offer summer skiing?
Here @ Hood we're shredding as we speak, more or less with record amounts of snow, 176% of normal and fresh powder just last week ..... Awesome !
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
I have heard about how light and fluffy the snow in the Rockies (and especially Utah) is, but I didn't think it would be that different from what we get in eastern Norway. We don't get nearly as much snow as they do in the coastal regions in western Norway, but it's much colder here, so we usually get snow that is so light that you can remove it from your car by blowing gently on it. Still, even that snow doesn't pack that much; this year, one of my local resorts got 3 meters of snow during the season, and that translated to 2.2 meters on the ground at the end of the season. I didn't think snow could get much lighter than what I am used to (snowfall in -10 °C is pretty light), so I really want to experience Utah's snow that seems to defy the laws of physics. I expect that I will be able to go jogging in neck-deep Utah powder without it slowing me down.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Neglected a welcome to snowheads zoltar, It will be far too cold to jog! -10 is pretty light, a fairly common -30 is even lighter. Plus i'm thinking the Rockies are even further from the coast than anywhere in Norway is from the Norwegian coast!
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
arv wrote:
Neglected a welcome to snowheads zoltar, It will be far too cold to jog! -10 is pretty light, a fairly common -30 is even lighter. Plus i'm thinking the Rockies are even further from the coast than anywhere in Norway is from the Norwegian coast!
Thanks, arv. Snowfall in -30 °C is something I've never seen (there's not a cloud in sight when it's that cold here), so I guess I need to make that trip to Utah to see what champagne powderreally feels like... My only concern is that I will not be able to enjoy Norwegian winters after such an experience, and that I have to move to Utah and become a mormon.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
zoltar, Unfortunately becoming a mormon is essential.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Telluride Colorado is situated at 2670Mtrs (8750ft) but at the same latitude as Athens Greece.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
It is interesting that mountain roads in Austria or Switzerland that are closed for winter tend to publish their annual snowfall.
Great St Bernard Pass opened for public at the end of May and they recorded 13,7 meter which is quite low compared to their record of 24 meter.
The avarege of the past 10 years is 15,50 meter.
The highest point of Great St Bernard Pass is at 2470m.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_St._Bernard_Pass
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
This is how snowfall should be presented, IMHO: http://senorge.no/mapPage.aspx
Using data from a comprehensive set of weather stations around the country combined with good interpolation algorithms, they present day-to-day updates on temperature, snow, rain, etc., as well as monthly and yearly averages/summaries. You can even get information on things like how dry the snow is. Want to see how the skiing conditions were at your cabin on Feb 20 1985? Type in the date, and there you go!
Does something like this exist for other countries besides Norway? It's fun to play around with, and I could use it when planning vacations.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
But this snowfalling is precipitation that fall as snow!!
Isn't snow on ground. 10 meters of annual snowfallin=3 meters of snowpack!!!
When the alps reports a snowpakc of 5 meters= snowfalling about 15 meters!!!
In the Pyrennés, Aneto glacier (3000m), have an average of 2050mm!! = 20 meters of snow per season.
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
