[Cyclopath]

There's so little snow! It's been too warm so far. I hope you're getting out, I'd love to hear about the good times so far this season.

I went out to the Methow, it was Rendezvous and Sun Mountain only.

[Randito]

I've skied in Crystal backcountry once in November, 4 times in December, three times at the Summit in December, including yesterday. The most comical bit was skiing of the Silver Fir chair, only the "black" runs are open, but there isn't enough snow to groom or even cover the trees , so the runs are mogul fields like we used to have in the 70s before grooming, except each mogul has a Christmas tree sticking out of the center. I was skiing some $50 garage sale skis , I wasn't too concerned about the rocks I hit on Golden Nugget and other places. Someone I know did the Mt Catherine loop two days ago and the trails on the Hyak side have been rolled up to grand Junction, but Ripsaw and Cold Creek just have refrozen tracks from intrepid skiers. It was brutal. No new significant snow in the forecast until Thursday, but even then the forecastis for inches not feet.. Mt Aleska near Anchorage OTH has received over 300 inches of snow so far this season, way in excess of normal.

[jaysway]

Cyclopath have you been up Amabilis yet this season? It looks like we have a decent series of storms on tap that are predicted to drop up to five feet of snow at Alpental. Hopefully this helps to get the ski season going.

[timberghost]

Been a nice break not having to drive with the slope dopes even though we need the snow pack.

[kiliki]

Nope, not yet. Waiting for decent coverage.

[zimmertr]

I've lived here since 2017, but this is the first El Nino year since I started getting active in the mountains and noticing the different weather cycles. What can I expect for the timeline around spring thaw? Will we get mountain hiking access earlier this year? Normally things seem like they start to open up in mid-late May. Will that shift back to the beginning of May? April, even? I understand every year is different and it's hard to predict these things. Sorry to the skiers/winter lovers out there

[Cyclopath]

[kiliki]

[altasnob]

This

[kiliki]

My takeaway from reading the Powder Poohbah emails/blog posts is that there isn't always a neat correlation between El Nino and PNW snow totals. I remember something like, the main thing we know is that El Nino can be full of surprises. There's also higher base temps now that are independent of El Nino. Alyeska is doing killer, if anyone doesn't mind that 10:07 sunrise and 3:54 sunset. They have lights! But that's about the only place doing good. My friends in UT, Jackson, and other places say they are hurting.

[Cyclopath]