North America Weekly Roundup #265

Cold Weather Boosts Snowmaking as U.S. and Canadian Resorts Prepare to Open

• U.S. Ski Season Begins: Colorado’s Wolf Creek became the first resort to open for the 2024-2025 season, but unseasonably warm weather returned to the Rockies over the weekend.
• Snowmaking Efforts Intensify: Colder temperatures across the West have allowed snowmaking to ramp up, while Maine’s Sunday River in the East fired over 200 snow guns in preparation.
• Canada Prepares for Opening: Banff’s Mt. Norquay plans to open this weekend, with Whistler Blackcomb reporting over 80cm of recent snowfall on high slopes.

USA REPORT

After the excitement of the first ski area opening of the 24-25 season in North America last week, with Colorado's Wolf Creek (14/14" / 35/35cm) opening on the Tuesday, things have gone rather quiet with the region returning to dry, sunny weather, indeed there was extremely warm weather in the Rockies at the weekend.

Ski resorts across the western US have been busy snowmaking when they can though and a thin covering is starting to build, plus since the weekend we've seen a big temperature dip and some snowfall return to ski slopes right across Western North America as we near the start of November. It’s not yet clear though whether any other centre will manage to open in October. 

Arapahoe Basin, perhaps the most frequently first to open in the country, has hinted that this coming weekend, the first in November, is looking promising. Keystone has an ambition to open with at least two miles (3.2km) of slopes in October though so may try to make it by Thursday if it can. You can actually ski on a short strip of all-weather snow machine made snow at ski ward in Massachusetts, not far from Boston. But elsewhere, with temperatures now well below freezing in the mountains snowmaking operations have certainly been ramped up across the west. There's been snowmaking in the East too with temperatures down here as well. Sunday River in Maine reported over 200 guns firing up this week.

USA FORECAST

Sunny weather returning and will continue through the latter half of this week but crucially it does appear that it will be very cold, in the low teens or even down to single digits Fahrenheit which should allow high resorts to keep snowmaking efforts underway pretty much around the clock.

CANADA REPORT

Canada’s ski season is expected to get underway, all being well, this coming weekend with Banff’s local ski hill Mt Norquay set to open on Saturday. The date remains ‘tentative’ but the Banff area, where the two other centres, Lake Louise and Sunshine, are scheduled to open a week on Friday, has been posting news of regular light to moderate snowfalls and mostly low temperatures for much of the past few months, so it appears promising.

Temperatures did climb to +5-+7C at the weekend at lower elevations whilst staying at or below freezing on higher slopes and it has been colder even at base levels since. Jasper’s Marmot Basin and Calgary’s closest ski area Nakiska are also expected to open in early November. Over on the Pacific Coast and across BC mountains there’s been plenty of fresh snowfall too.

North America’s largest ski area Whistler Blackcomb reports 80cm (32") of snowfall on high slopes in the past 72 hours, it’s opening day just over three weeks away, 22 November. Meanwhile Kicking Horse posted video of staff skiing deep powder well ahead of the season start there.

CANADA FORECAST

Continuing low temperatures and snow showers in Alberta, with a temperature range of +1 down to –9C typical, so this appears to be good news for the imminent season start.