Looks like some rain last nite in The Valley.

12/3 WG:
IN WOODS: 0"- 4"
4300' Stake: 4"
SNOWFARM: nada
(Dave Lester reporting Trace depth @ 3715 in Canaan Heights.)

12/3 Stowe:
Natural Snow: 3" - 10"
Mt. Mansfield Stake: 10"

12/3 Alta:
31" settled mid-mountain base

Hmmm....

First new-new bike since '88
or
Plane tickets to Utah...

Oh, the dilemma.

You weren't up at K-Mart this weekend?

Wolf Creek, CO (generally one of the most reliable early season snow magnets):
Summit: 17"
Midway: 15"
YTD: 22"

Ski Loveland, CO:
Base: 18" (likely mostly MM)
YTD: 19"
9% open

Mt. Baker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:
Base Heather Meadows 77"
Base Pan Dome 97"

Mammoth,

http://www.mammothmountain.com/Mountain/Conditions/SnowLifts/

However rain is predicted for the town in The next storm.
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=37.648546&lon=-118.97207900000001&site=all&smap=1&searchresult=Mammoth%20Lakes%2C%20CA%2C%20USA
The town is at 8000 ft, mammoth peak is at 11,000. However I can't find anything on the expected snow line for this storm. It might be heaven or it might be hell by Wed./Thurs.

Per the link from Denis,

Mammoth:
Base: 50-70 in.

Wonder what the snow depth is on the top of Mt. Shasta after the predicted possibly record-breaking snowmaggenden?

I don't know about Mt. Shasta, but Mt. Shasta Ski Park a ski hill at 6000' near the main mtn appears to have only received liquid precip out of the big western storm event this past weekend. Mt. Bachelor, however, got 28" of snow in last 72 hrs and is reporting a seasonal snowfall of 100"+ so far.

Daron Rhalves just posted a pic from atop Sugarbowl, says they're opening back up on Thurs with 44" of fresh up top. At least someone is getting the snow...

Oh yeah, here's is good news from Open Snow

Headed to Baker in a couple of weeks here. Looking forward to it!

From Mt. Baker website, taken Dec 2, 2012:

Drool.

I was in Stowe last weekend with my family and it was pretty good. It snowed almost a foot (I think) on Thursday so everything was covered with natural snow and it snowed a lot of the day on Saturday too. Pretty awesome way to start the season.

BTW, we took the Amtrak Vermonter from DC to Waterbury, which is not a bad travel solution if the slow train doesn't drive you crazy. I got a really solid day of work on the way up and back, so it worked out well, on balance. Taxi from Waterbury to Stowe was not overpriced.

We were thinking about going to Stowe VT weekend of 15/16. Have not been there since 1982.

Any suggestions on where to stay? one adult and one teenager?

Was thinking about driving up and staying in Hampton Inn in Burlington, looks like about 1 hr then to Stowe.

I stayed here this past winter. Cheap rooms, AWESOME breakfast, and 10 miles from Stowe

http://www.oldstagecoach.com/

Re Stowe lodging - Old Stagecoach looks pretty cool. If you look on TripAdvisor, there is a lot of lodging in Stowe and Waterbury, so I don't know if you need to be as far as Burlington, unless you really want to be in Burlington, which is admittedly a great town.

Because we took the train up, we didn't have a car. There is a free mountain shuttle, so we considered a few places in the town of Stowe, but in the end stayed at the Stowe Mountain Lodge, so we could just walk to the slopes. It was awesome. Not cheap, but at $250 for four people, I think we got a good value for the money. It was really top quality, and everyone who worked there was so nice. When I think of what I paid to stay at Sugar Mountain last year... ugh.

If it is the one in Colchester it is well over an hour to Stowe. If you intend to ski Stowe why not stay there. The town has plenty of lodging. Just google Stowe lodging. At that time, before the Christmas period, it should be possible to get good deals.

How long does the train take? Is there a car rental at Waterbury?

Train is long! About 12 hours. You just have to resign yourself to the fact that you're on the train for a long time, and it's OK. I was working, so it was fine with me, and the scenery is not bad. We also put everything on our Amtrak credit card, so we had free tix.

I don't think you can get a rental car in Waterbury at the time that the train arrives (8:30 PM) but Peg's Pick-Up will be there waiting for you if you want a taxi. There is a free mountain shuttle through the town of Stowe up to the slopes, so it's possible to have a car-free trip.

Otherwise you can probably get a rental car at Essex Junction, which is the stop by Burlington.

The Vermonter also goes all the way to Jay Peak. I am contemplating that for some point in the future, but it's even farther, practically in Canada.

I've always wished they'd offer sleeper cars and overnight trains on those routes. First pick up in DC at 6. Last one in NYC at 10. Wake up at Jay Peak.

Agreed. I don't know why the US hasn't figured this out yet.

We managed to make it to Stowe 12/27 and 12/28. yep, the thursday it snowed 12 to 18 inches in northern vermont. skiied both thursday and friday. Almost the whole mountain was open, the 4 man quad is very cool, but they don't have the blankets anymore for the double man lifts. We had a great time and staying in burlington worked out very well.

We ended up staying at a Hampton Inn in Burlington which worked out great. They have a ski and stay package for $200 with 2 lift tickets for stowe or sugarbush ($179 for room and 2 lift tickets to go to Jay Peak, Smugglers or Bolton). Skied at Stowe on 27 and 28. Stowe lift tickets are now $92 daily (who can afford this???). for 3 nights we got 6 lift tickets for $40 per lift ticket and did not have to deal with the stowe lift office, the tickets worked by just walking up to the lift.

From tysons corner we left about 7:00 wed am and got to burlington by 3:15. Coming home was worse.

Very nice Hampton Inn. Rooms are a little small, not much room for ski stuff and the beds are twins and not queens, but the rooms are clean, the beds are the usual Hampton Inn clean/white and comfortable. Right off the highway, so no ski resort ambiance.

I would like to try the SugarBush or Smugglers Notch next.

Pros
- relatively close to stowe. 42 miles away of which 28 miles are highway. The hotel is right off the highway. easy access.
- reasonable rates. 199 per night gets you a clean room, and 2 stowe lift tickets and breakfast. The lift tickets work as is, no need to check in with lift office at stowe.

Cons
- well you do have to drive to the mountain, we were lucky enough to be there when it snowed 12 inches on thursday, and it took 1.5 hours there and back. second day, with clean highway, took 45 minutes each way. seemed to take longer to get out of the stowe rental office and parking lot.
- no hot tub