Anyone have any first hand knowledge of CO conditions.  Thinking one day next week I may be there.  Leaning toward Loveland right now.

Unless I can't get on the flight...

I'll let you know tomorrow, Loveland is my first stop, although maybe the pass instead of the "resort"

But with $45 dollar early season tickets, maybe  both.

It's a haul but my overall goal is wolf creek

I have done Loveland pass half a dozen times but always in late spring.  I have no idea how rocky it may be with early season low snow, but I'd be inclined to stick to the ski area which I like a lot.  Its never crowded and has great terrain.  I have no idea why thousands of Colo skiers drive right past, or under, it to go to places that are far more crowded and expensive.

be sure to check this as well.

http://avalanche.state.co.us/forecasts/backcountry-avalanche/front-range/

^^^Always!!   (I put new batteries in my beacon too)

I can give you some first hand info. I've got 8 days in so far in Summit County. 

Keystone has the best early season condtions in it's histor ywith over an 80 inch YTD snowall. Thatr;s about a third of what the area gets in an entire winter. Keystone leads ALL Vail owned properties in YTD snowfall. That never happens. Keystone is normally last in YTD snowfall. Keystone is about 95% open.

Conditions in the  rest of Summiut County (and presumably Loveland, too even though it's in Clear Creek County) are pretty good, too. 

I'll start another 10 days of skiing Monday before leaving town in advance of the teaming hordes descending for the holidays.

Watch out for road construction on eastbound 70 going back to Denver. CDOT is adding a toll lane and they're testing things. It took me over 4 hours to get to the airport from Breckenridge yestreday afternoon..If it happoens to you, get off on the county road at Georgetown.

kemperski wrote:

 

It's a haul but my overall goal is wolf creek

as is normally the case, Wolf Creek has been getting hammered. 116 inches have fallen so far.

I was in CO last week, Backcountry , Monrch and esp. WolfCreek (100% open)were awesome.. Loveland was good but not as, so glad I got out there, first week in Dec. pretty amazing stuff
.

Monarch inbounds and bc

Wolf Creek

Berthoud

Hated to leave,  ...sigh

Looking good in CO!

Nice pictures! I wish we had some of that coming our way

Joel Gratz's forecast for Vail....

The weather will be relatively boring on Wednesday and Thursday with partly to mostly cloudy skies and temperatures topping out in the upper 30s to low 40s. We might see a few flurries on Wednesday night, but this won’t lead to much if any snow accumulation.

Then the fun will begin on Friday! A cold front will stall close to Vail and should bring us at least 2-4 inches of snow during the day. If this front happens to stall very close to Vail, we could see very heavy snow with totals potentially hitting double digits during the day. Do your snow dance and hope for the best! Regardless of what happens on Friday with the cold front, we should see an additional 2-4 or 3-6 inches on Friday night, so Saturday morning should offer fun, soft turns as well. Then the snow will stop on Saturday afternoon and Sunday, with another storm arriving early next week with additional powder days.

Bonzski wrote:

Joel Gratz's forecast for Vail....

Then the fun will begin on Friday! A cold front will stall close to Vail and should bring us at least 2-4 inches of snow during the day. If this front happens to stall very close to Vail, we could see very heavy snow with totals potentially hitting double digits during the day. Do your snow dance and hope for the best! Regardless of what happens on Friday with the cold front, we should see an additional 2-4 or 3-6 inches on Friday night, so Saturday morning should offer fun, soft turns as well. Then the snow will stop on Saturday afternoon and Sunday, with another storm arriving early next week with additional powder days.

This has certainly been a wierd year for weather in Summit County. For opening days in early November snow conditions were awful. Then the skies opened for about two  weeks with almost record amounts of snow. Then it just stopped. It''ll be three weeks this Friday since the last meaningful snow. A cold front better stall starting Friday and provide some meaningful amounts of white, because things are starting to get thin...

10 days in so far this year...

Skied first day of the season today at A Basin. Pali face opened for a bit this afternoon and the snow they have is really nice. 

I skied Loveland last Monday.  They are supposed to get another foot today.  Chairs 1, 2, 6, Ptarmagin were open and only the trails, nothing off the marked runs was open.  The foot will help.  Lots of fun and very empty on an early season Monday.

At this moment (8 am MST) Keystone has 6 inches of fresh, Loveland Has 5 inches, Breck has 3 inches, Vail has 1 inch. It's snowing pretty hard out my window in Breckenridge right now. It should be interesting to see how the Dew Tour contestants do in bad visibility. It'll be on NBC at 2:30 EST today.

The really wierd pattern of Keystone getting more snow than everybody else continues.

BTW, all snowfalll totals since 5 am this morning.

jimmy wrote:

Skied first day of the season today at A Basin. Pali face opened for a bit this afternoon and the snow they have is really nice. 

jimmy found a way to cope with the slow start in the mid-A!!!

Way to go Jimmy!!  We are all jealous!

The Colonel

jimmy wrote:

Skied first day of the season today at A Basin. Pali face opened for a bit this afternoon and the snow they have is really nice. 

Nice! We've been making turns ar Park City and Canyons Village for a couple of weeks but ha ha we're in Coloardo  - south Denver today - but not for skiing doing some "shopping" lol :-D i'm sure you could appreciate -

meawhile back in PC NOAA sez:

" ...

SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...4 TO 8 INCHES IN THE VALLEYS WITH HIGHER
  AMOUNTS ON THE BENCHES. MOUNTAINS CAN EXPECT 12 TO 24 INCHES
  WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS.

..."

mrrrrahahaha finally! I think on Tuesday I will have an eye problem - like eye can't see myself- working.

Snow totals from yesterday's storm: Loveland 12.5, Keystone 12, Breckenridge 10, Araoahoe Basin 10, Vail 3 inches. Loveland apparently HAD TO cliam that half inch so it coud claim the biggest snowfall. 

We needed it in Summit County after no real snow the last three weemks...

bob wrote:

Snow totals from yesterday's storm: Loveland 12.5, Keystone 12, Breckenridge 10, Araoahoe Basin 10, Vail 3 inches. Loveland apparently HAD TO cliam that half inch so it coud claim the biggest snowfall. 

We needed it in Summit County after no real snow the last three weemks...

I was at loveland on the 8th and would have thought a foot would have opened up more that it did.  Guess they need one more storm.  Bet it was fun yesterday tho'.

I'm sorry to hear that conditions in the mid Atlantic continue to be pretty grim. Hope that things change for the better real soon.

The Summit County snow forecast for last night was for 1-3 inches, but we got much more: Keystone 9, Breck 9, A-Basin 8, Loveland 8, Vail 5 inches.

Forecast for today:another 1-3 inches.

bob wrote:

The Summit County snow forecast for last night was for 1-3 inches, but we got much more: Keystone 9

That Snow Stake Webcam is awesome.  Time lapse of snow last night was cool. 

I'll be setting up a rain gauge time lapse on my balcony for this season - bah humbug.

Blue Don 1982 wrote:

bob wrote:

The Summit County snow forecast for last night was for 1-3 inches, but we got much more: Keystone 9

That Snow Stake Webcam is awesome.  Time lapse of snow last night was cool. 

I'll be setting up a rain gauge time lapse on my balcony for this season - bah humbug.

 

Funny, ok not really.

@JohnL on the left posted this on fb, Keystone's 12" on December 12. Heavy snow over frozen bumps, good for you snow.

Jimmy is wrong; that day was good snow. Tuesday was good for you snow....

No emoticons available?

Heh Bud...love ur spirit....do you lug ur skis with you or do you rent?

JohnL wrote:

Jimmy is wrong; that day was good snow. Tuesday was good for you snow....

No emoticons available?

 

Ok then, 12" of god snow on a base of good for you ;)

jimmy wrote:

JohnL wrote:

Jimmy is wrong; that day was good snow. Tuesday was good for you snow....

No emoticons available?

 

 

Ok then, 12" of god snow on a base of good for you ;)

Hah! Well-played.

fishnski wrote:

Heh Bud...love ur spirit....do you lug ur skis with you or do you rent?

Lug. Bring my own sword to the fight.

Ya know who my wing man is, doncha?

u mean ur first mate?....sweet Jimmini cricket?....uall keep gettin it...catch up to ya in the lowlands...when its frigging dumping to make up for the slow start!

maybe I should call him ur first Bait...thats what i call my ole lady....luvs her soooo much though....