Spring snow expected for Aspen, Snowmass as late season riders rejoice
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Open Snow founding meteorologist Joel Gratz brings good news for skiers and riders hoping to get one last power day before the end of the resort-powered ski season.
Some Colorado ski areas, including the Aspen Snowmass resorts, will receive significant snowfall in the coming week due to three storms set to arrive late Monday, March 31, according to Gratz’s snow forecasting site Open Snow.
“Temperatures during the storm will generally be in the teens and low 20s, so the snow quality should be pretty fluffy,” Gratz wrote of the first storm.
The first storm could bring as much as 8 inches to Aspen Snowmass resorts on Tuesday, April 1, and will continue through Wednesday, April 2. The second and third storms will continue to bring snow to the Aspen area through Saturday, April 5, with daily totals ranging from 1 to 5 inches per day.
“It’s kind of classic Colorado; there’s always one or two last big storms when everyone’s ready for it to be spring,” said Nick Penzel, who manages the Cripple Creek Backcountry ski shop in Carbondale, Colorado. “But it usually has some really stealthy, good skiing if you’re willing to get out there and find it.”
Skiers and riders hoping to enjoy the resort this week might have excellent conditions on Tuesday, with continuing accumulation throughout the week. Backcountry travelers, however, need to view the storm with more caution, as it is expected to significantly raise avalanche danger in the region per the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
OpenSnow is projecting the following snowfall totals for the storms this week:
- Arapahoe Basin – 19″
- Silverton – 18″
- Vail – 18″
- Beaver Creek – 17″
- Copper Mountain – 17″
- Loveland Ski Area – 17″
- Snowmass – 17″
- Winter Park – 17″
- Aspen Mountain – 16″
- Ski Cooper – 16″
- Aspen Highlands – 17″
- Telluride – 15″
- Crested Butte – 14″
- Steamboat – 14″
- Breckenridge – 13″
- Kendall Mountain – 13″
- Monarch – 13″
- Wolf Creek – 13″
- Keystone – 12″
- Sunlight – 12″
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