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In the land of champagne powder, it’s been a glorious snow week.
Monday’s first storm dropped 5-10 inches of rain in the northern and central mountains and 10-20 inches more in the southern mountains. Wednesday’s second storm dropped double digits on top of that, and Friday’s third storm added to the icing, bringing some ski areas up to 4 feet of snow this week. Wolf Creek measures 5!
After a week like this, it should be clear to all: There is no better ski resort in the world than Colorado.
However, there are those of us who profess that skiing in Utah is better than our skiing in Colorado. Some of these apostates work in my office and some even live in my home.
So this week I set out to find some expert meteorologists and settle the question once and for all: Which has better ski areas, Colorado or Utah?
I first went straight into the belly of the beast, then called Dr. Snow himself, Jim Steinberg, professor of atmospheric science and author of “Secrets of the Greatest Snow on Earth.” The problem is, he’s writing about Utah.
“Utah has better snow for two reasons: 1. the amount of snow and 2. the frequency of deep pink days,” Steenburgh told me.
“Better here means better for deep powder skiing, which for many is the pinnacle of skiing,” Steenburgh clarified. “Utah’s reputation for powder snow is largely based on the remarkable microclimate of Cottonwood Canyons, where you’ll find Alta, Snowbird, Solitude and Brighton ski resorts .”
One of Steenburgh’s criteria for evaluating Utah over Colorado is pure snow volume.
“Alta averages 500 inches of snow per year, with 18 days per season receiving at least 10 inches of snow. 10 inches is about the minimum for powder bottomless, which means the skis float on top of the snow instead of riding underneath. On the surface. Many Colorado resorts average 300 inches or less of snow per year, with only a few truly deep powder days.”
It seems to me that it’s always snowing in Utah, which pretty much takes away one of the great joys of the sport, spring skiing — those blue days of skiing through powder overnight with blazing sun on your face.
I also remind Steenburgh that Colorado has twice as many ski areas as Utah. Wouldn’t the sheer amount of skiing experience give Colorado skiers more chances of finding good snow on any given ski day? Wouldn’t the higher elevations of many ski resorts in Colorado contribute to the dust factor? “
“Not really,” he replied flatly. “Colorado has relatively little snowfall regardless of elevation. Colorado is also densely packed with resorts, so one can travel from Summit County to Aspen, but it’s a long way (and skiing exists in both Colorado and Utah) Traffic problems).”
On his OpenSnow blog, boulder meteorologist joel gratz The counterargument is that if an area of Colorado doesn’t have heavy snow over the weekend, you can shift the area. “I love Colorado because different parts of our state are favored by each storm track,” Gratz wrote. “For example, if a storm moves south and misses the northern mountains, I can drive for a few hours and then ski in the deeper snow in the southern mountains. And vice versa.” All in all, he told me, “snowfall favors Parts of Utah. The variety of terrain and ski towns favor Colorado.”
Snow is a subjective alchemy, and of course the perfect combination of cold, water and air may be different for every skier. But Gratz argues that the higher elevations of Colorado’s ski areas actually have a huge advantage over Utah.
“Most of the best skiing in Colorado is between 8,000 and 12,000 feet above sea level,” he writes. “The elevation here is higher than elsewhere in the western US, western Canada and most of Europe. Higher altitude means cooler temperatures. As temperatures cool, mountains can make snow earlier in the season to ensure open terrain, And the snow can stay in the spring longer.”
Colorado’s higher elevation means longer runs at Colorado ski resorts. “Many of the larger resorts stretch nearly 3,000 feet vertically from the top to the base of the mountain,” Gratz observes.
He also points out that high altitudes can also cause soft cedar. “In general, cooler temperatures help the atmosphere produce looser, lighter snowfall.” But he thinks overall snow quality between the two states could be a tie. “Utah and Colorado have roughly equal snow. Sometimes it’s super fluffy, sometimes it’s dense, and most of the time it’s in between and the quality is excellent.”
let me stop and add salt lake city tribune A recent point-by-point comparison of skiing in Colorado and Utah examined size, access, season length, elevation, off-slope experience, snow volume, snow quality, and X-factor. The Tribune itself concluded that Colorado was the winner, but beware: (Because even if Utah was better, we wouldn’t say.)
But no matter which side you take in the blow, even Dr. Snow himself admits that the future (thanks to climate change) may belong to Colorado.
“There are still some great ski seasons ahead, but we’re going to see global warming herald warmer winters and cause more winter precipitation to fall in the form of rain,” Steenburgh told me. Warming is no chance equal criminal. Snowfall and snowpack reductions were larger in warmer, lower-elevation regions and smaller in cooler, higher-elevation regions. So I would expect the highest altitude resorts in Utah and Colorado, especially places like Loveland, Arapahoe Basin, Copper Mountain, and Breckenridge, to do better than the lower altitude resorts elsewhere. “
In other words, Colorado’s higher elevation means that even if warming starts to shut down skiing elsewhere, as has happened in Europe this season, skiing here remains viable. Someday in the far future, if the most dire predictions bear out, the only ski resort you’ll find in America might be in Colorado.
Smoke it in your pipe, Utah.
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