WTF Is Going On With North America’s Ski Season? 

Meteorologist here.. The storm cycle is about to ramp up quite a bit across the country for mid January. Should see some improvements for most resorts in the country.

I was feeling bummed about our conditions here in Utah, but it seems like we're actually doing pretty well all things considered. I guess after the massive snows from last season, somewhat below average feels like record low.

Please, more conditions videos like this! This was very helpful.

The big kicker for the East was we were having one of the snowiest starts to our season. November and early December was amazing, and then in the middle of December it rained over 5 inches across New England. But yes this weekend and next week has two nice storms coming in (allegedly).

I live in Central NH and work in Northern NH. Thank you for your support! The flooding was intense up here. I'm glad I found your page last year! You do amazing work. Thank you again for all you do

Mt Hood Meadows passholder here. It's bad in Oregon, especially all the lower elevation parks (Skibowl, Willamette Pass,etc). Meadows has been doing a great job of making snow and getting runs open. It's more like spring skiing right now.

Just visited Beaver Creek, it has about a foot of powder right now! The snow was up to my knees it was amazing

I've been skiing Colorado for 35 yrs. I know all the vacationers key on Christmas cuz the kids are not in school, but it's RARELY been great conditions by then, maybe once or twice a decade. If you want good conditions, mid-Feb to mid-Mar has usually been the best. Btw, I also spent four seasons in VT, so I know well the ice, cold, and rocks😅

Just got back from 2 days at Sugarloaf ME and Saddleback and conditions were excellent. Hardly any ice and considering all the flood damage, they did a really great job with both places! Saddleback had way more snow and conditions were softer than Sugarloaf but they didnt have as much terrain open. This cold spell will definitely help them for sure.

I got an early drop on Copper's Spaulding bowl last Thursday! Amazing powder with tons of rocks hidden beneath. They closed the trail the next day.

NM has been getting hammered with snow too. Ski Santa Fe (home resort) has had 6 powder days in a row, some amounting to over 1-2feet. The base hasn't been this good for years...

Alaska has been getting hammered with snow and it's a pretty short flight from any major west coast city, so if you're desperate for great snow come on up! Lots of backcountry and heli skiing available as well, plus Alyeska resort just opened North America's largest nordic spa.

After a great start to the season, my local mountain got 5 inches of rain recently, complete wihh landslides, flooding and washed out access roads causing substantial damage to facilities and infrastructure 😢.

Ski season is my absolute favorite part of winter and the fact that it's so warm and I can't ski is actually sad

I was at brighton last week. It was considerably icy (shut up east coasters). Had to drive from CA because there was almost no snow here. Seems like it might pick up soon though. Let's hope!

Ski Santa Fe has been great!

I spent a couple days in banff before Xmas and I was super happy with conditions. Lake Louise and sunshine were dope. No lines, super affordable, can’t say enough nice things about banff.

My local mountain roundtop (which I know isn’t the best mountain for snow and consistency) is still closed it has only been open for a couple days, but we are supposed to get about a inch of snow which isn’t a lot but in the east it is ALOT

Lake Louise is skiing better now than it was at any point last season, no complaints from me

As a canadian in quebec, going in early-february at jay peak and i was expecting high amounts of snow so really hope that happens.

You're doing a stellar job in informing consumers and travelers... lets hope mother nature wakes up!!!

Hopefully we'll get some more snow soon! This winter has definitely been brutal so far in that regard.

Out here on BC’s west coastal range, we have cold temperatures and snow in the forecast. It has been storming hard the last couple days and things are already really good!

Here in Northern wisconsin, we have less than 2 inches of total accumulation. Usually, we have over a foot by now at the very least. I've never had a Christmas where I saw people paddle boarding in our area.

Last season and this season, I'm so thankful I haven't bought a season pass at my local Banff ski resort(s). The 3 years prior of season passes had unreal snowfall... so this is a scary coincidence. We have the Polar Vortex setting in shortly.. some snow to open the cold front up... and likely minimal snow during the dry, cold air... but maybe a ton afterwards. Who knows.

We’ve had it REALLY bad here in New England. Just as all was looking fantastic, all it took was one rain storm to reduce the big ski areas to 40 percent open if you’re lucky. You’ve got places like Stowe, Sunday River, and Sugarloaf that were absolutely devastated and barely have anything open. Hopefully this weekend’s snow storm pans out since I’m planning to ski early next week.

One thing people have noticed this year is that the seasons have bring coming about 1 month to late like summer, fall and winter etc.

I was in Colorado skiing for the first time in my life, in Loveland last month, from Jan18 to Jan28 and it was an amazing experience, the weather was nice and a lot of snow. Can't wait to go back next season.

Rock skis are a must this year. I'm averaging a core shot every 2 days on the hill, but at least I'm skiing.

Bit like what happened in Australia this past winter with low snow accumulation and low terrain opening, it’s disappointing for all the skiers and boarders especially the tourists that pay thousands to visit a certain resort but I guess it’s all part of the sport

Went to Kirkwood, CA today (1/7/24). Can confirm good coverage after this last storm, 1 foot plus of powder, and the whole mountain is now open. Still waiting for better conditions before attempting Heavenly.

Thanks for putting this together!

I live in Wyoming and my local ski hill outside Yellowstone CANNOT OPEN! I'm literally going fucking crazy because all I can think about is skiing and we have NO SNOW AT ALL. They tried to make some snow but then their underground water pipes burst from old age. It's gotten so bad they are considering giving refunds to people who bought a season pass. I'm going to let them keep my money though. I want Sleeping Giant to be able to afford the necessary repairs and to stay open for future generations. The last time it closed we almost lost it forever. But damn it really sucks to spend hundreds of dollars to maybe get half a season out of it. Siiiiigghhh.

These conditions look on par with most of August last year in Australia. We had the worst season of my life, I was skiing over grass at some points as we had over a month without any major snowfall. Plus, it was too humid to snowmake.

Spent last week in Winter Park, with 2 days at Steamboat. WP was pretty rough with exposed rocks, grass and small evergreens sticking out of the snow. Steamboat was significantly better, however there were still ice patches at the end of the day.

We need peak rankings weather! This was great- as always

I have studied weather for a long time and I have never seen the entire US have below average skiing in past some part of the country was always doing well. Seeing above average temperatures across all of North America and below normal precipitation across most of North America has been shocking although it looks like some colder than normal air is finally starting to move into the Yukon/Northwest Territories and will eventually bring better ski conditions. Tahoe at Christmas was especially bad there is usually patchy snow down to 4,000 or 5,000 feet and alot of snow above 6,000 feet, this christmas there was a thin snow cover above 7,000 feet. Most of the tahoe ski areas could not be open without substantial snow making. I've seen worse conditions at Tahoe during the really dry years but not by much. In past strong El Nino's warm temperatures resulted in a below average snowpack on Tahoe's lowest ski runs but there was still a decent amount of snow above 7,000 feet, to have such a low snowpack in a strong El Nino year is unprecedented. I live in Seattle and while the casades have gotten 75% of their normal precipitation almost all of the storms have been warm storms that originated near Hawii. The Cascades normally get much colder storms that originate in the Gulf Of Alaska/Bearing Sea. The cascade passes typically get mostly snow altittle rain but this year they have gotten mostly rain alittle snow. During one Hawaiian storm 8 inches of rain fell at Mt Baker Ski Area. While the cascade ski runs are mostly snow covered the snow is much thinner and icyier/slushier than normal and going off trail is difficult. The Rockies are the one part of the country that have escaped thaws/rain but it has been unusually dry so the snow is not deep. The Northeast ski areas are used to occasional rainstorms but the December rainstorm was especially bad and it washed away almost all of the natural snow.

The worst region is the midwest, it's been warm and dry. A lot of mountains are less than 25% open when is really bad considering the size of these resorts. Some of the best in the region like Mount Bohemia are still yet to even open.

Currently at Jackson Hole. I have never seen such poor conditions here. Many blues are covered in ice and have exposed, unavoidable areas of rock. Most black runs are closed, and those that aren't have exceptionally poor coverage or are extremely crusty. The trees are skiable, but extremely treacherous and the coverage varies greatly. Traverses are coated in rocks. It takes some serious work to avoid major damage to your skis, and it's borderline impossible to avoid hitting any rocks at all.

Hokkaido was pretty great this past week riding niseko and rutsutsu. I'm down in myoko now.c survived the earthquake, its low tide here and a bit wetter than normal but it's gonna pick up lots soon. Sad to go back to the states where there's 10x crowds, food is twice as expensive and half as good haha

Weird question but where are you guys based out of? Or do you have a team that travels and collects footage across North America?

The New Mexico season has had Sipapu open lift 4 earlier then they have in a while and Ski Santa Fe open the upper mountain before Christmas.

Thanks for the report! Stoked to hit the mountain just waiting for the snow this week. Just my 2 cents I wish you would’ve put what resort you were filming at haha I’m trying to find some good places to travel to. You got my sub!

I’m on the east coast, it sucks, I tried snowboarding for the first time once last season with rental gear and I loved it so much I got all geared up and ready to go this year and there still isn’t any snow where I live approaching mid January. It’s supposed to rain next Wednesday 😭

Guys please be nice to resort staff. Ive seen multiple people this year yelling at resort workers that its their fault that X bowl and Y lift isnt open. Yes last year was legendary and everything was open by Thanksgiving, did you really think it was gonna happen again? Also I love that everyone is complaining about how all the runs are moguls this year. Maybe this should be your queue to learn them 😂.

I feel like this was the perfect year to defer by full Ikon Pass, but a basic epic pass -- and book my two week New Zealand vacation. I was initially bummed to miss peak ski season, but honestly, I'm not now. I am worried about the wildfire season to come should these bases remain historically low and dry.

I ski at Mt Hood. Expecting 60-80 inches this next couple weeks. Skibowl and Cooper Spur near me still havent opened. Meadows and Timberline have some stuff open, but there are rocks all over the place.

Thanks for making this video super helpful

i think it would be cool if u did reviews for europe and japan

This is a fantastic video, makes me feel a bit better about how horrific Tremblant is right now. There is no moisture in the 'snow', it doesn't stick to the sheet ice below so it doesn't take long to pile up.

Have faith, folks: Tahoe got 8-12 inches today; more expected Saturday.

Reporting in from SLC: A very slow start to the season but it seems our luck has turned for the better. Snowbasin got a fresh 9” just last night with more on the way. If this keeps up we should be looking good for the rest of this season 👍🏻

how is Alaska not practical? it's not any more than travel to anyplace else you live to far to drive too. as of this post Mt.Alyeska had had 360 inches of snow this season and will likely be 700ish by the end of it.

0:00 this is just sad and pathetic 😢

Telluride has all lifts open!

I really thought it was just in Idaho that the snow conditions have sucked all season. Then I found this video. Praying that this incoming storm actually yields some decent snow! ❄

RIP skiing. The way things are going our children will live to see the day where skiing isn't a thing.

NO VIEWS??? FIRST TO SEE WHO RULES OVER YOU, SIMPLY FIND OUT WHO YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO CRITICIZE

My local mountain has 1 out of 50 something runs open, the bunny hill… they opened early November last year and this years they’ve barely managed to stay open with 1 run open…the snow that is on the mountain is slushy and barely deep enough for skiing

Skied Copper Mountain yesterday. Very icy on blues. Resolution bowl softened up nicely but thin coverage. Skied snowmass four days ago. Snow was actually ok considering low snowfall. Skied Snowbasin just before XMass and was one of the first 100 skiers in the new DeMoise lift. Just OK. We need SNOW!!!

not too bad in Quebec, about 50% open and condition were pretty good last week.

Snowshoe, WV might be the only place in the country significantly over normal avg. Two 10 inch days in the next week two... kinda random and wild

I had a blast at Mt Baker in early January, (6th-8th) tons of fresh snow and I only hit one rock. Snowed even more after we left...also snowed so much in Tahoe that both Palisades and Alpine had big in-bounds avalanches

currently in Big Sky, Montana skiing the resort and the conditions here are much worse than shown in this video by now. There are less than a dozen runs here that do not contain rocks somewhere along the trail. Almost unskiable conditions and the worst part is the mountain ops people told us today that they are out of water for the season and cannot blow extra snow to make up for the small snowfall.

Snowbasin in Utah has been decent this past week. By 11 am, the icy spots softened up. Solitude and Snowbird have been rough, late December.

Alaskan here, my home resort (alyeska) is not just doing okay it’s actually the best season I can remember so far

I was at Mt Bachelor in Oregon during New Years. The base is definitely below average, but it is no where near as bad as other parts of Oregon. I was able to ski off piste there and even have some enjoyable tree runs. They are only opening 50% of the terrain, but I think it's more due to crowds and not wanting to staff additional lifts when there are so few people there. There were basically no lift lines the entire time there. Jan 2nd there was even a couple inches of snow that fell and there were some patches of powder to be found as well. At the same time, when we drove by Mt. Hood on the way back, the ground was completely barren.

Multi storm track is starting tomorrow. The PNW and Northern California could see feet of snow by the end of next week. Same goes for Utah. Just a later start than usual.

Went to Hudson Bay mountain resort last week in BC. The snow base is below normal, but the snow quality and powder was excellent. It was worth the very long drive from Washington state. Best snow that we could find with out driving all the way to Alaska.

The rock board and spring gear is getting alot of use this season at Whistler/blackcomb. I cant imagine how busy the repair shops are with rental racks of gear. The amount of ptex would blot out the sun.

Meanwhile in scandinavia we have constant snowstorms and -10-30 celcius! It's crazy.

These kinds of conditions are being felt everywhere, even in Japan where i live. Anything short of Hokkaido resorts are really struggling with ski-out impossible forcing downloading on lifts to return to base, and lift closures that can impact traverse-ability between sections of the mountain. Certainly recommend everyone in any country reviews whats been open recently to ensure that lift closures don't impact ones ability to move between different areas, as this really limits your runs plus leads to heavy traffic on the areas easily served by the main lifts which gets them cut up bad by lunch.

I was in Snowshoe, WV between Dec 25th and 27th. It was raining almost non-stop. Luckily, looks like they'll get between 6 and 10" of snow this weekend. I'm going back on Feb and hopefully conditions will be much better.

Spent the weekend in Steamboat we got 26" over the past 2 days and the skiing on Saturday was amazing

I was so surprised to see fist-sized rocks on multiple runs at Whiteface last Tuesday, (video on my channel) something I’ve never seen before in January on the east coast! Luckily the mountain did receive 4” of snow yesterday and have been snowmaking a ton this week!

Conditions in Upstate NY in January were absolutely horrible. Mud everywhere, and there was ice literally on every trail, and rain swept away the largest snowstorm yet this season, cancelling potentially one of our best school club ski trips. Thankfully conditions this weekend (2/17) is a little better with the snowfall, but I've never had a season of snowboarding this terrible ever before.

Between the 5th and the 12th parts of Oregon are expected to get up to 75 inches of snow. The central Rockies and Utah are expected to get between 15-30 inches. Give it some time the snow will come

Latest forecast for Mt. Hood Oregon is........60in starting Saturday thru the 12th. FINALLY the snow will arive

Brighton is ICY!!! Confirmed rocks on groomers. But that is chaging slightly with the mini storm.

Yah up on Big Sky today; Big Sky only has full run snowmaking on Mr K, Tippies Tumble, Ambush, Elk park ridge, lone wolf and Safari and though they are open all the other blue green terrain that is usually groomed are rock garden bump fields so if you like your boards don't venture elsewhere.

Was in Colorado last week, pretty solid powder that slowly warmed but didn’t ice much.

we had this last year in Europe. France, Italy, Austria had almost no snow in november and december. In january the snow conditions were acceptable and in february the snow conditions were superb. now at the moment we have so much rain in the netherlands, Belgium, Germany and France. it keeps raining now for 2 months in a row every single day. But when it rains a lot in these countrys there will be lots of snow in the Austria, France, Italy. and so it is.

I got new boots this season and have been skiing like an old man so far, so I’m relieved to see that it’s mostly because of the snow. Last two years babied me with all the powder.

@peakrankings you forgot to mention Snowshoe WV has 46” of natural snow! And Cupp Run 1.5 mile FIS black just opened on New Year’s Day! We have 🤞for upcoming storm this weekend!! ❄️🏂⛷️

Breck area was super nice during the Dec 24-28 for skiing. Though i was surprised to see many areas with very mild snow coverage...

Just did winter park all last week. Tons of rocks

went to visit vt during christmas and was disappointed by the conditions!! hoping for better

Just got back from Snowshoe WV and it’s actually looking really solid for early January. Lots of cold for good snow making conditions.

I had planned a 3 weeks trip to Park City. 17 days in.. I’ve got ONE 5” snow storm so far

Austrian here. we have freaky weather in the winter too here last week it was like 7 degrees above 0 (celsius) during the day and 2 days ago when i was skiing it started raining heavily

i had to cancel my trip to whistler 😢 it looks like they are gonna get a TON of snow over the next few weeks so that’s something to look forward too!

norway has had one of the most snowfilled winters yet. it started snowing in november and has now snowed up to almost 60 cm. it is still snowing and i estimate it will be about 1 meter at the end of the season

i was actually at killington when the awful storms hit vermont over the summer, we ended driving out and half of the road was completely gone

Look at snow totals so far in Buffalo. It’s astounding how little amount of snow there has been, and how mild the temps and wind have been. This time last year 17+ FEET of snow had already fallen here, this year barely 1.5 feet. Ryan Hall said this would happen because of El Niño affecting the jet stream but things will obviously change in Jan and Feb.

Just a note on Snowbasin as of 01/04/2024, they claim "100% of lifts open" and 111/114 trails open but a lot of the areas outside of groomers still have plenty of rocks, trees, twigs, branches, etc exposed to mess up the bottom of your skis or board. Myself and a couple friends deigned to go into a typically groomed area (Dan's Run, specifically.. ) and we all gashed our gear. Hopefully we get more snow soon...

Love how no one talks about New Mexico Mountains.. Had amazing storm skiing yesterday and a crazy pow day today! 2 more storms on the way! Rode the lift more Coloradans than texans for once! it was great

Im a xc skier in Ontario. Usually I would've been out 30 times by now, so far ive only done 4 short skis on rock skiis.

Its like that in North Idaho but we just got 2 feet of powder and we expected 3-4 more in the coming week

It balances the above average season we had last year. You win some you lose a lot.

I'm seeing some wildside, pacific crest, and silver fir conditions have been surprisingly alright definitely not great for this time of year but I keep having fun