I skied at Abasin on Friday and it was full-on beach weather with the snow softening just after 12-noon under mostly sunny skies.

The weather on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday will also be mostly sunny. Temperatures on Saturday should be a few degrees cooler than Friday, but still, you’ll enjoy warm, spring weather.

We should begin to see more clouds on Tuesday and Wednesday with showers possible, then there will be a better chance for a storm with significant precipitation from late Thursday through Saturday morning.

The storm later next week should bring some snow to mountains, and the most precipitation could fall near and east of the divide.

Here is the University of Utah Ensemble forecast for Berthoud Pass, showing an average of 1 inch of precipitation, which would likely result in double-digit snowfall amounts.

And below is the European Ensemble model’s forecast, with about 60% of the 51 versions showing 0.5-1.0 inches of precipitation for Eldora (which is closed), or about 5-10 inches of snow near and east of the divide. The ensemble average agrees with the University of Utah ensemble at about 1 inch of precipitation.

Keep your schedule open next Friday and Saturday and we’ll see how this storm develops.

Also, below is a note about Cuchara Mountain. I first wrote about this on Friday and think it’s worth posting for a few days so everyone can hopefully see the note...

Cuchara Mountain.

Here is its location in the south-eastern mountains:

https://goo.gl/maps/Wi9m3c4j13K2

Cuchara Mountain is no longer in operation, but a local group is raising money to purchase the land and reinvigorate the area for winter skiing, skinning, and tubing, as well as summer music festivals and education.

Here is a picture of the mountain with its mid-winter coat. Looks like fun, local skiing!

More about the project:

A group of residents in Cuchara, Colorado have started a major project here in Huerfano County, near the Spanish Peaks, in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.  We are trying to rehabilitate the Cuchara Mountain Resort (imagine Eldora abandoned) and revive it as a public county park with an emphasis on providing both summer and winter outdoor recreational activities.

Huerfano County is the second poorest county in the state, with little industry or job opportunities.  Part of our goal is to bring tourists and outdoor recreation enthusiasts to our part of the state, and specifically our part of Huerfano County.  The Cuchara Foundation, a local 501(c)3 charitable organization, is raising the money to pay off the land for the county. Once that is accomplished, the Foundation will then begin raising money to rehabilitate the equipment and provide the outdoor recreation we all want. 

Our current assets include a double chair lift on the park property, access to two additional lifts on national forest land, a building that could be used as a lodge/ticket office/ski rental office, two large maintenance buildings, snow making infrastructure, and a partially torn-down building which we hope to turn into a music stage.  Our park is about 50 acres and is also a bridge to the San Isabel National Forest, which is perfect for uphill/backcountry skiing.

We think our little gem of a park will be perfect for skiing, sledding, tubing, mountain biking, music festivals, as well as educational programs focused on the environment, the natural world, and outdoor recreation.

We are actively fundraising. We’ve raised almost $84,000 of the needed $150,000 to purchase the land, so we are more than halfway there. Our deadline for payment is November 2017.

I think this is a fantastic project and OpenSnow just donated money in support of it. To donate, you can send a check to the Cuchara Foundation, Mountain Park Fund, 137 Cuchara Avenue East, Cuchara, CO 81055. Or you can donate online: https://www.facebook.com/donate/10211152536466584/

For more pictures and information, go here:

http://www.cucharavillage.com/

Have a great Saturday!

JOEL GRATZ