COVID-19

All ski areas are closed, some for the season and some until further notice. A few ski areas are allowing uphill travel, but many are not.

Local community leaders and first responders have emailed me personally to ask/request/beg people not to come to their mountain communities to chase powder. If you do want to get out and enjoy the new snow,  please stay close to home and be extra responsible and cautious so that you’re safe and do not cause a burden to healthcare workers.

If you are planning to earn your turns, here is something to consider from Jordan White, and member of Mountain Rescue Aspen and accomplished ski mountaineer and adventurer:

“I’d like to say we understand [your desire to earn your turns] because we’re all backcountry enthusiasts ourselves,” he began, “But you definitely want to make decisions right now that have the absolute best possible outcome. You want your decisions to be such that if something does happen, it’s an absolute freak occurrence, like it wasn’t a 50/50 decision on an avalanche slope or you weren’t hucking cliffs or anything."

He continued “At Mountain Rescue Aspen, we are still rescue ready and we are certainly going to come for you. But just know if you do have to call us, you’re putting a strain on an already strained medical infrastructure in the state right now.”

Jordan’s quote was from this article on Wild Snow: https://www.wildsnow.com/27828/should-you-go-ski-touring-during-coronavirus/

Weather

Sunday morning’s storm dropped 1-4 inches on most northern and southern mountains. Then the rest of Sunday afternoon and Sunday night was mostly dry.

Now on Monday morning, we will wake up to dry weather but that will end by midday as the next storm rolls in from the west. Expect snow to fall from Monday afternoon through early Tuesday morning. This is not a weak storm, but it’s not a strong storm either. Just another in a series of systems with moderate energy and abundant moisture which should deliver another healthy shot of snow. In this case, we’ll stick with the 2-8 inch forecast that we talked about yesterday.

The storm will end by Tuesday morning. Then on Tuesday and Wednesday, the next system will push into the western United States, but it will stay mostly west of us here in Colorado. The forecast for Tuesday morning through Thursday morning shows the bulk of the precipitation falling over California and Utah with a smattering of showers over far northwestern Colorado, roughly from Steamboat and the Flattop Mountains and northwest.

From Thursday morning through Saturday morning, the western storm will finally move to the east and should deliver a significant shot of snow. We’ll start with a forecast of about 6 inches for most mountains, with the chance for double digits for a few spots. Right now, I’d say the best odds of the deeper totals will be in the southern mountains (thanks to an initial wind direction from the southwest), the northeastern mountains (thanks to a possible wind from the northeast during the storm), and perhaps with the northern mountains (thanks to the wrap-around flow on Friday night). Both Friday and maybe Saturday morning could offer powder.

If you are planning to head out to earn your turns, please remember Jordan’s quote above. Make decisions that have the highest odds of the best outcome.

Following the storm on Thursday into Friday, the last few days of March and the first few days of April look warmer and less stormy here in Colorado.

We will undoubtedly see more storms in early April, it’s just that the weather pattern should transition from our current state of mostly stormy with some breaks of dry weather, to mostly dry with some breaks of stormy weather.

Thanks for reading!

Stay healthy, stay happy.

My next post will be on Tuesday morning.

JOEL GRATZ

Fundraiser

Christy Sports is selling all winter inventory from now through March 26th, with 10% of all sales going to support local COVID-19 relief efforts. Learn More.

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Geography Key

Northern Mountains
Steamboat, Granby, Beaver Creek, Vail, Ski Cooper, Copper, Breckenridge, Keystone, Loveland, Arapahoe Basin, Winter Park, Berthoud Pass, Eldora, Rocky Mountain National Park, Cameron Pass

Along the Divide
Loveland, Arapahoe Basin, Winter Park, Berthoud Pass

East of the Divide
Eldora, Echo, Rocky Mountain National Park, Cameron Pass

Central Mountains
Aspen, Sunlight, Monarch, Crested Butte, Irwin, Powderhorn

Southern Mountains
Telluride, Silverton – north side of the southern mountains | Purgatory, Wolf Creek – south side of the southern mountains