With the World Cup Ski Racing season in full swing and Euro racing/ski industry friends in North America these last few weeks, we kept hearing about the poor snow conditions in Europe and being reminded of how fortunate we, in the Northwest, are to have so much snow.  While the weather can turn on a dime and improve overnight, as of yesterday, it was still unseasonably warm in Europe –some races earlier this month were even cancelled due to lack of snow.  Resorts beyond the Northwest are doing much better than EU but many are still off to a slow, warm start compared to the NW.  Some of our favs: Mammoth- reported a high of 55F and sun today with a 30″ snow base at the summit which tops out at over 11,000ft; Alta: 47F high with 27″ at mid-mtn (?); Squaw: 40F high with 10-12″ at the summit; Aspen: 37F and 12″ at the summit; Jackson Hole: 30F and 27″ at the summit. AK, Western WA, OR, ID resorts have at least 3ft at their bases and much more at their summits. And, unlike the Sierras and Rockies, our base areas are low. Summit at Snoqualmie in the Central Cascades is a tad over 3000ft and as you’ll see in the video below, Summit West’s 40″ base skied great today! Plus Alpental OPENS FRIDAY!

And tomorrow’s expected to be a powder day: our NW states in the lower 48 are all forecasting another 3-5″ of snow overnight at 3000-4000′ with double that at higher elevations and at Mt. Baker (not surprising as they hold the world record for snowfall).  Oh, and did we say: Alpental OPENS FRIDAY! We keep telling our friends about how great our mountains are since our ski areas aren’t as known or developed as those in CA, UT and CO.  But maybe with all our snow, folks will start to notice – especially those chomping at the bit to ski or ride some deep snow without crossing the border.  The Northwest has some amazing (albeit very challenging) terrain, low prices and awesome views – behold the beauty of the Cascades in the pix below (taken May/June) as well as in Karter’s vid (previous post) and by all means, pay us a visit. The Snow Troopers would love to ski with you.  In the meantime, we’re praying for more snow – everywhere!  Come on La Nina!

Ah – Alaska? Nope, Mt. Baker – King of Snow. Looks like a piece of AK though, doesn’t it?

This is Alpental (the Snow Troopers’ backyard) – which OPENS FRIDAY – with a view of Mt. Rainier And our backcountry terrain in the Central Cascades.

And some shots from Crystal (next door to Mt. Rainier).  

Take an eight minute+ ride w/ Karter Riach through the 2010/2011 Northwest ski season.

Mt. Baker might be leading the nation in deep snow pack with 91″ of settled snow at the top of Pan Dome. But for those looking for World Cup racing action, Aspen’s got it going on this weekend. The world’s fastest women skiers descended Aspen Mountain today in the 2011 Aspen Winternational Giant Slalom Races.  We’re thrilled to see Julia Mancuso lead the U.S. Women in her 3rd place finish.

Victoria Rebensburg of Germany and Elisabeth Goergl of Austria finished 1st and 2nd, respectively. Congrats to all the winners! U.S.’ Lindsay Vonn finished 12th. The Slalom races begin tomorrow at 10:15am – watch the races live at the base of Aspen’s lift 1A.  In the meantime, don’t forget Bud Light Hi-Fi Concert Series’ kicks off today at 630pm with Cowboy Mouth playing at Aspen’s Upper Gondola Plaza, followed by the Public Awards Ceremony & Fireworks Extravaganza at 8pm.  It was a beautiful day in the Aspen Valley and the summit snow base for each mountain is currently reported to be as follows : Aspen 12″,  Snowmass 27″, Aspen Highlands 26″ and Buttermilk 12″.

The Snow Troopers joined old friends and new at EpiQuest and Chugach Powder Guides’ annual party in Seattle.  Seems like very year, they bring the snow – along with good food, skis and heli trip giveaways, etc. – and this year was no different.  Pictured below L to R front:  Britney Blomquist, Jake Moe (Powder Magazine co-founder and host of NW Cable Network’s “Ski Northwest”), JD Smith; L to R back: Rob Bolton, TNT, Sting, Chris Owens (Epiquest/Chugach Powder Guides’ co-founder), Brad Vancour (Warren Miller athlete), Tara and Carl Simpson.

Happy Thanksgiving Snow Troopers! Here is a short vid giving you a peek at what conditions were like at 2,600 feet in the Central Cascades 2 days ago. That day was followed by a little rain yesterday which should set us up nicely for a bomber base. Vid is backed to live music performed by the PopCanPipers. The snow’s currently coming down really hard at Snoqualmie Pass’ 3000ft elevation as well as Stevens Pass, Crystal Mtn. and Mt. Baker. With back to back storms like this, all resorts west of or on the crest of the cascades in WA and OR have some terrain OPEN for skiing and riding!!! Shouldn’t be much longer before Alpy and Hyak open too. Viva la nina!

Andrew Eckels and Jacob Mandell are studying very hard at WWU (I think topo maps) this year. Attending WWU makes Mt. Baker their home mountain for a while to come, so here is Andrew’s first edit from the “King of snow” this 2011-2012 season. As of the latest report from Mt. Baker this afternoon, their settled snow base at White Salmon and Pan Dome now measures 67″ and 72″ respectively. The Snow Troopers were first to report on this big storm in our post below and we’re here again to tell you that this “King of snow” mountain could see another 22″ at 5200ft by tomorrow a.m. But it won’t end there: the national weather service is calling for the big dump to continue at higher elevations with up to another 11″ on Wed. and 22″ on Turkey day!!!  Avalanche danger will be extreme so be sure to stay away from avi terrain. Be avi aware, check back here often for updates and Live to ski another day Snow Troopers!

Opening day came earlier than it had in the last 25 years at Schweitzer Mountain Resort this past Saturday. The decision was made just the morning prior to spin the lifts for the faithful local hardcore.
I was expecting a huge line to start the day (even if they only had the lower mountain open), but the mountain was just like the streets of Sandpoint on the way up – not many people and all covered in snow. I stayed on the main groomer down to the base for most of my runs, but did venture twice down ridge run to seek out some pow. The skiing was great but really needed one more good dump to end the thoughts of underbrush or land sharks wanting to take a bite out of your fun.

Tommy “Tunes” Letourneau – The Guy can sure turn the skis not to mention TUNE them too… When in Sandpoint find him on fb for a tune which will always add points to the fun factor scale.

Here’s the video from yesterday’s tour and knee deep powder ski at Hyak. Conditions are incredible for pre-Thanksgiving. And it’s only going to get better – in fact, Snoqualmie Pass is expected to receive up to 16″ more Sun-Mon. night. But wait, check out Mt. Baker which is expected to get up to 46″ – YES 46″ on Mon. and 45″ -YES, WEATHER SERVICE SAYS 45″ on Tues. at around 5600ft. OMG, GET OUT THE SNORKEL!!! Be safe, be avalanche aware – if you haven’t already, sign up for an avi awareness course and live to ski another day. Enjoy the video and be sure to check back for videos from opening day at Mt. Baker and Schweitzer.

Got off to a late start this a.m. so with Andrew Eckels covering Mt. Baker, I decided to head up to Snoqualmie Pass and check out Hyak.  It didn’t disappoint.  This last storm dumped about 2ft of dry, light snow. Just a handful of others were there to enjoy the knee deep snow.  Didn’t come across any of the freezing rain that supposedly fell a day ago nor did I hit anything underfoot even on the steepest slopes – snow stayed powdery light all day long.  With temps dropping tonight, hopefully it’ll ski equally well tomorrow.  Check out the pix below.  Don’t forget Summit West, Stevens Pass, Mt. Baker, Crystal, Mission Ridge in WA and Lookout Pass and Schweitzer in ID are all open tomorrow.

The wait is really over for western WA skiers and snowboarders: Not only have Mt. Baker and Crystal announced that they will open 9am this Friday but Snoqualmie’s Summit West, Stevens Pass and Mission Ridge are joining the party and opening this Saturday 9am as well!! Bring it on La Nina! Stay tuned as we bring you the freshest powder shots from the first day of the 2011/2012 ski season.