WORLD SNOW WRAP – Springtime Reflection

Mountainwatch | World Snow Wrap

Well, here we are, Spring 2013, is it just me or did it really sneak up on us this year? The transition of the seasons always creates a feeling of nostalgia in my mind and it’s a good a time as any to take a look in the rear view mirror and consider the winter just passed.

Anyone lucky enough to have spent Christmas in Whistler this year scored and early present on Christmas Eve, Whistler Mountain 24 December Image:: Whistler-Blackcomb

November delivered great falls in the Pacific-Northwest, as per usual resorts like Whistler-Blackcomb, Mt Washington, Mt Baker and Revelstoke were sporting healthy snow packs by the last week of the month and skiers were enjoying solid pow days before resorts in other parts of the world had even flicked the switch.

This is how good it was in Revelstoke before the resort was even open, here a local Revelstoke rider tests out the trees pre-opening day Image:: Revelstoke

December in North America and most areas in Europe was when things really began to happen, Jackson Hole had received ~ 140″ of fresh dry Wyoming pow before most people had even hung the christmas stockings. Other regions worthy of a mention are the French and Austrian Alps, the Euro’s were lucky to be skiing on man made snow at the end of November. Then bam; December hit, and a welcome storm dumped over a metre of snow much to the delight of christmas holiday makers. If you were at a mountain pretty well anywhere on the pacific coast of the U.S then you definitely lucked out in December.

After a shaky start in November, December brought heavy snow to the Austrian Alps, here a local skier makes the most of it Image:: Obergurgl Resort

January was a little bit of a mixed bag, and it really depended on where you were as to how stoked you could be… Post holiday season the dreaded high pressures moved in and it resulted in a quiet month snow wise although as you would expect in January temperatures remained cool and the sun was shining. Up in B.C the snow kept on cranking, although not as much as it did in December, further south the snow totals decreased notably. Colorado experienced a dry run and the majority of ski areas in the U.S.A were hanging for some fresh snow toward the end of the month. European resorts took the heaviest hit in Jan with a prolonged warm spell at the start of the month and nothing in the way of significant snowfalls until the last week.

Colorado resorts managed to turn their season around when the storms finally arrived in Feb, this is how deep it was February 9 in Aspen Image:: Aspen/Snowmass

February brought relief to the regions that struggled in January. Snow returned to B.C and the coastal resorts like Whistler were back in business. Banff and resorts in Alberta finally saw some powder, meanwhile a huge freak snowstorm blanketed the east coast causing huge disruptions and power outages. Down in the U.S.A Colorado and surrounding states saw some of the best snow in mid-Feb since early winter and trust me when I say, people were stoked! Californian resorts enjoyed a steady stream of storms mixed with some epic Californian blue-bird days. Over in Europe the tables turned in skiers favour and the pow fell in abundance. February was the pick of the season in Europe and all the snow that fell will prolong their season well into the spring.

Mid February in the B.C interior was really as good as it gets, pow day after pow day followed by valley inversions letting skiers get high above clouds and enjoy epic vistas like this, jealous much? Image:: Alex Horvath

Overall it is quite safe to say that winter 2012/2013 started off strong, lost its energy and found a second wind, time will tell what March delivers! At the end of the day a day on the mountain is a whole lot better then one off the mountain, hopefully you had some time to get over the pond and enjoy it!

Enjoying sunny spring days in Whistler over the weekend, after the recent snow there is plenty of snow in the backcountry Image:: Whistler Blackcomb

In The Forecast

Canada A mixture of wet and snowy spring weather headed for B.C this week with up to 80 cm tipped to fall. Typical for this time of the year the freezing levels are looking a little sketchy so head high if you can. Further inland from B.C toward Alberta the temperatures get colder and the snowfall totals decrease a little, quality over quantity right!?

The snow that fell over the last week or so is remaining quality up high so still plenty of powder stashes to be found in Canada over the next few weeks, as usual in B.C head north and get up high! A perfect time to be hanging out at any of the Heli lodges in Canada right now…

The high alpine bowls in Colorado are the place to ski this time of year Image:: Aspen/Snowmass

USA The forecast is looking quite mild for the coastal states, Washington, Oregon and California can expect some warm days mixed in with a little sun and some cloud, nothing significant snow wise this week. Colorado is remaining cold this week so all that snow in the higher alpine bowls would be insane right now…

Things will start to warm up in the USA over the next few weeks so if you are headed for the mountains make sure that you pack for a variety of conditions.

Europe A huge variation of conditions to be enjoyed in Europe at this time of year, the massive vertical available at resorts in the French and Austrian alps mean that you can head up high and find some stashes then ski spring corn down in the valleys. Sunny days and mild temperatures ahead so if you are going skiing head up as high as possible to find the best snow. Personally, if I were in Europe this month I would be taking advantage of the great snow pack in the backcountry and heading out for some epic touring.

Events

The US Open went down in Vail Colorado last week, 14 year old Ayumu Hirano, turned some heads with his insane halfpipe run, unfortunately it wasn’t enough to end Shaun White’s streak of world domination, watch his run below…

The FWT Stop is ready to go down in Fieberbrunn, Austria over the next few days, it is currently on weather hold. Check out the course in the video below, very impressive…

Where We Would Like To Be This Week

Last Frontier Heli Lodge in far northern B.C would be my pick right now, imagine that deep stable B.C snowpack, 5 of your best shred mates, a full tank of aviation fuel and nothing but endless mountain ranges covered in powder…

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