“], “filter”: { “nextExceptions”: “img, blockquote, div”, “nextContainsExceptions”: “img, blockquote, a.btn, a.o-button”} }”>
Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members!
>”,”name”:”in-content-cta”,”type”:”link”}}”>Download the app.
This season’s forecasted La Niña has finally arrived, and is starting to work its magic. While it’s not been the overpowering version of the weather phenomenon that us skiers were hoping for, it’s producing good snow totals in various parts of the continent.
Watch: Mid-January Powder Skiing at Colo.’s Copper Mountain
Now that we’re well into the ski season, let’s take stock of where winter is adequately wintering—and where the snow leaves something to be desired.
8 Ski Areas With the Highest Snow Totals This Winter
1. Alyeska Resort, Alaska
- Snow total to date (inches): 383
You have to go way north to get the goods, but boy, are they good. Alaska is enjoying the fruits of La Niña and is already over halfway to its average annual snowfall of 669 inches. Not surprisingly, the slopes are skiing phenomenally, with a 80-inch base at mid-mountain and a 135-inch base at summit. The great conditions don’t come without a trade-off, and in this case, it’s frigid temps, high winds, and short days; the sun rises at around 9:30 a.m. and sets at 4:40 p.m. in Alaska in mid-January.
2. Mt. Baker, Wash.
- Snow total to date (inches): 264
Coming back to the Lower 48, the Pacific Northwest is leading the pack, with Washington’s Mt. Baker enjoying a great winter so far. The ski area had a particularly great early season, especially November and December, when almost 250 inches fell. It’s slowed down since, but the early bounty made for an excellent base of 117 inches at the top of the Pan Dome, at 5,020 feet. Baker, along with several other ski areas in the North Cascades of Oregon and Washington, will continue to have a dry January, with next chance for snow at the very end of January into early February.
3. Revelstoke Mountain, B.C.
- Snow total to date (inches): 251
Revy’s season is chugging right along, with a comfortable 251 inches having fallen so far since opening day in November. The slopes are nearly 100 percent open, aside from a few spots on the lowest-elevation portion of the resort. With February and March still to come, Revy is well on its way to hitting its average annual total of 413 this season.
4. Alta Ski Area, Utah
- Snow total to date (inches): 231
With all of the new coming out of Utah around the Park City ski patrol strike and a lack of skiable terrain for vacationing skiers, you might think it’s bone dry in the Beehive state. While it’s true that they’re not having their very best snow year so far, leave it to Alta to buck the trend, delivering a respectable 231 inches of snowfall so far this season. All lifts are operating, serving 109 of the ski area’s 118 runs.
5. Jackson Hole, Wyo.
- Snow total to date (inches): 214
Jackson Hole and neighboring Grand Targhee (203 inches) should be pleased with the conditions they’re finding here in mid-January. Touting a 62-inch base at the summit and all 13 lifts open, it’s game on in Wyoming. Forecasts look consistently cold and mostly dry for the remainder of January, with small snow squalls here and there.
6. Jay Peak, Vt.
- Snow total to date (inches): 202
We can’t leave northern Vermont out of the conversation, especially a resort that is historically so snowy that it has its own cloud. The Jay Cloud has produced, and January finds the ski area with a 65-inch summit base and all lifts up and running, as well as 74 of its 81 trails.
7. Whistler Blackcomb, B.C.
- Snow total to date (inches): 197
Whistler is enjoying the spoils this season despite its southern B.C. location. With a 63-inch base depth and almost 200 cumulative inches, the slopes are skiing well, and are 95 percent open.
8. Copper Mountain, Colo.
- Snow total to date (inches): 191
Copper is reporting 45 inches so far in January, and is leading the powder tally among its Colorado competitors. Seeing as the ski area is almost at 200 inches on the season, there’s a lot to be excited about here, including a total of 2,530 skiable acres all open for business out of the resort’s 2,538.
Where the Snow Isn’t—But Things are Starting to Look Better
La Niña hasn’t been kind to southern Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and all of California’s slopes, but there’s change on the horizon. According to OpenSnow, a weekend storm could drop the goods on some of the areas that need it the most, including the resorts in Colorado’s San Juans, New Mexico’s Sangre de Cristos, and California’s Sierra Nevadas. It’s not expected to produce huge snow totals, but hopefully it’s the start of a more fruitful trend for destinations such as Mammoth, Telluride, and Taos.
