In much of the Western USA, all we could talk about was how low a snow year it was. Tahoe only got about 180″ of snow this year. Taos, NM had a rough one and so did a lot of ski towns.
Looking at the numbers below, it’s hard to believe there was a low snow year anywhere. These numbers are all big and juicy. As long as you were anywhere near the resorts listed below, you had one heck of a good winter. Colorado with over 470″ in a season? Excellent.
Top 15 Biggest Snowfall Totals for 2013/14 in North America
(This list was complied by SnowBrains.com by calling each ski resort on the list)
#1 = Mt. Baker, WA = 623″
#2 = Jackson Hole, WY = 527″
#3 = Timberline Lodge, OR = 518″
#4 = Grand Targhee, WY = 480″
#5 = Loveland, CO = 474″
#5 = Alyeska, AK = 474″
#6 = Stevens Pass, WA = 472″
#7 = White Pass, WA = 465″
#8 = Big Sky, MT = 460″
#9 = Breckenridge, CO = 439″
#10 = Alta, UT = 432″
#11 = Brighton, UT = 415″
#12 = Snowbird, UT = 408″
#13 = Fernie, B.C. = 399″
#13 = Mt. Bachelor, OR = 399″
#14 = Whitewater, B.C. = 395″
#14 = Arapahoe Basin, CO = 395″
#15 = Revelstoke, B.C. = 378″
#16 = Winter Park, CO = 376″
#17 = Crystal Mountain, WA = 372″
More Notable Snowfall Totals in North America
Solitude, UT = 362″
Bridger Bowl, MT = 355″
Whistler Blackcomb, B.C. = 354″
Mount Bohemia, MI = 351″
Wolf Creek, CO = 351″
Steamboat Springs, CO = 346″
Jay Peak, VT = 319″
(editor’s note: we tried everything to get snowfall totals at a few resorts we know are likely in here and were unable to acquire snowfall totals. If you have that info, please let us know and we’ll get it up.)
Hey just found this website via a link on Grand Targhee’s web page-this is great info-thanks. Think Snow!
I report on a November 1 – April 30 basis to make comparisons consistent.
http://50.87.144.177/~bestsnow/summ14.htm
http://50.87.144.177/~bestsnow/seas14.htm
October snowfall is meaningful only if it affects the opening day/conditions. At most places October snow melts out. I call at the end of the season and request month by month to sort this out. I also try to use m9id rather than upper locations where possible. Jackson and Alyeska are prime examples of upper measurements not representative of average ski terrain. Breck changed its reporting site in 2010, used to be more like Copper (which is what most locals think it is in reality), now it’s more like Vail. That said Summit had a very good season in 2013-14 while Vail was a bit below average.
Knox Williams, who ran the Colorado avalanche Information Center for 30+ and spent most of that time in the field, says there are only 3 locations in Colorado that average 400+ inches Nov-Apr. #1 is Buffalo Pass, may be as much as 500. #2 is Kebler Pass, which takes most of the snow before it gets to Crested Butte to its east. #3 is Wolf Creek. According to Knox, Silverton gets no more than 10% more than nearby Red Mt. Pass, which averages 299 inches Nov-Apr based upon 35+ years of data.
Monarch Mountain, Colorado reported 340″ of snow last season, and they even received a ton after they closed the doors and stopped reporting! http://www.skimonarch.com/snow-report
Crested Butte also was all-time last season. Maybe not a high enough number to make it on this list, but definitely a season for the ages!
Snowing RIGHT NOW on Bachelor. Heading up tomorrow!
A big …HMMMMM.. As someone that does not live in ski country but goes there several times a year…
I thought this was a pretty lousy ski year … unless you hit the storm on target days..
Alta, Snowbird, Solitude, Brighton are all UNDER their average years.. yes?? and most of the snow they got was catchup late season snow when most of us that do not live there have packed away our skis..
Colorado had a similar story.. early season big storm.. then desert stretch .. then occassional big storms with long desert stretches all the way to big late season snows
Personally… had one day of great snow at the Bird.. with a day of leftovers at Alta.. some mediocre conditions the rest of the time in Utah..
Similar story at Telluride… we were sooooo lucky there because they were just getting out of a long desert stretch when we arrived..
I hate to sound like a jerk, but when visitor skiers are off the mountain, it’s the best time to ski. Colorado had a great season, not huge desert stretches like you mentioned, not at all. Winter was consistent which is why our snowpack was well above average. As far as Utah goes, sure it’s great to hit storms, but if you can ski the snow, it’s not as much “make up snow.” Southern Colorado didn’t fair very well this year which correlates with Utah’s below average season. Beaver Creek is my home mountain these days but I ski Utah and other resorts as much as i can, I had good days every time I ski’d Alta, and last weekend at Snowbird was pretty amazing, every report was about Colorado’s storm, meanwhile the Wasatch, specifically Little Cottonwood got hit pretty hard.
Steamboat Springs had 400+ inches this season. Buffalo Pass had 15ft of snowpack towards the end of April.
Why only reporting summit county here? Winter Park, CO would have easily been top 15 with 400″+. Although, on second thought, thanks for not reporting it so we can keep it less crowded.
Fun post. I’d like to note that Ann Arbor MI received as much snow as Squaw’s base: 97 angry angry inches.
http://goldensnowglobe.com/all-snowiest-us-cities/
http://squaw.com/the-mountain/conditions/snowfall-tracker
Mt baker…. my home.. this is what I consider a bad winter…. if not for feb and march we would be hurting.. cause i made it over 100 times this year and half of that was on ice.. Anyway gotta love the small mountains throwing down the pow year in and year out… =)
So true!!
Early season sucked at baker but the late season dumping was welcomed, just amounted to too much too late. Still wouldn’t trade Baker for anything.
i wanna know how loveland got 100 more inches then a-bay when their right next door to each other…
“They’re” right next to each other. It’s the mystery of orographic lift. Heck, Keystone is even closer to Abasin than Abasin is to Loveland and Keystone gets at least 100″ less than A Basin does every year. Copper is literally behind Breck and gets less snow. Snowbird and Alta are next to each other and get different amounts.
So I know steamboat broke 400 at the peak, is there a reason your not using that number?
Hm. We called Steamboat and this was the number they gave us.
Steamboat’s official snowfall total is measured at mid-mountain, which is the 346 you have. The season snowfall at the summit was 409.5. Unfortunately, if some of your ski area totals are at mid-mountain and some are at the summit, it doesn’t do much for comparing and ranking snowfall.
If anything, Breck under-reported this year. They probably got about 25% more snow because of the wind blowing over the day after a storm.
Whitefish, 317″ on closing day.
Jay peak Vt. and still open for one more week, who is still open, two weeks ago still skiing woods.
Just wondering, any estimates on how much Alpental got at the top? They were consistently at or near the top in terms of snowpack
Skier, they got a lot. We couldn’t get any info from them. We emailed, called, left messages, everything we can think of. They certainly would be in here. We hope to hear from them soon.
Not sure who you were trying to connect with Miles… Keep this email for future snow questions: marketing@summiti90.com
Cheers!
Btw, and something that should always be noted when talking snow totals, each resort reports at different snow stakes. Some are base, some mid-mountain and some are top measurements. That should be part of the equation and stated in my opinion. Otherwise, if asked, many resorts will simply report their higher elevation totals 🙂 Just sayin’.
I’m not sure where you get your stats from… but here is the actual list.
* snowfall totals acquired from resort snow reports, or by phone/email if not posted, on respective closing days
1. Mt Baker – 1582 cm (623 in)
2. Timberline Lodge, OR – 1316 cm (518 in) + still open
3. Jackson Hole, WY – 1270 cm (500 in)
4. Powder King, BC – 1243 cm (489 in)
5. Grand Targhee, WY – 1219 cm (480 in)
6. Alyeska, AK – 1204 cm (474 in)
7. Loveland, CO – 1204 cm (474 in)
8. White Pass, WA – 1181 cm (465 in)
9. Stevens Pass, WA – 1176 cm (463 in)
10. Big Sky, MT – 1168 cm (460 in)
11. Mt Bachelor, OR – 1143 cm (450 in) + still open
12. Breckenridge, CO – 1115 cm (439 in)
13. Alta, UT – 1097 cm (432 in)
14. Brighton, UT – 1054 cm (415 in)
15. Kirkwood, CA – 1039 cm (409 in)
16. Snowbird, UT – 1036 cm (408 in) + still open
17. Fernie, BC – 1014 cm (399 in)
18. Whitewater, BC – 1004 cm (395 in)
19. Arapahoe Basin, CO – 1003 cm (395 in)
20. Apex, BC – 976 cm (384 in)
And for shits’n’giggles here’s the top 10 snowfalls, as a percentage of normal, for the 2013-2014 season
(resorts still open not included in this list)
1. Nakiska, AB – 250%
2. Val D’Irene, QC – 208%
3. Mt Norquay, AB – 169%
4. Apex, BC – 163%
5. Marble Mtn, NFLND – 152%
6. Nubs Nob, MI – 152%
7. Lutsen Mtn, MN – 152%
8. Massif du Sud, QC – 145%
9. Winter Park, CO – 139%
10. Mt Comi – QC – 137%
Hey Cheeky, great list. Gathering this info is difficult, huh? Bachelor for sure is reporting 399″ on their site right now. We called Jackson marketing and it’s snowed 27″ since they closed bringing them to 527″. Kirkwood is reporting 409″ and the Donner Summimt Snow Lab is reporting 175″ so we thought we’d let that one slide. A few of the ones you have in here, we weren’t able to acquire due to their numbers not being on their websites and them not getting back to us via the phone. If we couldn’t verify the numbers, we didn’t wanna use them. Number wise, this wasn’t such a bad winter.
Agreed it is a huge challenge collecting it all!
I choose to include pre-season snowfall but not post-season snowfall in the numbers. The vast majority of resorts included pre-season snowfall, but exclude post season snowfall, in their snow reports and it makes separating the numbers near impossible. In addition, pre-season snowfall is pertinent to conditions when open, whereas post-season snowfall is not.
It seems that a few resorts review snowfall data at seasons end to “correct” their snowfall numbers, but they are few and far between. I choose to keep track of reported numbers, due to reliability and availability.
The biggest pain in the ass are the resorts that clear their snow reports on closing day, making it necessary to catch each one on that specific day (or phone/email afterwards).
I’ll send you a link to my stats document, if you’re interested (covers almost all resorts in North America that average over 300cm/118in of snowfall, which is about 200 ski areas, as well as few other reports from backcountry locations)
Cheeky, yes. Please send me an email: contact@snowbrains.com. I’d love to collaborate with you on how to get these numbers as accurately as possible. Thanks a ton. miles
Did you check in with any ski areas in the east?
Arapahoe Basin is still open for at least another for at least 2 more months and it is snowing big time right now!
There’s no skiing on the East Coast.
Colorado, especially Breck, Loveland and A Basin were amazing this year. I had like 15 deep powder days out of 30 on the hill. So sick!!!
Why do you say “Colorado with over 470 inches?” this happens every few years or so in Summit County, and usually happens at Wolf Creek and Silverton every year!
Wolf Creek ski area, Silverton Mountain, and Loveland in Colorado all average over 400 inches most years (wolf creek of course didn’t this year though). It’s not like any place in Utah other than cottonwood canyon gets very much snow, or any place in Wyoming or Montana gets more than 400 other than Jackson Hole and Targhee usually. Big Sky usually averages 380 to 400 just like the three I mentioned in Colorado. You do realize that Colorado is more than just summit county right? However this year Breck got well over 400 inches and Alta/Snowbird in Utah both got less than Loveland and Breck in Colorado!
I’ll never understand why people act like Colorado doesn’t get as much snow at several of its ski areas as do the few in Utah and Wyoming. Colorado is more than just Vail, Breck and Keystone people!
Sorry bud, but i’ve lived in both Colorado and Utah…. The resorts in Utah generally get way bigger storms… I live in Colorado now, and we all know how breck finds the deepest drifts on the mountain to measure snowfall. (even jackson locals said there was a lot of “over reporting” going on this year..)
What do you mean “we all know Breck… blah, blah”. I have lived in Breckenridge my entire life and I have yet to go up on a day when I could not find more than what they report somewhere on the mountain… especially on the lee aspects. Most real skiers/riders know that. They also measure in the same spot everyday and there is a camera on it at all times… they are not “finding the deepest drifts”. If they found the deepest drifts, they would have reported a lot more than what they did, especially in Ballroom and on South Side.
I agree. I lived in Breck for 7 years. Very rarely did I go skiing and the reported snow was more than what was really on the hill. If anything, there would usually be MORE up there than what patrol stated. Poor Breck. Always getting the shaft from “bros in the know”.
Mount Bohemia – 351 inches
No. Really? That’s huge! I’ll put it up. thanks.
You forgot Jackson’s little sister! Grand Targhee got 480 inches of snow this year. It was a bizarre year, usually JHMR gets slightly less. Either way great skiing all over the Tetons!
KT, we did, We just talked to Targhee and got the numbers dialed. thanks.
I thought Jackson reported just under 500″ at the close of their season on 4/6.
Jackson Hole reported 500″ as of closing day. We called ’em up and they’d gotten 27″ since closing. We decided to report these final inches as the backcountry skiing in and around the Jackson Hole ski resort has been great since closing. thanks