Low Snowpack Likely to Cut Summer Ski Season at Timberline, OR, Short in 2026 The seemingly endless ski season at Timberline Lodge, Oregon, may be coming to an earlier-than-usual end this year, with projections suggesting a mid-July shutdown instead of the late-summer turns skiers have come to expect. According to an update shared by Mt. Hood Summer Ski Camps, the resort is currently targeting a July 19, 2026 closing date due to a below-average […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | April 12, 2026 0 Comments
Level 4 Wet Avalanche Danger Issued Across European Alps as Spring Snowpack Becomes Unstable Avalanche warning services across the Alps have issued stark warnings for Monday, April 13, as a dangerous mix of rain, warming temperatures, and a saturated snowpack drives wet avalanche danger to Level 4 (“high”) in parts of the region. Switzerland’s WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF and authorities in Tyrol are among those raising the alarm, warning that […] Avalanche AvyBrains | April 12, 2026 0 Comments
Dismal Snowpack in Colorado River Basin Puts Glen Canyon Dam at Risk of Catastrophe As snow melts off from one of the thinnest snowpacks ever recorded in the Western U.S., the implications for the water supply of the Colorado River Basin are beginning to come into alarmingly sharp focus. Critically low inflows into Lake Powell — the reservoir behind the Glen Canyon Dam — are expected to cause critically low levels as early as […] Brains Zach Armstrong | April 10, 2026 0 Comments
Winter Collapsed: Colorado and Utah Just Logged Their Worst Snowpack Ever It’s official: Colorado and Utah have now both recorded the worst snow years in modern history, with April 1 snowpack numbers, confirming what skiers, water managers, and forecasters have been watching all winter. What should be the high point of the season instead arrived with bare ground, depleted mountain snowpack, and some of the lowest snow water equivalent totals ever […] Industry News Brent Glogau | April 5, 2026 0 Comments
British Columbia Snowpack Hits 115% of Normal — and Some Stations Just Set All-Time Records Spring has arrived in British Columbia, but the province’s snowpack is holding strong after a dynamic second half of March that brought both heavy rain and fresh mountain snow. Related: April 2026 State of the Western U.S. Snowpack: Worst Snow Year Ever? According to a government update released on April 1, a nearly week-long atmospheric river that began around March […] Weather SnowBrains | April 3, 2026 0 Comments
April 2026 State of the Western U.S. Snowpack: Worst Snow Year Ever? It’s time to stop hoping things will turn around and accept that this winter will go down in history as one of the worst in a generation. Warmer temperatures and less frequent storms left mountain snow totals struggling to build in the Western U.S. all winter. Related: Which Ski Resorts Are Still Open in the West? Here’s Every One — […] Weather Brent Glogau | April 3, 2026 1 Comment
The 15 Ski Resorts With the Deepest Snowpacks in North America Right Now April 1 is traditionally the peak of the North American snowpack. After months of storms, mountains typically hold the most water before spring melt begins. Water managers, hydrologists, and ski resorts use this date as a benchmark. The Sierra Nevada’s largest snow-producing months are from December to March, so April 1 has long been the recognized peak of snow accumulation, […] Brains SnowBrains | April 1, 2026 0 Comments
Palisades Tahoe, CA, Will Close a Month Early After Snowpack Crashes to 20% of Average California’s Palisades Tahoe, the Spring Skiing Capital of North America and historically the last major resort in the Lake Tahoe region to close each season, announced yesterday that it will end the 2025–26 season roughly a month earlier than planned, citing a rapidly deteriorating snowpack driven by record-warm spring temperatures. Related: Full List of All the Early Ski Resort Closures […] Industry News SnowBrains | March 25, 2026 0 Comments
Why La Niña Might Explain Dismal Western Snowpacks and What to Expect for Possible El Niño Next Winter The ski industry is currently going through one of the most important parts of the ski season. Nope, it’s not the arrival of endlessly sunny days and predictable slarvy slashing, nor is it the deluge of college students flooding into the Rockies for spring break. Early spring is a time when many ski areas launch their season pass sales, hoping […] Brains Zach Armstrong | March 20, 2026 2 Comments
Homewood Mountain Resort, CA, Ends Season Early as Historic Heatwave Melts Sierra Snowpack Homewood Mountain Resort, California, ended its 2025-26 ski season yesterday, becoming the latest California resort to succumb to a March heatwave that is rapidly melting an already poor Sierra Nevada snowpack. Related: Sierra-at-Tahoe, CA, Announces Closure for 79th Season Amid High Spring Temperatures The Tahoe resort cited forecast highs in the 70s beginning Wednesday and extending through the weekend as […] Industry News SnowBrains | March 18, 2026 0 Comments
Jackson Hole, WY, Report: Sunny Powder Day on a 94% of Average Snowpack Brought to you by Snake River Brewing Report from March 15, 2025 The light board on the shack at the top of the tram read 00F when I stepped off just before 9 am yesterday. The wind was blowing 23 mph from the west. The combination of 0°F and 23 mph was keenly felt as we lumbered up the shoulder of […] Conditions Report Miles Clark | March 16, 2026 0 Comments
From Zero to Hero and Back: California’s Snowpack Reverses Course Twice in Just Weeks It’s no secret that the 2025-26 winter has not been one to write home about for pretty much the entire American West. Record-high temperatures and low precipitation have been catalysts for a dramatic lack of snow from the Southern Rockies to the North Cascades (and everywhere in between). Related: Time is Running Out as Western U.S. Snowpack Struggles Through Early […] Weather Kien Warren | March 12, 2026 0 Comments
Mt. Shasta Ski Park, CA, Shuts Down Season Early Amid Record Warmth and Vanishing Snowpack Mt. Shasta Ski Park, the northernmost ski area in California, has closed for the rest of the 2025-26 season after unseasonably warm weather and one of the state’s worst snowpacks in a decade forced the resort to call it quits early. The locally owned Indy Pass ski area announced Tuesday that the warm forecast and lack of snow made continued […] Industry News SnowBrains | March 12, 2026 0 Comments
Time is Running Out as Western U.S. Snowpack Struggles Through Early March The Western USA snowpack is facing a critical deficit as the winter season approaches its final weeks. According to USDA NRCS SNOTEL data from March 4, 2026, large portions of the Sierra Nevada, Cascades, Rocky Mountains, and the Southwest are sitting well below their historical averages. Meteorologists point to a stubborn pattern of persistent high pressure in the eastern Pacific, […] Weather Martin Kuprianowicz | March 10, 2026 0 Comments
March 2026 State of the Western U.S. Snowpack: Showing Slight Improvement But Still Below Average By this time, it is well known that the ski season in much of the Western U.S. has seen below-average snowfall. Warmer temperatures and less frequent storms have left mountain snow totals struggling to build, particularly in the Cascades, Sierra Nevada, and the Rockies. Related: Majority of Western United States with Record Low Snowpack: How it Affects Ski Resorts and […] Weather Brent Glogau | March 1, 2026 0 Comments
Can Colorado’s Snowpack Catch Up? While much-needed February snowstorms finally nourished ski areas across the American West with resorts in California and Utah reporting several feet of snow in an expanse of a few days, Colorado’s snowpack continues to suffer. Related: Palisades Tahoe, CA, Snowpack Now Above Average After Almost 10 Feet in 4 Days As of February 25, Colorado’s snowpack sits at 63% of […] Brains Shauna Farnell | February 27, 2026 0 Comments
Colorado Snowpack Climbs Out of Record-Low Territory After 44-Day Stretch Colorado’s statewide snowpack has risen out of record-low territory after spending 44 consecutive days at historic minimum levels, according to Denver meteorologist Jacob Woods. Woods, a meteorologist at FOX31 Denver, shared on social media that the state’s snowpack first dropped to record-low levels on January 13 and remained there for 44 days before recent storms pushed conditions back above record […] Industry News Martin Kuprianowicz | February 27, 2026 0 Comments
The State of the Swiss Snowpack: Deep Totals & Unstable Layers Switzerland has seen significant snowfall over the past two weeks, dramatically reshaping the country’s snowpack, and sharply increasing avalanche danger. Last week alone, parts of western Switzerland were buried under 1 to 1.5 meters (3 to 5 feet) of snow. Another meter fell this week in some regions, pushing fresh storm totals to as much as 2.5 meters (8 feet). […] Weather Julia Schneemann | February 21, 2026 0 Comments
Palisades Tahoe, CA, Snowpack Now Above Average After Almost 10-Feet in 4 Days A significant storm cycle has blanketed Palisades Tahoe, California, with 9.6 feet of snow over four days, including 18 inches in the final 24 hours. This has raised the season total to 278 inches. Resort officials describe the mountain as a transformed winter wonderland with conditions ideal for skiers and snowboarders. This surge follows a dry January, signalling the return […] Industry News SnowBrains | February 20, 2026 0 Comments
Freeride World Tour Cancels Georgia Pro Because of Unstable Snowpack in Mestia The Freeride World Tour has officially canceled the Georgia Pro, citing unsafe snowpack conditions at the planned competition venue in Mestia. In a statement released February 20, the FIS Freeride World Tour by Peak Performance said the decision followed “extensive evaluation” by officials, mountain safety teams, and local experts. Organizers determined that current conditions could not meet the standards required […] Competition Martin Kuprianowicz | February 20, 2026 0 Comments
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