Why Do Ski Resorts Close When Their Snowpack Is Still So Deep? At the beginning of the ski season, it is a race to see what resort will open first. Pent-up demand from not skiing during the summer and fall drives skiers to clamor for their first tracks of the season. Sometimes this is only on one lift and a measly 12-inch base, most of which might be man-made snow. Then, at […] Brains Brent Thomas | April 8, 2024 11 Comments
Trip Report: East Ridge Summit of Quandary Peak, CO Report from Saturday, March 10, 2024 58 peaks exceed 14,000 feet in Colorado; those peaks are referred to as 14ers. Quandary Peak sits at 14,265 feet and is a popular 14er to ski due to its easy access and two incredible open bowls for skiing. On Saturday, March 10, the conditions were perfect for a summit. Fresh snowfall during the […] Trip Report Luke Guilford | March 11, 2024 0 Comments
Lake Tahoe, CA Backcountry Report: 100mph Winds, 3″ Per Hour Snowfall Rates, & Some of the Deepest, Most Explosive Snow of Our Lives https://youtube.com/shorts/UP0LPW_6T2c?feature=share Report from March 3, 2024 Yesterday was intense. Winds were blowing over 100mph on the ridgeline and snowfall rates were around 3″ per hour at times. Folks in our group got scared a few times and wanted to turn around. We persisted. At times the wind was enough to make you insane… I was one of the ones pushing […] Conditions Report Miles Clark | March 4, 2024 0 Comments
Lake Tahoe, CA, Backcountry Report: One of the Deepest, Driest Days We’ve Skied Anywhere… Report from March 2, 2024 Today was a battle. The roads, getting our car stuck twice, digging metric tons of snow, snowplows, snow blowers, hectic… As soon as we clipped into our skis, all that melted away… 17ºF. 8ºF up high. The skinning was pleasant, the wind was howling, and the snow was deep and dry. At the top of […] Conditions Report Miles Clark | March 3, 2024 0 Comments
Where Will it Be Deep This Week? These are North America’s Top 5 Forecasted Resorts for the 10 Days of January 28 – February 6, 2024 It’s always snowing somewhere, and fresh snow is the essence of skiing and snowboarding. Whether you are chasing the deepest conditions or simply love seeing where the snow is falling so you can live vicariously through others, this is your list of resorts that will be the deepest over the next week and beyond. Most of the western U.S. has been […] Weather Brent Thomas | January 29, 2024 0 Comments
Farmers’ Almanac: 20 Signs of a Hard Winter Ahead There are a lot of old wives’ tales about how to predict a harsh winter during the fall. A lot of them are ridiculous and wrong, but these ones here… These ones here are tried and true, 100%, bet your bottom dollar: […] SnowBrains | August 11, 2023 5 Comments
Mammoth, CA Report: Full-Throttle Epic Mini-Powder Day After 7″ of New Snow Report from May 3, 2023 Brought to you by Mammoth Mountain Yesterday, we experienced a full-throttle epic mini-powder day at Mammoth Mountain, CA. It’s difficult to express how much fun we had here yesterday… We skied scary lines off Huevos Grande (proper Spanish would be “Huevos Grandes”)Â that we hadn’t skied since 2006. We skied bizarre knife-edge ridge runs down the […] Conditions Report Miles Clark | May 4, 2023 1 Comment
A Photo Tour of the Buried Houses of Mammoth Lakes, CA | Spring 2023 Photos from May 2 & 3, 2023 We just arrived in Mammoth Lakes, CA, on Monday, and we cannot believe how much snow is here. The houses are still absolutely buried. Related: A Photo Tour of the Buried Chairlifts at Mammoth Mountain, CA We drove around town today and yesterday and took these photos of the most buried houses we […] Conditions Report SnowBrains | May 4, 2023 0 Comments