Turns All Year: A Guide for How to Ski Every Month of the Year in North America

Ask any die-hard skier what keeps them up at night in the swelter of July, and odds are they’ll mention three innocent-sounding letters: TAY… Turns All Year. The idea is seductively simple: ski at least once every single month, no matter what the calendar or the weather says. The execution, however, is anything but. It demands early-morning alarms that ring long before sunrise, last-second flight searches when a rogue storm pops in the forecast models, and a willingness to slog miles of dusty trail to link together a handful of turns on whatever snow remains. In short, TAY isn’t a hobby—it’s a lifestyle. In this article, we’ll dive into the grit and guts behind keeping the streak alive, from mastering the art of last-minute logistics to sniffing out the best snow (or ice…) in every month of the year. If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to stitch 12 months of skiing into one seamless adventure, buckle up, because the journey starts here.

A quick note on dedication

Joining the TAY club doesn’t just happen overnight. It takes lots of planning and schedule flexibility, but most of all, it takes dedication. You must be internally driven to wake up to ski a sheet of ice on a cold September morning after a grueling eight-mile hike. To summarize: without the desire to join the club, it won’t happen.

Logistics

Part of the fun of TAY is logistics and planning. In my opinion, the real reason most people fail TAY attempts is that they don’t know this key truth, which I will share with you. TAY is so condition-dependent in the offseason (May-November) that you must resist the urge to plan well in advance.

It may sound counterintuitive, and it is. Plane ticket prices go up, other commitments are made, etc. But without leaving offseason trips to the last moment, TAY is nearly impossible.

One real-life example of this was November 2019. We had just returned from a terrible day of skiing at Mt. Rose in Tahoe, Nevada, on October 26. On Tuesday, we heard a nice storm was rolling into the Front Range in Colorado. Some Summit County resorts had been open for a few weeks and had decent snow cover due to a deep October. We figured conditions probably wouldn’t get much better for a while and booked tickets for a Friday night flight on the 31st of October. We skied on November 1, 2, and 3, and the conditions were excellent. The backcountry was powder-filled fun, and skiing at some resorts wasn’t too shabby. But the lesson learned is that we hit the conditions right because we left our schedules open and made a last-minute decision.

Another offseason example was in late June 2020. Time was dwindling in June, and we would try to wait for conditions to align at the last minute. We would ski some small snowfield somewhere in the Sierra if things didn’t work out. But sure enough, our patience got rewarded, and there were two consecutive nights of below-freezing temperatures in Yosemite. So, we threw our gear in the car, drove to Yosemite, and skied perfect corn in the Dana Couloir that weekend. We even decided in the tent on the last night to stay one more day and ski the next morning to count July. Waiting until the last minute allowed us to get some excellent skiing in and take the pressure off the next month.

But if the stars align, you have to plan the trip. Generally, if lifts are spinning, I’ll try to ski at the resort since it’s so easy. However, I typically don’t see many resorts open in North America (except for Mt. Hood) from June through October, so I usually ski in the backcountry.

Planning a backcountry trip is difficult in itself. Accommodations, food, transportation, etc., are all part of the challenge. Stay tuned for an article examining the planning behind a backcountry trip.

Where to ski

Now I’ll break down, month by month, the available options for skiing.

January

January is usually full-on winter for most areas across the continent. Ski resorts are a great option to check off the day. Try pairing December + January to check off both months on one trip.

February

February is pretty much the same as January. If possible, try to ski at a resort; it’s the easiest.

March

March typically sees warmer temperatures and the official start of spring. While low elevation resorts may see snowpack begin to melt, it is generally very rare for resorts to close in March.

April

Lots of resorts begin to shut down in April. If you can get to a resort to ski, that’s amazing. If not, snow still exists high in the backcountry.

May

May is primetime corn season in much of the high-altitude backcountry. With cold nights followed by warm days, corn snow will motivate you to get out and check off May.

June

By June, much of the accessible skiing is gone on the East Coast. However, there are still abundant, continuous snowfields if you know where to look. Use satellite imagery to find them. In the West, great snow still exists up high. It might take some hiking, but the skiing is generally still abundant.

July

Only in huge snow years is there excellent July skiing. The options are more abundant in the West, but the East still has some spots where you can go and get some turns. In a decent snow year, most couloirs still go since they’re usually well protected from the sun. Early July is a great time to get some slushy couloir descents in.

August

August is generally the worst month for skiing. Non-perennial (meaning they don’t last year-round) snow patches have usually melted by now, so you have to find glaciers or other permanent snowfields to ski on. Permanent snowfields are outlined in light blue on Caltopo, which makes them easy to find.

September

Most years, September is similar to August. Small permanent snowfields are the safest bet, although some years, places like Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado will receive enough snowfall in September to ski some small wind-loaded pockets. If this option is available to you, it is certainly better than skiing on ice over perennials.

October

October is interesting; you can take one of two routes. One route is to stick with skiing on top of old snowfields. The other is trying to ski at a ski resort. Most years, Killington opens sometime in October, which can be a good option for fatigued East Coast skiers who no longer want to ski icy little patches. In the West, multiple resorts consistently open in October. Arapahoe Basin, Keystone, and Loveland are good bets in Colorado, and Mt. Rose Tahoe in California pulls off an October opening most years.

November

By November, lifts are usually spinning all over the country. Most resorts, while they typically have spotty snow coverage, are open sometime in November. Try to ski at a resort in November if you can.

December

December is generally pretty easy since most, if not all, ski resorts are open by this time. Coverage will still be somewhat low, but mountains usually have sizeable terrain for skiing.

I hope this article encourages you to join the Turns All Year club. While it can be tiring at points, every month you check off is a great feeling. Not to mention, it adds to your season total of days on snow! If you have any questions, leave them in the comments, and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible!