The good news is that there is snow. The bad news is that much of it is man made, and there isn’t enough of it. The only part of the mountain open is Winter Park itself. Mary Jane, Parsenn Bowl, Vasquez Cirque and Vasquez Ridge are all closed for lack of the white stuff. This sounds pretty disastrous, but actually the resort has done a great job of making the most of the conditions, and the runs that are open are actually very skiable, with well maintained hard packed piste. If you enjoy blasting around wide and well maintained pistes you’re well catered for. If you want off piste powder and tree skiing I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed. However, as one of my lift companions said on Saturday, a bad day’s skiing is better than a good day in the office. The sky is blue, the sun’s out, the pistes are empty, even by Winter Park’s standards – you just have to ski the conditions. Carvers it is!
It seems the whole region has had a slow start to the snowy season due to the lingering presence of a high pressure weather system, so there aren’t any nearby resorts with vastly different conditions. That said, apparently Loveland has slightly better snow, and Breckenridge and Steamboat also seem to be doing mildly better. I went to Steamboat yesterday, and whilst the quality of their snow is only slightly better, they do have more runs and lifts open than Winter Park, and their snow-making facilities seem to extend further up the mountain than Winter Park’s.
Some sources are forecasting light snow in the middle of the week, but this may be little more than wishful thinking. Nonetheless, I have my fingers firmly crossed!