Powder Alert -

Powder Alert – FINAL Season Review

Thursday April 29, 2010

Hello Powder Hounds:

Hope you had a good season. That was a nice a rally at the end.

It was an odd season, with epic snow and powder days in mid November resulting in an early opening for many ski areas. There was additional reliable dumpage again late March and April. Mid season, we saw select pow days, but it was often difficult to ferret out from the mild background winter weather. Also, there was the cold and relatively dry December. Then the warmth of January (warmest Jan on record) and February – which nudged up snow levels to about 4000feet, just high enough to be annoying. I skied about a dozen true powder days (> 6”fresh, more than a few turns) to feed my addiction – not bad for a full time working fool. Now the season is over. I am in powder withdrawal rehab while doing yard work and riding my bicycle to the salt mines for a paycheck. May is bike to work month.

This past season was classic El Nino for the Northwest. The problem really wasn’t lack of precipitation – but precipitation type. The snowlevels were just a tad on the high side - not a Pineapple Express and through the roof high - but just enough for the lower elevations to feel a little pain. I must give a salute; I thought the grooming was outstanding this season. Thanks to the groomers and mountain managers. Actually, the higher elevation snowpack was generally pretty good, just shy of normal. I thought general coverage was good most of the season.

Next Year:
It’s a bit early to tell, but it appears this El Nino will fade away, allowing near neutral conditions to develop for next season. That would be good for a “normal” year. Neutral years generally produce fewer snow problems than El Nino years.  There is also a slight chance a La Nina might set up, which would be optimum for a predictable, epic powder season – but that is a long shot at this point.  The following El Nino website updates every month after about the 5-7^th of the month.  http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/index.shtml

There is much to look forward to next season. Next year you’ll see more lifts and terrain in Washington. Crystal will see a new bottom to top gondola and tree thinning will open up new terrain. White Pass will see major improvements with two new lifts which will open up a ton  of new terrain. Summit East (Hyak), often underrated and underused, will see a new lift and new terrain. There will be many fresh places to explore in the Cascades for the 2010- 2011 season.

I’ll update the ski/snow seasonal forecast in late October or early November.

The photos attached are from Friday, April 9 at Crystal – You may recall that was my final, epic powder day pick for the season. I can verify it was pretty dang good - especially for April. Again, the Cascades delivers the goods...
1)Unknown skier tears down the King into Avalanche Basin - I skied the untracked in the foreground, after pausing to take this photo.
2 & 3) My son, got first tracks down DFF then took this photo sequence of me getting a second line nearby.

It always helps when you happen to be there when they open the gate.

Thanks again to Ski Washington and our sponsors K2, Outdoor Research and North Cascades Heli Ski.

Have a great summer, see you next season.

Larry Schick
Alpha Dog Meteorologist
AKA – Grand Pubah of Powder

Archived Powder Alerts
April 6, 2010
April 1, 2010
March 29, 2010
March 10, 2010
March 4, 2010
February 25, 2010
February 18, 2010
February 12 2010
February 2, 2010
January 14, 2010
December 27, 2010
December 20, 2010