Late-Season Snow Storm Brings Fresh Powder to Western Resorts

When strange white puffs started falling from the sky over SKI’s Colorado offices on Friday, April 17, we had to walk outside to confirm it wasn’t pollen—because that’s the type of “ski season” it’s been this year.

We’re ecstatic to confirm that winter blew back in this week, giving the ski resorts of the West a much-needed boost in late-season snowfall. Few resorts have been able to “weather” the summer-like conditions of the last few months, but the handful still open in Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and California are giving skiers something to celebrate here in mid-April. Here’s where the skiing is going off this weekend.

California

California’s Sierra Nevada resorts were the first to enjoy the bounty of new snow, with Palisades Tahoe tallying two feet in the last week. The resort currently has 39 trails and 11 lifts open. The ski area’s huge spring celebration, the Cushing’s Crossing pond-skim event, is scheduled for April 26.

Mammoth is just settling into its spring season, noting packed powder conditions on its 110 open runs. The ski area boasts a 121-inch base depth at the summit and has a full slate of spring events on tap. Check the calendar here.

And Heavenly, which closed on April 5, will reopen for skiing this weekend, April 18 and 19. The ski area’s mountain ops team has been working all week to prepare the Upper California run to Tamarack Return, accessible off the gondola—which will be the only lift operating.

Montana and Wyoming

There are still over 1,300 skiable acres open at Big Sky spread across 57 trails and five lifts, and eight new inches of snow are playing a big role in keeping it that way. The resort is only open on weekends through April 26, but lift tickets for that last weekend (April 25-26) are 40 percent off.

Grand Targhee made out well in this late-winter squall, reporting 13 inches over the last 48 hours and two feet over the last seven days. But get there fast: The mountain is closing this weekend. At press time, Targhee reports  52 open trails and four lifts.

Utah

The Little Cottonwood Canyon ski areas are all still open, with Alta raking in seven new inches in the last 24 hours and Snowbird welcoming eight inches of snow. Alta is skiing well thanks to an 86-inch base and 110 open runs. The resort is planning to close on April 26. Snowbird has 90 of its 149 trails open, served by nine lifts. At press time, Mineral Basin is open, but The Cirque is closed.

In Big Cottonwood Canyon, Solitude and Brighton reported slightly less snow, but are still skiing nicely this weekend. Solitude got five inches from the latest storm, and has 14 runs and four lifts open. The ski area’s closing day is this Sunday, April 18. Brighton is planning to stay open through May 3, and tallied four new inches of snow, and seven over the last week. Lift tickets are only $49 from April 20 through closing.

Colorado

The storm is just hitting the Front Range resorts, so expect the skiing to go off this weekend (April 18-19) at the resorts that are still open, including Arapahoe Basin, Loveland, Breckenridge, and Copper Mountain.

At Copper, which just announced that it’s extending its season to May 3, the north-facing high-elevation terrain has preserved its snow nicely, and this refresh will only improve conditions. As of press time, Copper has 26 runs and four lifts operating. Lift tickets will be $49 for the final week of the season, starting on April 27.

Arapahoe Basin has 11 open runs served by two lifts, with no beginner terrain on tap for the remainder of the season. Ticket prices drop from $79 to $64 after April 20, and parking reservations are no longer required, so you can pull up to the beach, take a few laps, and get your spring tailgate on.

Loveland Ski Area still has over 500 skiable acres open across 41 trails with a few new inches of snow forecast today and over the weekend. The mountain is scheduled to close on April 26, so get those last turns in before the lifts go into summer hibernation.