what riding area gets the most pow?

[scrfce]

ive wondered and tried to research without much info........what RIDING area in north america gets the most fresh? on average i suppose??? revy? blue river? whistler? alaska? i know when i google it mt baker in washington has gotten the most snowfall but i dunno if thats a riding area and not sure if that was a one year phenomenon or a hands down winner
any insight or knowledge on what place is the deep pow champ? somebodies gotta know,,,,,,

 

[CUSO]

Snowpillows

I watch this and can see how the season shapes out.

 

[scrfce]

Snowpillows

I watch this and can see how the season shapes out.

i follow the radars and ride accordingly since im in the perfect hub (kamloops) to ride everywhere but havent seen this site, its now in my favorites/reading list,,,,ill be checkin it regularily, thx

 

[DRD]

I drove through Turnagain Pass in Alaska a few years ago in May. Depth was still huge, talked with a local and he said they average over 50' a year.

 

[yammyboy]

Powder king in the pine pass annual snowfall is 40'

 

[ferniesnow]

For general information those are great charts. One has to be wise as to why they pick those particular places for recording and none of the reasons are what we are looking for (down stream run-off in the spring, potential flooding in the spring, etc..)

Indicative of a region? Yes, but there are areas that get better snow than where the instruments are and for an example, in the Kootenays, the ski hill gets better snow than Morrissey Ridge. I think Boulder Mountain is better than Mt. Revelstoke but that is hard to judge since the instruments are located in a National Park.

Generally speaking, those charts are great.

The west coast is pretty darn interesting as to the depths and Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton would be pretty hard to beat for depth, quality of powder, and length of season..........IMHO!

 

[old mountain man]

The Granduc mill site near Stewart averages 80 feet and has had over 100feet. Amazing to see it in the
summer after sledding it. Well worth the trip.

 

[dvst8r]

Mt. Baker has some very good riding, and while the 98-99 season was a bit of a freak season, it does get the coastal weather, and does get dumped on every year without fail.

While the pine pass gets lots of snow (as was said 40' annually) the worst snow year in the last 7 years at Mt. Baker, was 45' with an average over those last 7 years of 61' annually, and the best getting over 71'. I wasn't picking on the pine pass in specific here, only pointing out an area well known for getting a lot of snow.

Having skied and snowmobiled everywhere from Smithers to Powderking (pine pass) to Wells, McBride, Blue River, Clearwater, Kamloops, Whistler, Coquihalla (this may be my runner up) Revy, Golden, Jasper, Whitewater (Nelson), Redwater, Fernie, Kimberly, ect... over the last 20 years. My opinion is no where else gets touched with snow like Mt. Baker does.

With all of that being said, I can't seem to run out of fresh untracked days in places that "only" get 30'-40' annually, so it is a bit of a mute point.

One more thing I would like to mention, though Baker gets more snow then anywhere else I can think of or have experienced it does not get the best snow of anywhere I have been. There are lots of days of heavy wet snow there.

 

[Hotlips]

I drove through Turnagain Pass in Alaska a few years ago in May. Depth was still huge, talked with a local and he said they average over 50' a year.

I agree, was there a few years ago as well and amazed at how much snow was still on the ground in August..

 

[kjb]

In general the coastal mountainsget hit first and the hardest. Then the interior get hit next. Caribous/ monashees next. Followed by the selkirks,purcells and lastly the rockies. Each time a storm has to pass over a range ithas to dump enough load to lighten up to get over. By the time the storm makes it way to the rockiesit has unleashed most of its moisture content. Hence shallower snowpacks in therockies (and more avalanche issues). The bigger the lift, the bigger the dump.There are many more variables and exceptions to this though. Storm direction, Continental/maritime airmasses, bodies of water andsuch. Just look at Fernies lizard rangeor the pine pass areas. They’re in the rockies but have large snowpacks in general.
Mt Washingtons ski hill on theisland has some major snow fall records. Same as the north coasts Kitimat area,it has a 24 hr snowfall record. Coastal snow packs are the deepest usually. Followedby the monashees, then the selkirks, then the purcels and finally the rockies.
Then you get into qualities of thesnow. Wetter snows to the west and southand dryer snow to the east and north. The higher, the dryer it is as well. A 3’ wet dump will be boot deep in 24 hrswhere 3’ of dry snow will still be thigh deep the next day. Coastal elephantsnot ~ interior cold smoke.
Everywhere has it pros and cons. As long asyou are playing that’s all that counts.

 

[snopro]

I know it ain't the Nelson area. 40 cenny's just doesn't cut it...

 

[snopro]

We get a snow report for the popular ski area's close to Calgary on Global News in the mornings during the ski season and Fernie consistantly beats all the others like Louise, Kickinghorse and Revy. I just don't see that snow when I ride there as opposed to Revy though. Its usually great snow just doesn't seem to cover everything like you see at Boulder or Frisby.

 

[CUSO]

KJB,
Then why does Revy get a TON more than, say Sicamous? I think there is more of a mountain trough that channels in the precip. You go to Quartz, creek, and the snow usuall is ok, but go east and north to Hope or chatter, and the snow is a lot deeper.

 

[CUSO]

Ya Fernie is a strange place when it comes to snow. There could be a TON there on the resort, and you go around the corner towards sparwood and it's all wind blown or GONE! the next day.

We get a snow report for the popular ski area's close to Calgary on Global News in the mornings during the ski season and Fernie consistantly beats all the others like Louise, Kickinghorse and Revy. I just don't see that snow when I ride there as opposed to Revy though. Its usually great snow just doesn't seem to cover everything like you see at Boulder or Frisby.

 

[snopro]

Ya Fernie is a strange place when it comes to snow. There could be a TON there on the resort, and you go around the corner towards sparwood and it's all wind blown or GONE! the next day.

Yeah that probably plays into that mountain trough thought you mentioned. I think you are right on that. Weather seems to follow certain paths all the time. We see it with hail on the farm. The same stuff seems to get hail all the time.

 

[lewey]

i've heard good things about stewart, but i think its hard to beat the precip on the coast. the sea to sky corridor is pretty damn amazing. maybe not the driest but definitely pretty damn deep.

 

[scrfce]

KJB,
Then why does Revy get a TON more than, say Sicamous? I think there is more of a mountain trough that channels in the precip. You go to Quartz, creek, and the snow usuall is ok, but go east and north to Hope or chatter, and the snow is a lot deeper.

Oh ya theres definately snow belts, i think blue river and revy are in the same snow belt

 

[Hotfrank]

Funny to read you when in Québec city, in a good year, we have 15 to 20 feet of wet snow in general.
Can't wait to go back to Squamish for Christmas and Sicamous in march.

 

[ferniesnow]

We get a snow report for the popular ski area's close to Calgary on Global News in the mornings during the ski season and Fernie consistantly beats all the others like Louise, Kickinghorse and Revy. I just don't see that snow when I ride there as opposed to Revy though. Its usually great snow just doesn't seem to cover everything like you see at Boulder or Frisby.

Ya Fernie is a strange place when it comes to snow. There could be a TON there on the resort, and you go around the corner towards sparwood and it's all wind blown or GONE! the next day.

Yeah that probably plays into that mountain trough thought you mentioned. I think you are right on that. Weather seems to follow certain paths all the time. We see it with hail on the farm. The same stuff seems to get hail all the time.

The Lizard Range is the first high peaks after the Cranbrook area and moisture is picked up from Koocanusa as it approaches that range. If you are comparing depths at ski hills you are comparing apples to oranges as they are not where we ride. The ski hill in Revy does not have the snow that Boulder and Frisby get due to location. Louise has always had to make snow, whereas Sunshine has mega amounts. It was already mentioned but the direction of the weather pattern has a big factor in the snow dump. The weather that comes from the Washington area has more snow in it than the systems that come directly from the lower mainland. Those loose the precip in other areas as they come across the southern part of the province (as was well explained above).

As for the Sparwood area, it is not like Fernie as the snow falls first on the Lizard Range and there is not anything or not much left for Sparwood and Elkford. That is why we don't get the tremendous depths of the Morrissey Ridge (the Rolling Hills).

As long as the stumps and the rocks are covered, does it really matter how deep it is? The frequency of the fresh and the depth of the fresh is more important to me and I am glad I can look out the window and when there is 8" of fresh in the driveway..............I'm going sledding and not plowing the driveway first.........

 

[medler]

its called wet cement on the coast and dry pow in the interior and none in Alberta lol pssst its still a secret 0.o

Really depends on what part of Alberta there Willy.