Welcome to April! It’s the month to have a little more fun and perhaps get those last runs of the season in. Hurry though! As warmer weather approaches and ski resorts close, our time is limited. Here’s what the weather has to offer this week.
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Beautiful weather is in store for the St. Patrick’s Day weekend as a huge area of high pressure keeps much of the nation dry.
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Winter weather has no sign of letting up across the Western U.S. and Canada, neither for the Great Lakes region!
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Alterra Mountain Company will invest $181 million across its 14 North American mountain destinations for the upcoming year, including new high-speed lifts at Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows and Winter Park, direct to lift access at Deer Valley Resort, an expansive renovation of the Bobbie Burns lodge at CMH Heli-Skiing & Summer Adventures, and an upgrade of Steamboat’s gondola.
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The first week of March will feel more like *January* for many! With the colder air, could we see better snow chances? Scroll down for the details!
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Record cold temperatures slowly fade away in the East this week, while another batch of cold helps Canada and parts of the U.S. stay snowy.
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Boyne Mountain, credited with many industry firsts for lift innovations and snowmaking, first opened in January 1949. They had the first chairlift in the Midwest, and can also lay claim to pioneering the four season resort concept now popular throughout the country when they started adding golf to the activity list.
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Bring on a snowy 2019! If your resolution is to ski/ride more, you’re in the right place - read on for the snow jackpots in our forecast.
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With 2018 quickly coming to a close, several areas across the U.S. and Canada will get final bursts of snow and cold for the year. Here’s the breakdown…
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Heading through the Christmas holiday, multiple storms will make their way across the U.S. and Canada. Question is, will these bring the gift of snow to your favorite spot?
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Multiple storm systems and a steady plume of moisture will stream into the Pacific Northwest, bringing big totals into the weekend.
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Thanksgiving weekend will be especially tasty in the western United States and Canada with multiple helpings of snow storms.
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Taos Ski Valley is the latest ski and snowboard resort to join up with the Ikon Pass for the 2018-2019 season.
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Summertime at ski and snowboard resorts in the Great Northwest packs in all manner of adventure, food and new perspectives.
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We have arrived at the beginning of May, but there are still plenty of areas you can take in some turns! We take a look at who will hang onto the snow the longest.
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Feet of snow is on the way for the Sierra Nevada range (Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows/Facebook)
Got that end-of-the-year spring skiing pass? Now is the time to use it! Epic March conditions continue for most of the East and parts of the West.
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Skier slides down Loon in NH where all eyes are on a coastal storm. (Loon/Twitter)
Snow alert! A huge storm slams the West this week with locally up to five feet of snow. The East could be nice and snowy just in time for the weekend.
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Steamboat, Colorado turned snowier during Christmas. (Larry Pierce)
A majority of Canada and U.S. resorts will experience cold weather through New Year’s Day, while a few feet of snow may fall in the West.
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What's in store for next season. (Valemountglaciers.com)
A new resort is expected to open next season that would open up lift access to glaciers near Banff and Jasper National Parks that previously could only be reached by helicopter or a long, long hike.
Once all three phases of the project are done, the resort named Valemount will have the most vertical drop in North America – 6,857 feet – supplanting British Columbia neighbors Revelstoke and Whistler Blackcomb.
The resort is located in the midst of the glaciers that slide off the Premier Range near the town of Valemont, B.C. – part of the infamous Cariboos heli-skiing region. The highest peak is Mt. Sir Wilfred Laurier at 11,535, and skiing and riding will be year-round. Lifts will be designed so as to carry both skiers and ‘boarders, and sightseers.
The first phase of the project will focus on a gondola and chair that will bring skiers and riders to 8,300-foot high Twilight Glacier for 4,500 of vert down to where the resort village will be built. Subsequent phases will expand access in the Premier Range glacial fields and build out a resort village with nearly 2,300 beds, hotels, shops and an airport.
Valemount Glacial Destinations has an agreement with the provincial government to start construction this summer on the 37th resort in British Columbia. The nearest city is Calgary, Alberta – about a six-hour drive.
Developers expect to take advantage of the one-of-a-kind location in Western Canadian Rockies where many of North America’s glaciers exist.
“A combination of ideal climatic conditions and of mountains with the right elevations, great vertical and spectacular glaciers is only found in the narrow ranges of mountains on the western side of the trench that runs from Cranbrook to Prince George in British Columbia,” the resort’s master plan explained.
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First chair at Red Mountain. (Red Mountain/Facebook)
British Columbia’s Red Mountain has always gone its own way – and soon it will have $10 million to upgrade facilities while maintaining its iconoclastic, anti-corporate spirit.
The Rossland, B.C., resort recently offered public shares in the mountain – through a “crowdfunding” method – and reached its goal of $10 million in February.
Next step is a legal equity offering, expected this fall, according to resort ownership.
Here’s CEO Howard Katkov’s pitch: “Why not join us on this big mountain, big community, love-driven adventure. We’ll keep investing in this community and these fantastic people with or without your help, but dropping in on this could change your life -- just like it changed mine.”
Some 3,000 people took up Red Mountain’s offer, reserving shares ranging from $1,000 minimum to $25,000. The higher the commitment, the more perks, like free season passes and equipment.
If all $10 million reservations come through and the legal offering succeeds, Red Mountain will use the money for Paradise Lodge renovation, expanded snowcat terrain on Mount Kirkup, summer trail-building, and construction of new restaurant, private clubhouse and cabins atop Grey Mountain, according to resort management.
The mountain has more than 2,800 skiable acres served by seven lifts, plus another 1,200 acres that require either a hike or a snowcat ride. With nearly 3,000 vertical feet, Red Mountain tops out at 6,800 feet above sea level.
The resort has always gone counter to the flow, promoting itself as an alternative to “corporate resorts” that it contends have priced many families out of the sport.
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