It’s autumn, which means equal chances to ski, bike, hike, put the heat on, wear shorts, and rob your recent physical fitness gains through excessive libations associated with watching college football, the NFL, and the MLB playoffs. Oh, and during this autumn of 2009, there are also equal chances of early snows and ski resort openings in the west AND in the east.
Resorts are open, from east to west.
Abasin and Loveland are open, and even reported about 6″ of new snow during the middle of this week. Mammoth Mtn in southern California opens on Saturday with 24″ of new, heavy pow this week. Sunday River, ME is also open this week, with skiing on a machine made ribbon of snow between the still-beautiful fall colors. Even Penn State received some snow – about 2-4 inches – yesterday, which is the earliest snow in 108 years.
Sunday River’s opening on the left, a snowy Penn State on the right.
http://www.sundayriver.com/TheMountain/MountainReport/index.html
http://php.scripts.psu.edu/dept/ur/cam.php
Snow hit Colorado peaks up high this week…
…with warm temperatures pushing the snow level to about 10,000-11,000ft. Over the last few weeks, accumulations have been high enough to produce some good backcountry turns. HOWEVER, with enough snow for skiing comes enough snow for avalanches. Read this account of an avy last weekend on Grizzly Mtn near Independence Pass. New snow over old snow and last season’s dust layer will be big issues for some time to come.
Also, here is a good reminder from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center on early-season safety.
Snow hit Colorado down low…
…last weekend, with very little in Denver, 5″ in Boulder, and up to 17″ northwest of Ft. Collins in the hills along Rt. 287 near the CO/WY border. I talked about the “East-side Electric Slide” in my last email, where most of the cold air slides south from Canada and into the plains, but is too heavy (dense) to push up and over the mountains of the Front Range. Indeed, the lowlands were covered in a cold inversion Saturday through Wednesday, where cool, humid air stays close to the ground, but only 1,000-3,000ft higher, the sun is shining and the temperature can be 10-20 degrees warmer. I took a picture of this inversion on Wednesday morning looking over Boulder toward the east. It’s awesome to be above the clouds without the aid of a plane. I noted a few weather readings on the picture itself to provide a clearer view of this inversion (where cold air is “trapped” under warmer air).
Snoball 2009
There will definitely be snow on Oct 30th. Why? Because it’s The 2009 Snoball, that’s why! This is a charity event I am throwing in Boulder on Friday, October 30th. It is a snow-themed Halloween party benefiting ovarian cancer in memory of my mom, Carolyn A. Marks. More information & tickets here: http://www.sno-ball.org Why should you come? I’ll provide some drinks, finger food, give-aways, prizes for a costume contest, and of course old-school beats with 80s cover band The Goonies and dancing with music from MyFriendChris.
Climate Change
Most of you are very astute observers of science and the environment. If you think that the upcoming (December) Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen will move the world toward better climate change policies, you might be off track. Please take 5-10 minutes and read this well-written forecast of the charades that are bound to occur at this meeting. The author is my former adviser at the University of Colorado and is “the man” (official term) when it comes to the real story of climate change.
Conclusion: “As long as leaders of the climate movement continue to pretend that progress is being made, the climate policy charade will go on for a while longer, while business proceeds as usual.”
Full article (5-10 minute read)
Forecast
Oh yeah, a forecast. Sunny and warm across the state Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, with more wind in the higher terrain on Sunday and Monday. A cold front drops through the entire state on Tuesday morning, bringing snow above 8,000-9,000ft focused on areas north of Crested Butte, but this is likely a 2-6″ storm – nothing major. The lowlands of the plains will also see some cold air on Tuesday into Wednesday midday, but then warmer weather returns for the end of next week.
Enjoy your weekend, and be safe!
JOEL
