A new metal bridge and stairs open up easier access to the Gold Hill Chutes at Telluride. Add in the recent 19" of snow, and this seems like a pretty good deal!
To the people that spend countless hours hiking (i.e. uphill walking) in the mountains, you’ve got it all wrong. Scrambling over scree fields, dodging boulders, finding a path. Nope – that’s B.S. Welcome to the 21st century folks – we use stairs!
And two weeks ago, Telluride finally caught up to the times as they installed some stairs (and a bridge) to make a somewhat sketchy hike out to the Gold Hill Chutes just a little less sketchy. Here is a great video of the stairs being airlifted into position, and a press release with a little more info. Bonus #1: the stairs were locally designed and built in Telluride. Bonus #2: Telluride hit a gold mine and (surprisingly, at least to me) found 19″ of freshies in the last three days. With more snow on the way for Sunday, maybe heading to Tride would make this a fun weekend.
Speaking of stairs, I hear this is the new way to ascend Mt. Everest! Just kidding of course – ladders (not stairs) are used to cross crevasses on the way up Everest. But all this thinking of ascending mountains made me realize something truly inspiring about Colorado: I know two groups of people who are heading to Everest in two weeks. That’s crazy, and a testament to the adventurous spirit that is alive and well in this state! Brandon and Kristine from the Vail area and Michael Brown & co. from Serac Adventure films are independently traveling across the globe in search of the highest summit in the world (a first ascent for Brandon & Kristine, and some ridiculously high number for Michael). Good luck to them!
Now, we break away from the Stairway to Heaven and return to your regularly scheduled forecast…
Antique Forecast (Text & Map)
- Friday: Sunny and warm.
- Saturday: Sunny and warm, with more clouds by the afternoon.
- Sunday: Snow moves in by mid morning and lasts throughout the day for Powderhorn, Telluride, Silverton, Durango, Wolf Creek, and Crested Butte with 4-8″ by Monday morning. Crested Butte, Monarch, and Aspen might see a few inches, while other areas should see little to no snow on Sunday with in-and-out clouds/flurries/sun.
- Monday: If the snow hangs on over night on Sunday, Monday morning could be especially good for Telluride, Silverton, Durango, and Wolf Creek…storm total of 4-8″ by midday Monday.
View CPF: Snow Forecast, March 11, 2010 in a larger map
- Tuesday: Sunny and warm.
- Wednesday: Sunny and warm … maybe a few more clouds.
- Thursday: Low chance of some light snow.
- Friday/Saturday/Sunday: Looks like a good storm is coming in from the northwest, which could favor the I-70 areas up through Steamboat.
Looks like the spring storms are going to make an appearance this year after all. Thank you Joel!
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Thanks for the forecast Joel!
Looks like WC will get a refresher right in time for spring break! Perfect. Will have to keep an eye on the following weekend though, that storm from the NW sounds nice. Do you think that it will touch WC at all?
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Joel Gratz Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 8:09 PM
Too early to tell, but it looks pretty big so that all of Colorado could get in on the action.
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These I-70 storms keep landing on the weekends. What do I do with all my sick days now?
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I know this is a Colorado-centric site, but I was thinking about heading to New Mexico Mon/Tues because it looks like areas including Taos, Angel Fire, and Santa Fe ski will get hit big again. Joel, what do you think? Roadtrip to NM early next week?
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Joel Gratz Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 8:11 PM
Yup – looks promising. The most snow down in NM should fall Sunday night into midday Monday, so I’d get down there sometime on Sunday. This storm is a little finicky, but it is likely a safe bet to head to NM for some good turns!
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Glad to hear a storm out of the nw is coming our way. Let’s hope it does not dive south per usual!
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Hey Joel,
It’s Ryan in the orange jacket and white helmet from Copper Bowl ridge on Tuesday…
Hoping can I get a copy of the footage you shot of us. Gotta critique the technique!
That was an awesome day (on my rating system). We skinned up Tucker right after we ran into you for extra freshies. Love the site, keep up the good work!
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Joel Gratz Reply:
March 12th, 2010 at 12:00 PM
I will get the pictures to you soon. Thanks for checking in!
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Love the new video presentation. Each new touch makes the site better and more professional.
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Joel Gratz Reply:
March 12th, 2010 at 12:00 PM
Thanks dad:-)
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Hope you had fun testing with the Freeskier crew on Tues. I was up in the afternoon and had some great runs lapping Upper Enchanted. Wish I could have run into you and made some turns. Thanks for the great work forecasting. Hopefully the NW flow kicks in for next weekend!
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In the columbia gorge (northwest) right now and it is a strong storm. If it heads your way get ready for a big dump
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Joel Gratz Reply:
March 12th, 2010 at 12:03 PM
Thanks for the advance update! A piece of that storm will eject southeast towards the four corners and bring the snow on Sunday>Monday that I talked about. Follow the storm (shown as green {moisture} and dipping black lines that head toward SW Colorado).
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I love your website- it’s actually useful. I was wondering what you think for monarch on sunday? Above you said it could see a couple of inches.
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Joel Gratz Reply:
March 12th, 2010 at 2:49 PM
Thanks! Yup…above I said 1-4″ for Monarch on Sunday. I think this is still a good forecast. Snow looks heaviest at Monarch from midday through Sunday night. Some heavier bursts of snow could push totals above 6″, but this is too random for me to say confidently. The flow will be from the east, which is not a great direction for Monarch, but they could do OK. Anything south facing that’s not up high will likely be baked on Fri/Sat, so even 6″ on Sun won’t soften that stuff up, but it will make more northerly and treed aspects ski very nicely.
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Joel Gratz Reply:
March 14th, 2010 at 2:21 PM
Well, here it is Sunday and I’m eating my words. Heavy snow at Monarch all day, so I guess an easterly wind direction works out after all. Probably over a foot of snow by Monday AM.
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Ok Joel – I need a meteorologist’s help here. I’m still bummed about missing all that good snow in Wolf on Monday/Tuesday so am looking at this next storm. You called 4-8, CAIC says Southern San Juan’s 6-10 through Sunday but NWS says only 1-4. I have found that over the years the NWS Southeast and South Central forecaster always underestimates Wolf totals and I notice that the Western forecast (which I believe is done by someone else) is calling for 6-12 for Telluride, Silverton, etc. Do you think Wolf is going to get that much less snow or is this a case of two different forecasters reading a storm differently?
On an entirely different note, I was at Berthoud again on Thursday and conditions were the best yet for the year. My camera battery died so no pics but the snow was knee deep and light which was surprising since WP called only 6″ the night before and CAIC said Berthoud had gotten 14″ over three days but it skied much deeper that the 16″ that they got the week before. I think the wind was to thank for that development but whatever it was it sure was sweet.
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Gluten Free Snowboarder Reply:
March 13th, 2010 at 6:04 PM
Never mind – the NWS afternoon report has now got a Winter Storm Watch in effect with possible total storm totals of 12″-26″ – nothing like consistency from forecast to forecast.
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26″ seems high. Totals could well go over a foot by late Sunday night/Monday morning at Wolf Creek, so if you’re chasing powder, Monday would be a good day to be there.
The NWS has three offices that take care of forecasting for Colorado: Grand Junction, Boulder, and Pueblo. Wolf Creek is on the border between the jurisdiction of the Pueblo and Grand Junction forecast areas…hence the lack of continuity at times.
This storm is pretty strong and brought about a foot of snow to Snowbird today. My concern is that after a quick 4-8″ at Wolf Creek, the flow switches to be from the east or northeast, and I’m not sure how good WC will do with flow from that direction.
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So thinking about pulling the trigger and driving from avon to wolf creek tonight. Web cam looks like the snow is slowing down though. Anyone else thinking about making the trip? If they get another foot today could be worht it. Thoughts?
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Joel Gratz Reply:
March 14th, 2010 at 11:11 AM
Yup…I’d go. They should have some good snow through today and tonight…another double-digit total on the Monday AM report is surely possible.
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Snowing and CRAZY windy at Vail right now. Allback bowls are closed. We need snow desperately here! Come on Joel give us some good news!
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Joel Gratz Reply:
March 14th, 2010 at 11:13 AM
Thanks for the report! The nearby weather station on the top of Copper is showing winds at 35mph, gusting to 50mph. I don’t think there will be much snow…maybe 1-3″ total in heavier snow bands, but I’m just not optimistic. However, I’d love to see more snow as it is definitely necessary!
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Skied Vail pass with Vail Powder Guides yesterday. First thing, the owner Ben runs a 1st class operation and has hired top of the line people to work with him. We skied 11 runs totaling over 10k of vertical in some pretty choice conditions. Not only did we do some great skiing, but it was a great learning experience about avalanches, snow, sun, etc. Fun terrain, like you mentioned, all pretty playful stuff. All in all a great day that was worth the money. Hopeful for some good snow for end of this week as weve got some new yorkers headed into town.
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Joel Gratz Reply:
March 14th, 2010 at 3:46 PM
Excellent report – thanks! Glad you skied VP yesterday, as the wind is howling today (Sunday) with gusts to 50mph.
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Well I am heading south early AM…only decision now is wolf creek or monarch…monarch pass has looked nasty for a while now
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Joel Gratz Reply:
March 14th, 2010 at 4:34 PM
Yes, Monarch could be a good play. A band of very heavy snow has been over Monarch all day (and will stay there for at least another few hours, if not longer). Wolf Creek is in a lull right now, but it will start up again there in another hour or two. LOTS of wind today especially around central Colorado with gusts around treeline to 60mph, so there will be a lot of wind blown snow Monday AM.
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Rode Wolf today – conditions were great – they called 12″ at 2 – skies cleared around 3 but started snowing lightly at 5(!) when they closed the lifts for the day. All the weather reports are calling for more but even if it didn’t snow anymore there was still plenty of untracked lines to be had particularly on knife ridge. Tons of tourists celebrating spring break on the front side but actually fewer than usual folks on Alberta – the tourists seem to have chased the locals away. Come on down and join the fun – just don’t poach any of my lines:)
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Joel Gratz Reply:
March 14th, 2010 at 8:38 PM
Sounds great – glad it worked out! Might be a few more inches tonight, but that’s about it. Enjoy the “leftovers” tomorrow!
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when can we expect an update for the rest of this week headed into the weekend. After the powder cats this weekend, and a short week for me, I am itching to hear an updated forecast…
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Joel Gratz Reply:
March 15th, 2010 at 10:28 AM
Workin’ on an update today/tonight (Monday). Friday/Saturday could be good days around the I-70 areas (that’s the free preview:-)
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If i was between skiing Crested Butte saturday/sunday or vail/breckenridge friday/saturday this week what would be your vote considering the impending weather? thanks!
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Joel Gratz Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 12:09 PM
I think Vail/Breck is your better bet based on SNOW, but based on crowds, CB is the better bet. Everyone should get some snow Friday into Sat AM, but I think Breck could do the best of the three areas you mention.
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Hey Joel,
Been following this storm for late week and from what I see and from the forecast discussion I really thought that Eagle County could do really really well from this pending storm. However I heard today from another weather guy that he saw it really digging south AGAIN and being a really good upslope storm for east of the divide. What gives?
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Joel Gratz Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 8:45 PM
Well, the storm is digging south again, and the main problem that will pose for Eagle County will be a northerly or north-north easterly wind direction, which isn’t ideal. Still, when the strong cold front comes across from NW to SE on Thursday night and Friday morning, there will be at least a few hours a pretty heavy snow, so I think EC will do OK, but a prolonged northerly wind could actually be better for Summit Co. and east.
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