Disclaimer: This is sponsored content. All opinions and views are of Monarch Mountain and does not reflect the same of KOAA.
Colorado's ski areas have —finally— gotten the snow they've so desperately needed, and if you're debating whether or not it's worth it to ski this weekend and have the time...it is, and you should.
The totals in the last week are impressive for even a typical snow year. Purgatory and Wolf Creek are both up more than two feet of powder in the last week. In the last 24 hours —both are up more than a foot. Here's the perspective. So far this winter, Purgatory has a season total of 90". Thirty eight(!) of those inches have come in the last 7 days!
The storm track over the last week has been particularly favorable for the San Juans. This makes sense —we've had southwest flow. So Telluride, and Wolf Creek, Purgatory, Aspen Snowmass, and Crested Butte have all seen 7-day totals above 30". Monarch is up 1', and Vail 18"-20" (18" is listed on this morning's snow report).
At the best performing resorts —mainly in the San Juans and Elks —these totals represent in some cases 1/4th of the season total snowfall to date.
All of this has been great for base depths. No brown patches this weekend! Wolf Creek is up to between 67 and 74 inches between the mid mountain and summit. Vail now has 309 of their 366 trails open, and you can likely credibly ski the back bowls.
If you do head up this weekend — bundle up. It'll be very cold at Monarch on Friday with a high of just 12 degrees as another snow maker arrives (so, free refills on Friday but difficult travel to get there). Highs climb to the upper 20s by Sunday. The sun angle is getting higher, but it's not high enough yet to erase this type of snow gain in a weekend.
The weekend itself will be dry after some resorts get an encore powder day Friday. See you on the slopes.
__
Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.