Snow Snow Snow (Vail: spring break, buy, school districts)

[thelionofmali]

My friend and I are making a scouting trip out to Colorado for the first week of April. We plan on road tripping it all around the state, but will definitely be spending some time in the Vail/Steamboat area. I was just wondering what the snow status will be for those areas? We have no idea how to ski/snowboard, but we both would like to try it.

Any ideas?

[wanneroo]

As long as there is no big warm up, you should have decent snow to ski on, especially the higher up the mountain you go. Right now the conditions are looking really good and it's been cold and snowy.

Also April can have warm days but also some big snowfalls, so winter isn't over yet. I was tricked many times by having nice sunny days in Vail in late March only to get hammered with some of the worse snow of the winter in April.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Agree with wanneroo that there may be big snowfalls in April, so you must check the Colorado Department of Transportation website for current road conditions daily. You will be driving over mountain passes on your travels around the state.

Snow in April can be very iffy, and may not be ideal for someone wanting to learn. Spring snow can be wet and heavy, but then again there can be a big dump of really good snow.

Just so you know, Steamboat closes April 15 and Vail closes April 14.

[mundele]

if you're going with a friend, you might want to consider checking out some different resorts to learn how to ski/snowboard. vail and steamboat are on the more expensive side for passes, and shell gas is running a promotion with buy one get one free lift tickets, so you could go to winter park, copper, or loveland if you want to stay near denver. crested butte, monarch, or powderhorn are options if you want to travel around the state more. you'll pay at least half of what it costs for a lift ticket at some of the other resorts.

vail and steamboat are fantastic, but why pay upwards of $100/day to go there if you'll spend the majority of it falling down the bunny slope? pay that money once you know what you're doing and can explore more of the mountain. head to loveland and it would be $30/day for each of you. they may have better snow, too, due to their higher elevation.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by Dreaming of Hawaii

Snow in April can be very iffy, and may not be ideal for someone wanting to learn. Spring snow can be wet and heavy, but then again there can be a big dump of really good snow.

Just so you know, Steamboat closes April 15 and Vail closes April 14.

That also assumes the there is sufficient snowpack remaining for skiing. That is dependent, not only upon the amount of snowpack (which hasn't been very good this year), but if temperatures are above normal. Abnormally warm spring conditions can make the snow very poor for skiing or melt snow sufficiently that all or part of the slopes much be closed.

It should be instructive to note that March and April are typically the months when many native Coloradans choose to vacation elsewhere.

[wanneroo]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

That also assumes the there is sufficient snowpack remaining for skiing. That is dependent, not only upon the amount of snowpack (which hasn't been very good this year), but if temperatures are above normal. Abnormally warm spring conditions can make the snow very poor for skiing or melt snow sufficiently that all or part of the slopes much be closed.

It should be instructive to note that March and April are typically the months when many native Coloradans choose to vacation elsewhere.

As it stands right now with the first week of April just a week away, the conditions are fine for this time of the year with more snow on the way. Doesn't look like any big change is coming either with super hot weather that will ruin the base.

[thelionofmali]

Thanks for the info everyone! We are going to Vail and Steamboat primarily because our friends live there. They will probably have a place that they think we should go to ski/snowboard. Just wanted to know about the conditions. Thanks again!

[davidv]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

That also assumes the there is sufficient snowpack remaining for skiing. That is dependent, not only upon the amount of snowpack (which hasn't been very good this year), but if temperatures are above normal. Abnormally warm spring conditions can make the snow very poor for skiing or melt snow sufficiently that all or part of the slopes much be closed.

It should be instructive to note that March and April are typically the months when many native Coloradans choose to vacation elsewhere.

Is there a story somewhere documenting this or is this speculation?

If true, I would think that many people vacation elsewhere because March is the month during which most school districts and colleges go on spring break, and also because in April there are many cheap airfares available leading up into summer.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by davidv

Is there a story somewhere documenting this or is this speculation?

If true, I would think that many people vacation elsewhere because March is the month during which most school districts and colleges go on spring break, and also because in April there are many cheap airfares available leading up into summer.

Or maybe because at this point, we're sick of cold and snow and want to be somewhere warm and green

[wanneroo]

Originally Posted by denverian

Or maybe because at this point, we're sick of cold and snow and want to be somewhere warm and green

Pretty much. In Vail, we all started to get major winter burn out by the 2nd week of March and I noticed amongst other people in the valley everyone starts getting a bit of cabin fever and ready to get the heck out of town and can't wait for ski season to end.