It didn't come as a surprise a couple of days ago when the weather forecasted a hard freeze and snow. I have journal entries dating back several years, and most capture the date of our first winter snow. It is typical for the Cedar City area to get a healthy dumping of the white stuff sometime in October. Growing up and later returning with spouse and children, we've spent many Halloweens trick-or-treating bundled up head to toe while going door to door. Of course, there are many exceptions to this rule; however, snow in October is generally a given.
I used to get excited about these early-season snowstorms. Now I call them "teaser storms"; invariably, the weather will turn warm and will often be 70 degrees between now and Thanksgiving. So many a year, I've dreamed of deep powder runs and endless snow, only to have the weather patterns shift, all the snow stay north or east, and have my heart broken here in the state's southern end.
Of course, the ski resorts don't help with their current reports of; Alta at 27 inches, Eagle Point at 20 inches, and Brian Head at 13 inches. Although, of course, all of the new snow won't stay, some of it will, but the pictures produced by even these three resorts would have you believe they are opening tomorrow.
Skiing is a beautiful sport and my all-time favorite activity. There is nothing compared to floating through deep powder in that jump-twist fashion of a steep and deep run. As I've come to understand it over the years, the problem with skiing is threefold. First, too many people are attracted to the sport. Snow and cold used to be somewhat limiting factors for attraction, and altitude used to come in a close third behind the cost of equipment and lift passes; however, in recent years, none of these factors seem to be limiting the number of people at our local mountain. I used to have Fridays and most weekday powder days to myself, but not anymore.
Second, the season is short. We get snow in October, but we need more. Resorts will start making their snow a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving if conditions permit and temperatures stay cold enough. I consider most skiing done in December "bonus" days to the season. Generally, it takes most of December to get enough snow to cover the off-piste (non-trail slopes) rocks and stumps well. Then the January thaw arrives, and in most seasons, more than half of the snowpack is taken back to aquifers and retention ponds.
February and most of March skiing are where the good stuff happens, although I've had some of the best powder skiing in my life during the first couple weeks in April. That's it. The season boils down to several weeks of deep base and good snowstorms intermixed between warming periods. If you work a full-time job that isn't flexible enough to take a ski day when the storms occur, you'll be lucky to have two or three days in the entire season that snow the day or night before your day off. That sucks.
Third, not all storms produce the fluffy white stuff powder hounds dream about; wind creates drifts and crusty tops, and fine granular snow followed by heavy snow makes an unstable pack and is subject to avalanches. The best storms of the seasons are the lazy, big flake slowly falling, fairy tale version that blankets the mountain with an even pass. People drive and sleep in their cars when the forecast expects this type of snowstorm to occur.
Nope, I'm not going to get excited this year about the early snow; I'm just going to get my gear out of storage, so I can check to make sure everything is in working order; okay, maybe I'll sleep with my season pass tonight, under my pillow, just this once.
Written October 25, 2022