Greetings, I'm looking for info on what the snowfall has been like out there this year- low, normal, or high? Hoping it's been as mild there as it has been here and the rock routes might dry out early....

Thanks,
B

The snow pack in the Colorado mountains, has been very low this year and I suspect that the wind rivers are about the same? Climbed a 14er this past weekend, and the conditions are more like mid May. The SKEETER season will probably come early as well.

I would agree - I live in the Absarokas in northern Wyoming and we've had over a week of 70-degree weather now. The snowpack was low this winter and with the warm weather, the peaks look like they usually do in the middle of May!

Check out the following report:

http://www.wrds.uwyo.edu/wrds/nrcs/snowprec/snowprec.html

If you scan towards the bottom, you'll find data on locations like Elkhart Park and Big Sandy Opening. It looks to me like many areas have about about 90% - 95% of their normal snowpack.

Great, thanks guys.

The current snow cover has dropped quickly with two weeks of warmer than normal weather. The snow-pack is now down in the 60% range for the Winds, with Teton/Yellowstone picking up a late season snow last week...


I tried to drive up to the Elkhart Park Trailhead north of Pinedale last weekend, but the road was snow-blocked at ~8,500 feet. Pictures here...so far spring has been warmer than usual, and with less snow in the Winds the mosquitoes will probably be fewer than last year, but the concern is now for the increased fire danger.

Take Care and hope your trip out here to our neck-o'-the-woods in Wyoming goes well!

J.C.

Thanks for that update. We are considering heading in for Gannett around Memorial Day. Any chance you would consider refreshing that update around that time? We are looking at skiing. What do you think the chances of there being continuous snow are? Or would we be walking a bit?
Cheese

Here is a comparison for you. This is the Snotel data from Hobbs Park @ 10k in the Winds the week we climbed Gannett in 2010:


And here's the current data (which this year is already looking like our trip in late June--just need a couple warm days.... but it can ALWAYS snow there):
http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/nwcc/sntl- ... 7&state=wy

For us, skiing would have been marginal going in, and we walked most of the way out. Trip report here:
http://www.splattski.com/2010/gannett/index.html

The snowpack isn't as good as last year, but if you are looking for skiing opportunities in the Tetons, they are still there. I'm heading over to climb/ski Buck Mountain tomorrow morning and we think we will get about 3,000 vertical of good snow. I did Teewinot a couple of weeks ago, and didn't summit, due to deep fresh snow. Here is a trip report with GPS and Video of that trip. http://hi-adventure.com/teewinot-quest/. BTW, Teewinot has now degraded to the point that it would be difficult/dangerous to ski.

I am headed down there with my ski gear and backpack. Looking for partners, give me a call at 2083038140 if you want to climb and maybe ski some.
Nathan

dblblack wrote:The snowpack isn't as good as last year, but if you are looking for skiing opportunities in the Tetons, they are still there. I'm heading over to climb/ski Buck Mountain tomorrow morning and we think we will get about 3,000 vertical of good snow. I did Teewinot a couple of weeks ago, and didn't summit, due to deep fresh snow. Here is a trip report with GPS and Video of that trip. http://hi-adventure.com/teewinot-quest/. BTW, Teewinot has now degraded to the point that it would be difficult/dangerous to ski.

why wouldn't teewinot be good to ski, has it iced up or is the snowline too high? i was guessing it would be in prime shape for a couloir climb in the next few weeks.

sweet video dblblack, i loved it!

jamie