Mountain West Discussion

[frontranger8]

7 hours ago, mayjawintastawm said:

"Bagging" multiple peaks in a day is a big thing in the Northeast, where I hiked all 67 4000 footers in New England with my Dad before moving to CO in 2010. It's easy to climb 3-4 in a day or half a dozen in a weekend. All are Class 1 or 2 hikes, though there are some class 3 options if you try hard enough on a couple of peaks in NH and Maine. Funny thing is that weather and hiking have historically been two of my main interests, but "peakbagging" much less so since I moved to CO. (on the AT, my trail name was "Weatherman"). I've climbed two fourteeners, but there is so much more great hiking out here that does not involve the highest peaks that they've lost much of their appeal (plus, the competition for parking and real estate during 14er hikes is a big negative).

But we digress. Some very thoughtful winter forecasts have emerged in the last week. What do people think? Personally, I'm skeptical that we'll get more than a "normal" amount of snow this year, because persistence always seems to win out. Though I'd gladly take "normal".

If you look at previous very strong Ninos (1972-73, 1982-83, 1991-92, 1997-98, 2015-16), every one of them had above average snowfall. However, a lot of that is due to some huge fall and spring storms. DJF tends to be a little less snowy than normal and warm to average temps.

[smokeybandit]

A normal snowfall year will seem  like a lot after how bad last year's totals were

[ValpoVike]

I believe it will be location bound. From I25 east may be normal to slightly above, while the central and southern mountains may end up with a much above normal snowpack. But all in all, very likely a big improvement over last season.