What Mountain Range Has the Best Snow?

Snow, it is the median which makes it all possible for skiers and snowboarders alike, fuel for an entire culture of winter addicts. But who gets the best snow? Well, this may be a more difficult question to answer than you might expect. The answer? well, it depends, largely on what type of skiing that you want to be doing.

It is fairly common knowledge that snow varies in its density, or water content. In general, the colder that it is the less moisture you will find in falling snow. If it snows near the freezing point snowfalls will generally be of heavier density than if it is colder. Warm air masses also hold a far greater amount of moisture than colder ones, so a warm storm is not only more likely to produce heavy snow but it is also far more likely for it to snow more in general.

After snow falls out of the sky, the elements take over manipulating its destiny and changing its form. Snow is constantly changing from the moment it starts to form in the sky, every moment it spends on the ground, and to the moment it melts entirely. The warmer and sunnier it is, the more likely settlement (the more air that will come out of the snow) and the more snow crystal bonding and cohesion that will occur. The cooler and shadier it is, the less the likelihood of settlement that will occur will be and the more faceting (angulation) that will occur to snow crystals, which creates a greater lack of cohesion between snow crystals. (To be specific the true cause of snow crystal metamorphosis is one of gradients of temperatures and coinciding vapor pressure. Snow and ice continually sublimate just as liquids evaporate, causing a transfer of vapor out from, into and around individual crystals).

Some will argue that high elevation coastal areas such as the Sierra Nevada's, CA have the best snow because the powder skiing is great during storms and it sits on a thick base left by other past storms that cover and stick to the mountain like super glue. It often snows so fast that, even though the snow is of a higher density it simply can’t settle fast enough. The result is high quality deep powder skiing conditions that after storms sets-up more rapidly than it does in more interior areas due to comparatively mild temperatures. Avalanches in coastal ranges are often frequent and massive during and shortly after storms and then stabilize quite readily afterward.



Bill Fleming having the time of his life on Wizard Rings, Chugach Mountains, Alaska.

 
Others swear by the “cold smoke,” or the super light density snow which falls in more interior, often high elevation ranges. It doesn’t snow as often here, nor nearly as much as it does on the coast, but when the conditions are right it is the true “white room” experience. The issue at ski areas in this snow climate is getting enough new snow so that you are not skiing on a hard surface below the storm snow; as due to the light nature of the snow it takes a lot of it to keep you afloat. High quality surface snow conditions often last great lengths of time after storms here. Avalanches  in continental areas are slightly less frequent than in coastal areas during storms but, however, are large and less predictable when they do occur. Instabilities often last long after storms, even through whole ski seasons. The Colorado and Canadian Rockies are great examples of this snow climate.

There are several ranges which share a bit of both coastal (maritime) and interior (continental) snow climate characteristics. These inter-mountain areas often still get lots of moisture though not as much as coastal ranges. Being a bit colder than on the coast; the result is often significant amounts of dryer snow which stays good longer. Variations in weather can at times can make it seem like one climate extreme or the other. Good examples in North America include the Tetons, Wasatch, Sawtooths, Selkirks, etc.

The latitude of an area also plays a significant role. In addition to overall temperature it plays a large role in which aspects of the compass will spoil or not due to sun exposure. You might be skiing powder on a south aspect in Canada on a given date where in say Utah it would be greatly unlikely to do the same. In mid winter there is less and less sun exposure over the entire compass the farther north one travels, come late spring the opposite is more or less true as the far north starts seeing a great increase in daylight hours which keep slopes warm longer. (It gets to a point where there is very little cool down during the night).

Megan Boyer trying to stay afloat in the Uinta Mountains, Utah

   An argument can be made for so many different places having the best snow for the best skiing that it is hard to say that it isn’t true of any one location without serious consideration. Additionally, it is unlikely that you would see the best chance of superior snow or skiing quality in one region for the course of a whole season. Another large contributing factor is terrain, as the snow is pretty meaningless without steep mountainsides for it to reside.

I therefore would like to break my opinionated answer to this grand question down to two places which offer great and very different skiing from one and other:

Best Powder Skiing: The Wasatch Range, Utah.

Because the license plate told me so… and a multitude of other reasons, to name a few of the many: It's in an Inter-Mountain snow climate. There is a large elevation change from valley to peak creating a huge amount of lift and cooling potential for air masses. The valley is also occupied by a large body of salt water which is reluctant to freeze and provides immense amounts of added moisture to storms, particularly when the lake is at its warmest early in the season. The overall elevation is reasonably high which cools air just enough, but the mountains are not too high as to be dramatically affected by extreme winds in the free air mass. The range is in a virtual bowling alley for storms that come off of the west coast of the continent.

The terrain of the Wasatch is comprised of reasonably steep and consistent fall lines of moderate length. The snow is often bottomless (unsupported underneath) and breathing can be a commodity. There is a speed limit in this sort of snow though because of its unsupportable nature to a rider. Rocks still loom over steep break-overs and super steeps as the snow that falls is often too dry to stick and stay on the mountainside, but rather it sluffs off steeps during storms.

Best Snow for Having the Ride of your Life: Chugach Range, Alaska.

The Chugach is a coastal range and it snows a lot there, a real lot, a different sort of real lot! Snow comes in warmish (remember we are talking about Alaska here- it’s still fairly cool) and sticks to the steep mountain sides. As storms pass colder air comes into the area and virtually sucks the moisture out of the surface snow. It is sort of a best of both worlds snowpack, but really it’s just a maritime snowpack on steroids.

The terrain is limitless, just as the legend states and the snow is what makes riding it possible. Supportable denser powder underneath, blower on top = often no speed limit for a rider. Five star.

Let the discussion begin!


Help support Utah Backcountry Skiing with a purchase from... Backcountry.com!