El Nino has brought in snow and lofty crowds to Sierra Summit, providing the resort with more than12 feet of fresh powder this season and isn’t looking to stop anytime soon.
According to the Western Regional Climate Center, El Nino conditions, precipitation and temperature effects combine to accentuate the effect on the snowfall. With a strong tendency toward wet winters, it makes the high elevation snowpack deeper.
Several huge storms have brought much snow to Sierra Summit, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration this El Nino is predicted to bring even more storms and snow to the area.
“We got 11 feet back in January, and right now, today it is at 100 inches,” Lyndsie Couto said, an employee at Sierra Summit, in a phone interview Tuesday. “It is snowing right now.”
According to a conditions blog on the Sierra Summit Web site, they have excellent coverage over the entire mountain with some fantastic skiing and riding. The blog continues to say with the amazing amount of snow this season, they plan to ski and ride well into April.
For some skiers and snowboarders an extended snow season is great news since the last extended season was five years ago.
“The previous El Nino was a heavy year of snow in the ‘05-‘06 season and we skied into Memorial Day,” Couto said. With news such as this, Sierra Summit has started a new promotion for season tickets. On Monday, season tickets went on sale, and if skiers and boarders purchase their season ticket now it will count for this season as well as all next season.
The snow has really brought in the crowds.
“There have been no sold out days yet, but it gets very busy on sunny weekends,” Couto said.
Brenna Blagg, a Friant local, has frequently visited the mountains this season and attests to the large crowds. After getting new skis and boots for Christmas, Blagg said she has absolutely loved the amount of snow Sierra Summit has received.
“It is definitely the most snow I’ve seen in a long while,” Blagg said. “Having grown up in Huntington Lake, it’s weird seeing the snow over the snow markers.”
“Right after about eight feet of snow came, we went up the nice day after the huge storm,” Blagg said. “We were stopped for about an hour and had to walk a mile and a half to get to the park. There have been multiple instances where not all of the runs have been open because there was so much snow and not enough power to plow them all.”
Other than the crowds Blagg has really loved how awesome the snow conditions have been.
“The snow has been great,” Blagg said. “It’s nice getting there early and skiing right after they plowed. There is snow all over the trees and there are always clear skis. It’s just gorgeous.”
Recreation and leisure professor Justin Butchert and the general manager of Kings River Expeditions, is excited about the snow at Sierra Summit, but is especially excited about the river when the snow starts melting.
“The snowpack is good but not unusually high — we had bigger years in ’05 and ’06 but the winter is not over yet and there is more on the way,” Butchert said. “We are river people first so we are really looking forward to getting on the water when all this snow starts melting and tearing down the canyon.”
