Mountain News and Conditions posted Sunday Sep 5th 2010

Ski Season Fast Approaching Just over 2 months before the lifts will start running again. This year the site will get an overhaul and hopefully offer you a better experience. As always, the goal will be to help you make an informed decision when planning a trip to the resorts. Since I started Powderwatch a number of similar (and better) websites have emerged but I find that I still have to search through a number of them when putting together my summary reports. If you enjoy doing the same kind of research then Powderwatch may not provide you with any new insight. But for people who don't have the time to check forecasts and snow reports on a weekly basis, I do my best to share the information that I gather. This site would be even more effective if some other snow sleuths would share their information and I'm going to try and make it easier for them to do that. I hope you will find Powderwatch improved this year.

Mountain News and Conditions posted Thursday May 6th 2010

Sunshine is reporting 29cm in the last 5 days and with the cold and crappy temperatures we've been having I'm expecting conditions to be really good this weekend. I was at Louise last Sunday and although the patio was stellar when the sun was out, the mountain was a little too variable to be considered great for skiing. The top was mostly icy or hard pack crud. Midway there was some beautifully soft snow but the odd icy patch made it less enjoyable. The bottom of the front side was deep with slush and way too sticky for my liking. We found the best snow on Larch and lapped it many times. Once you figured out where the ice patches were you could find a pretty decent route top to bottom. We would wait for the sun to pop out then rip down. If we had sun top to bottom it was a great run!! Getting back to Sunshine... I think conditions will be much more wintery this weekend. But then again last weekend wasn't supposed to be nice and it turned out to be beautiful. But with all the fresh snow I might just check it out.

Mountain News and Conditions posted Wednesday Apr 28th 2010

Whistler received 9cm yesterday and they're expecting more. With temperatures below zero the conditions must be pretty good. Still no snow since the weekend for Sunshine and Louise but it is expected to start falling today. OK Sunshine got 2cm but I'm not really counting that. With temperatures remaining cool since the weekend the surface is probably hard but if groomed it would be nice and carve-able. Add 5 to 10cm and you have a recipe for great late season turns. Sounds like to snow was better than I expected at Sunshine on the weekend so if they get some more I'm definitely checking it out.

Mountain News and Conditions posted Friday Apr 23rd 2010

Sorry for the late update but this has been an unusually busy week. Not that I couldn't have squeaked in a few minutes somewhere but I tend not to think about skiing as much this time of year - especially when there are other things on the go. Anyway, you didn't miss much if you were waiting for an update. Only 5cm of snow at Louise and Sunshine and that's it. No reports have been submitted from anyone in my legion of loyal fans but I'm willing to guess it was on the icy side today. Sunshine has snow in the forecast for tomorrow so I'm waiting to see how that shapes up before deciding what to do on Sunday. But with highs below zero I'm not heading out unless they get 10cm+.

Mountain News and Conditions posted Saturday Apr 17th 2010

Hace Caliente Gringos That's right we're having a little heat wave here in the rockies. The forecast for Fernie is 19C. There's going to be some great spring skiing for the bonus weekend. Although it might be a wee bit muddy at the bottom. But beers on the patio will be super sweet. Louise, Sunshine and Kicking Horse will be a little cooler but soft spring conditions can still be expected - especially if the sun comes out. I'm on my way up to KH for one last time tomorrow. I heard it was more winter conditions last weekend but they still had lots of snow. I'm expecting it to be great tomorrow. Spring moguls!! I love em!!