Rockies travel advice and weather soothsaying

We're hitting the road for a couple of weeks starting Saturday (sort
of a honeymoon thing...) to do some sightseeing, skiing and hiking.

We'll be sticking to somewhere in a swath of the Rockies ranging from
Taos up to Fernie. (Yeah, we've narrowed it right the hell down)
Specifics will depend on whim and weather -- we've pretty
intentionally left narrowing it down to the last minute, but the last
minute is now almost upon us. The two main options on the table a

-Sprint to Whitefish, and maybe juke north to get a day in at Fernie
before turning south and working our way down through Idaho and/or
Montana, maybe as far as Jackson Hole before turning east.

-Sprint to Taos, then work our way through northern NM (sightseeing),
SW CO (skiing), and Utah (hiking in the Canyonlands), or just maybe
cut out the hiking and make tracks north to squeeze in a couple of
days at Jackson before heading east.

So, with an eye towards the skiing, how are NM and SW Colorado holding
up? How about Montana? Anything promising in the long-term forecasts
anywhere? This is obviously not a Real Ski Trip, it's a road trip
loosely structured around some skiing here and there.

bw

So, with an eye towards the skiing, how are NM and SW Colorado holding
up? How about Montana? Anything promising in the long-term forecasts
anywhere? This is obviously not a Real Ski Trip, it's a road trip
loosely structured around some skiing here and there.

bw

As of now things aren't looking great in Colorado. Spring and variable
conditions.
Check rsn.com for more details as well as weather.com, wunderground.com etc.

Hope this helps

Alan

On Mar 20, 11:02 pm, bdubya wrote:
We're hitting the road for a couple of weeks starting Saturday (sort
of a honeymoon thing...) to do some sightseeing, skiing and hiking.

We'll be sticking to somewhere in a swath of the Rockies ranging from
Taos up to Fernie. (Yeah, we've narrowed it right the hell down)
Specifics will depend on whim and weather -- we've pretty
intentionally left narrowing it down to the last minute, but the last
minute is now almost upon us. The two main options on the table a

-Sprint to Whitefish, and maybe juke north to get a day in at Fernie
before turning south and working our way down through Idaho and/or
Montana, maybe as far as Jackson Hole before turning east.

-Sprint to Taos, then work our way through northern NM (sightseeing),
SW CO (skiing), and Utah (hiking in the Canyonlands), or just maybe
cut out the hiking and make tracks north to squeeze in a couple of
days at Jackson before heading east.

So, with an eye towards the skiing, how are NM and SW Colorado holding
up? How about Montana? Anything promising in the long-term forecasts
anywhere? This is obviously not a Real Ski Trip, it's a road trip
loosely structured around some skiing here and there.

bw


Haven't been to any SW Colorado areas but I can tell you that we are
melting down pretty quickly here in the central Colorado Rockies. We
have had the last week with highs in the low 50's although we are
supposed to get a storm moving through here over the next couple of
days. I just hope it isn't rain. A quick look at the snow report:
http://www.coloradoski.com/SnowReport/ and I see that most of the SW
areas are starting to close some of their expert runs so I wouldn't
expect much. I saw that Moab was supposed to get into the low 80's
the other day so bike riding there may be a better option than skiing.

snoig

On Wed, 21 Mar 2007 06:44:15 -0600, Bob Lee wrote:

Drop me an email if you're in northern NM and maybe we can make a turn
together or have an adult beverage.

Definitely. Look for a note around Monday, give or take.

bw

On 21 Mar 2007 09:48:48 -0700, "snoig" wrote:



Haven't been to any SW Colorado areas but I can tell you that we are
melting down pretty quickly here in the central Colorado Rockies. We
have had the last week with highs in the low 50's although we are
supposed to get a storm moving through here over the next couple of
days. I just hope it isn't rain. A quick look at the snow report:
http://www.coloradoski.com/SnowReport/ and I see that most of the SW
areas are starting to close some of their expert runs so I wouldn't
expect much. I saw that Moab was supposed to get into the low 80's
the other day so bike riding there may be a better option than skiing.


Thanks (and thx to Alan). Wolf Creek and Telluride both seem to be
holding the line, but not much better. We're starting to think
Silverton is indicated for Thurs. or Fri...looks like they still have
room. Hmm...unguided starts the next week, but I'm thinking guided
would be a better call. Anybody got any input one way or t'other?

bw

bdubya wrote:
On Wed, 21 Mar 2007 06:44:15 -0600, Bob Lee wrote:

Drop me an email if you're in northern NM and maybe we can make a turn
together or have an adult beverage.

Definitely. Look for a note around Monday, give or take.


You guys have fun. Just don't mention a certain notorious midwestern
hill; Bob has been known to weep openly at the mere mention of it's name.

//Walt

On Mar 21, 7:55 pm, bdubya wrote:
On 21 Mar 2007 09:48:48 -0700, "snoig" wrote:



Haven't been to any SW Colorado areas but I can tell you that we are
melting down pretty quickly here in the central Colorado Rockies. We
have had the last week with highs in the low 50's although we are
supposed to get a storm moving through here over the next couple of
days. I just hope it isn't rain. A quick look at the snow report:
http://www.coloradoski.com/SnowReport/and I see that most of the SW
areas are starting to close some of their expert runs so I wouldn't
expect much. I saw that Moab was supposed to get into the low 80's
the other day so bike riding there may be a better option than skiing.

Thanks (and thx to Alan). Wolf Creek and Telluride both seem to be
holding the line, but not much better. We're starting to think
Silverton is indicated for Thurs. or Fri...looks like they still have
room. Hmm...unguided starts the next week, but I'm thinking guided
would be a better call. Anybody got any input one way or t'other?

bw

Usually this is one of the best weather reports for the area:
http://www.snowforecast.com/coloradofcst/aspen.html.
Looks like rain is a good possibility around Aspen so Silverton would
be your best bet since it's the highest elevation.

The snows melting down pretty fast around here but the tourists love
the warn weather.

snoig

On Wed, 21 Mar 2007 21:19:55 -0600, Bob Lee wrote:

Silverton would be a good choice. I'd suggest guided for the first trip
to Silverton, at least for the first day. The place can be a little
daunting and if the weather isn't good guided is highly recommended. If
you have a good first day, you can try unguided the second.

The drawbacks to guided are that you may not be perfectly compatible
with the others in the group and have somewhat uncomplimentary skills
and pace or conflicting goals, or you may chafe at the guide's safety
measures.


We're booked for Friday. We don't have real specific goals other than
a great day of skiing, and since we have no training at all in
snowpack assessment and whatnot, we'll be more than happy to trust the
pros' judgement.

Looks like we'll be skiing Taos on Tuesday; looking forward to it!

bw