Bad Spring Weather and Max Snowpack

 

The weather has been a little glum lately.  At the end of the week it rained almost 9 inches in 3 days.  That storm torched all the snow down by the road at the pass, and we did not get as much as I'd have like liked high on the mountain. So we hit max snowpack on Pyramid on April 16th the day before the storm.  That is a little earlier than usual and way earlier than it was last year (click here for post).  Last year maximum snowpack was May 9th.

So for the last few days it has been warm and rainy interspersed with some sun.  And Ughhhhh the snow is going fast.  But we are still gaining snow above about 1300 feet.  It's just that the gain is not offsetting how much we are losing on the lower mountain.

Patrick

Going Quick

 

May 2

These are some pictures of the snowpack on Pyramid Mountain from the last 2 weeks since I got back from Tugidak Island.  By May 1rst we were starting to lose snow quickly down by the road, and by the 4rth just before I left on my Kiliuda Bay survey the snow was already getting patch y by the road.  But on high - above about 1000 feet - we had not lost any snow.

Then after I got back from Kiliuda Bay we got a big snowstorm and it snowed all the way down to the switchbacks - even a little at the golf course!  There was a foot and a half of new snow in the jibber bowl.  This was the moment of maximum snowpack on the mountain for the whole year.  If you added up the weight of all the snow on Pyramid it was at its heaviest at that moment.

That storm turned to rain and it has been raining and warm ever since.  It has been raining right up to 2000 feet, and has stayed above freezing even at night.  Consequently, the snow has started to melt at an alarming rate.  Yesterday I could barely ski to the road.

Still maximum snowpack is usually in late April and has averaged around April 20th the last few years.  So I am pretty happy with this year, and I am super happy to be still skiing to the road in mid May.  I hope I am able to ski to the road today!

Patrick

May 2 near road

May 2 looking towards hill behind ski chalet

May 1 at road

Road at the switchbacks May 9th

May 4 near road

May 9th at road

Max snowpack for the year - May 9th

Just 54 hours later on the 11th - losing snow quickly

May 11th

Max Snowpack

 

Panoramic of the North Bowl

I've mentioned more than once on this blog (sort of a theme of mine) that snow in town does not correlate to snow on the mountain.  And these days there is no snow in town and spring has most definitely arrived - my garlic even sprouted!  But right now there is more snow on the mountain than there has been all winter - it is still winter up there.  

However, these days spring is starting to move rapidly up the mountain.  Each year I sort of chart the 'snow accumulation' line.  Above this line we are still gaining snow while below the snow is rapidly melting.  Right now we are losing snow at the pass (500 feet) and still gaining snow above around 700 feet.  I've noticed in years past that starting around mid to late April that this line starts to move up the mountain at about 500 feet a week.  

So figuring that the snow accumulation line was at 500 feet on the 21rst means that it'll be at 1000' on the 28th, 1500' on the 5th of May, and at around 2000' feet by mid May.  These days the lower mountain is starting to rapidly lose snow but the upper mountain is still gaining snow.  But overall, right now the mountain is at maximum snowpack.  From now on we start to slowly lose snow.  

With this year's snowpack - and we still will be gaining snow on the upper mountain well into May - I figure we'll have good skiing on Pyramid until near the end of June.

Patrick

Nearing Peak Snow

 

This winter we just recently got any snow so it is hard to say when we will or have reached peak snow. What I call 'peak snow' is when Pyramid Mountain achieves the greatest snowpack.  Usually this happens sometime in late April. Last year it was April 16th (click here for post) and that was earlier than usual. Peak snow is actually later than when we lose snow at the bottom of the mountain - for a while we gain enough snow up high on the mountain to off set what we lose down low.  Up high Pyramid got a lot of snow in the last couple of weeks.  We actually got most of our snowpack since early March.  So I do not quite think we are at peak snow - yet.

That said, in the last few days we have lost a lot of snow low down on the mountain.  On Sunday it was easy to ski to the road.  Then in just 3 days we lost almost all of it - I fear that yesterday is the last time this year that I ski to the road. But, this year, we barely skied to the road until mid March anyway.

In any case, in town it is supposed to rain through the weekend. If we gain snow - or even moisture content - above 1200 feet then I feel we will still are gaining snow.  But if it rains to the top then I fear we will have reached max snowpack.

Patrick

Ryan and Bode

The chase pack

Snow to the road just a few days ago

Spring Skiing

 

It's officially Spring on the mountain. During the storm early last week we passed the point of 'max snowpack' on the mountain. For a couple more weeks we'll still get more snow on the top of the mountain, but it will not offset how much snow we're losing lower down on the mountain. 

Lately it has been freezing at night and then during the day it gets up into the mid to upper 40's. The frosts have kept the snowpack solid and the warm days just thaw out the top few inches for skiing.  Spring corn snow. Hero snow. Perfect spring skiing conditions. Probably the best skiing of the year.  But it is a little sad because it also means the ski season is coming to a close.  

It has been a low snow winter, and, despite the relatively cool spring, I fear that this year the skiing on Pyramid is going to end a little earlier than usual.

Still the skiing is good now!

Patrick