How a surprise 8-10 inches made for a great wintery day

There is a term for when you get more snow than you are forecasted to: jackpot storm.

That’s what happened the other day, when I ventured to Colorado’s Berthoud Pass with a few friends on a Wednesday.

The forecast was for an inch or two, but instead there was more like 8 inches, or even 10 or 12 in spots, in the zone we skied.

It being the last day of our ski trip, we were just planning to make a few laps on our way home. Instead, we made the most of it—taking at least five laps on the 400–500-foot vertical shots.

Take what you can get

Considering how dry and variable this winter has been—as I write this the high in Colorado Springs is 81 degrees—you need to take whatever good ski day you can get.

I’m very thankful for the day we had. It had been a long time since I skied snow this deep and dense.

I felt like I was skiing real powder again.

A warm and dry year

Overall, Colorado is only about 66% of normal for snowpack. Not only that, but the snow that has fallen in the backcountry, coupled with freezing and thawing, has created complicated layers, increasing the avalanche danger. That, combined with unseasonably high temperatures, has made for a strange year.

Skiing at Berthoud Pass was not originally on our itinerary.

We were supposed to go to the Goodwin Greene hut near Aspen, but we had to cancel due to sustained avalanche danger.

We ended up skiing Buffalo Pass near Steamboat Springs, which has received a surprising 250 inches this year. The temperatures hovered in the 40s on the mountain, making for heavy spring powder skiing, rather than winter-time glory. It was still fun.

Such has been this very warm and especially dry winter.

And as I look at the forecast for the next 2 weeks, there is no snow predicted across Colorado—zero, zip, nada.

Upslope storms

On such a bad year, how was I fortunate enough to find such good conditions at Berthoud Pass—especially when they weren’t forecasted?

Honestly, just pure luck.

I have heard of Jackpot Storms, but I believe there was a bit more to it.
Permit me to nerd out for a bit. Ahem.

Upslope nerd alert!

What can often happen at Berthoud Pass is something called an upslope snowstorm, or when moist air is forced uphill by terrain—usually mountains, causing it to cool, condense and produce snow.

This can produce very localized, heavy snowfall. I doubt other areas of Berthoud Pass received as much as what we skied.

Apparently, Berthoud Pass, which sits right on the Continental Divide, can be famous for such storms. It gets hit from multiple directions, easterly Front Range upslope and westerly flow. Berthoud benefits from orographic lift from both sides, which increases the chances of upslope storms, therefore increasing the chances of jackpot storms.

When snow is in the forecast, and so is wind, it doubles or triples your chances of winning the jackpot (of course it can spike the avy danger, too).

I’m thankful for this chance to experience a bit of powder and real winter in an otherwise strange and dry year.