The second week of December delivered two storms of 29 inches and 42.5 inches, respectively. Thayne Rich finds fresh snow on Opening Day (left) Taylor Johnson drops into Main Chute on November 29th | Photos: Rocko Menzyk & Iz La Motteĭeep-Cember 2021 | 143.5 inches of snow, 13.05 inches of waterĪs we flipped the calendar to December, the weather continued to stay dry. In total, just 21.5 inches of snow fell at Alta during November 2021, the second least-snowiest November on record. Alta's high-elevation prominence and north-facing aspects provided Alta skiers over 60 runs while many other ski areas across the state sat idle, waiting for colder temps and a pattern change. Despite a short dry spell, the first few weeks of the season were quite enjoyable as Alta's teams worked to open as much terrain as possible-even opening Main Chute on Mount Baldy before the end of November. Old Man Winter finally returned the week before Thanksgiving and we were able to blow some manmade snow and fire up the lifts for Opening Day on November 27th. With over five feet of snow still blanketing the north-facing slopes of Alta, the snow stuck around in the upper mountain, however, the snowpack began to deteriorate despite significant skier compaction. Starting in early November, temperatures warmed significantly and any thought of an early opening melted away. November 2021 | 21.5 inches of snow, 2.87 inches of water

October 12th (left) and October 15th (right) | Photos: Rocko Menzyk It was only October, but the ski season was off to a great start a whole month before our scheduled Opening Day.īy the end of October, Alta had seen 67 inches of snow-the snowiest October at Alta since the 2004-05 season and the fourth-snowiest in the 42-year history of the Collins study plot. Backcountry skiers flocked to Alta for preseason turns, hiking up and skiing down every slope in sight. October 2021 | 67 inches of snow, 7.56 inches of waterĪlta received its first measurable snow on October 9th and it just kept on snowing, covering the slopes of Alta by midmonth. Okay, now that we’ve addressed parking reservations, let's look at some pretty pictures from our Photo of the Day team and dive into a month-by-month recap of the 2021-22 season, the skiing portion of this business-the reason we are all drawn to Alta. The new system required buy-in from our skiers and it was generally well-received, providing assurance that our skiers had a place to park on weekends & holidays. Like any change to the status quo, the new system was met with widespread skepticism and pointed criticism. The most notable change this season was the introduction of weekend & holiday parking reservations. In the end, we made it through another season without interruption from a global pandemic-and we enjoyed some pretty good skiing along the way. We didn’t experience a record-breaking Interlodge, but we experienced a few snowy months, some prolonged dry spells and many days that offered fresh snow and wall-to-wall terrain openings.

The 2021-22 ski season at Alta Ski Area has drawn to a close.

Alta snow totals