Alta Ski Area officially marks snowiest season on record
Mar 25, 2023, 2:41 PM
Skier Katie Hitchcock revels in another deep powder day at Alta Ski Area on March 15. The snowfall at the resort this year is officially the snowiest season on record. (Chloe Jimenez, Alta Ski Area)
(Chloe Jimenez, Alta Ski Area)
ALTA, Utah — Alta Ski Area has officially broken its record for the snowiest season recorded with a whopping 749 inches of snowfall this winter.
Since 1980, Alta has recorded its winter snowfall by measuring from October to April 30, and the 2022-2023 snowfall just surpassed the previous snowfall record of 748 inches during the 1981-1982 season.
“Since our first snow on Oct. 22, Alta has seen an average of 4.9 inches of snow per day,” the 85-year-old resort said on its website.
The beginning of October was warm and dry, but the first storm of the season hit near the end of the month, dropping a total of 37.5 inches by the end of the month. Alta said October 2022 was the fourth-snowiest October in the past decade.
From there, the ski resort just kept rolling in the deep as snow continually piled up.
November storms added almost 85 inches of snow and skiers definitely got their Christmas wishes when December totaled another 163 inches by the end of the year. December tied for the seventh-snowiest single month in the past 42 years, Alta said.
The month of January was hitting the gym every day, successfully keeping its New Year’s resolutions by adding 186 inches of snow and marking the deepest start to the season (October through Jan. 31) in the last 40 years.
February packed on 110 inches of snow, making Valentine’s Day an amazing ski day as the resort passed 500 inches total in the season.
March roared in like a lion, and hasn’t stopped roaring. With 165 inches and counting, this spring is staying snowy and breaking records along the way, including a Friday night storm that forced an “interlodge event” at Snowbird and Alta resorts, where travelers are required to find shelter indoors during extreme avalanche risk.
The 2022-2023 season is in “elite company” Alta Ski Area said, as only five snow seasons in the past 43 years have reached 700 inches of snowfall — none of which reached that milestone before April.
“We never really know what Mother Nature and Old Man Winter have in store for us. So we’ll just keep watching the forecast, praying for snow, skiing the new snow when it falls and digging out in between storms. After all, it’s a ritual that’s worked for 85 winters, why change now?” Alta said.
The snowfall doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon as another storm is headed its way to Utah on Wednesday.
