Buff Pass
- Thread starter madmaxx
- Start date
Guess it's time to wait out the weekend and hit the fresh stuff come Monday!
Really tracked up, foot or so of fresh yesterday, gotta hunt for untracked... People are coming in droves from all over the country to ride the Ears, no snow anywhere else I guess..
MadMaxx from IA how was your trip to Buffalo Pass?
I read the following article from the Steamboat paper dated 1/13/16 and thought anyone following the snow conditions might be interested in it:
Steamboat Springs — The strong El Niño weather pattern, which has been feared for its contrary nature and potential to hold down winter snowfall in Northern Colorado, has turned out to be a help rather than a hindrance through the first week in January.
In its first Colorado Water Supply Outlook Report of the water year that began Oct. 1, 2015, the Denver office of the Natural Resources Conservation Service said statewide snowpack is 118 percent of normal. Colorado Snow Survey Supervisor Brian Domonkos characterized it as the best start to winter this decade and ranked it as the ninth best start since 1982.
“With a sizable chunk of the winter already behind us, this is a good starting point, however more than half of the winter remains,” he said in a written statement, adding that, in a typical year, Colorado has received about two fifths of the seasonal snowpack by the first week in January.
The mountains surrounding Steamboat Springs and the Yampa Valley aren’t leading the pack for Colorado, however. In fact, the Yampa/White Drainage, at 103 percent of median snowpack (water stored in the standing snow on the ground), is the lowest in the state. But at least it’s in plus territory. One year ago, the Yampa/White stood at 98 percent of median Jan. 7 and was poised to drop further during a mild February.
However, Domonkos said during a telephone interview Wednesday that snowfall patterns such as the one that delivered consistent, but modest snow accumulations of one to four inches at a time here during the week after Christmas, can be a significant contributor to overall snowpack.
The Tower site, above 10,000 feet on the Continental Divide north of Steamboat, is one of 13 snow measuring sites that were below 100 percent snowpack. Domonkos also mentioned the Elk and Little Snake watersheds in North Routt as being among the river basins that are below normal but still near the median.
There is an apparent disconnect between snowpack levels measured on the western summit of Rabbit Ears Pass — at 9,400 feet elevation where snowpack is 110 percent of median — and at the Tower site, where it’s just 69 percent of median, having slipped from 76 percent Jan. 1.
There’s more stored water on Buffalo Pass this week, with 14.8 inches, compared to 11.7 inches on Rabbit Ears. But Tower would typically have a little more than 21 inches stored in the snow on this date and hold one of the biggest snowpacks in the state.
“It looks like a very specific dividing line at this point in time,” Domonkos said. “I wouldn’t call it a disparity, but it’s definitely a difference where you’ve got more bountiful snowpack to the south and it’s drier to the north.”
The February snow course could give Domonkos’ agency a clearer picture of snowpack in this area.
“In your neck of the woods, it seems there are some differences among sub-basins, or smaller watersheds,” he said.
I read the following article from the Steamboat paper dated 1/13/16 and thought anyone following the snow conditions might be interested in it:
Steamboat Springs — The strong El Niño weather pattern, which has been feared for its contrary nature and potential to hold down winter snowfall in Northern Colorado, has turned out to be a help rather than a hindrance through the first week in January.
In its first Colorado Water Supply Outlook Report of the water year that began Oct. 1, 2015, the Denver office of the Natural Resources Conservation Service said statewide snowpack is 118 percent of normal. Colorado Snow Survey Supervisor Brian Domonkos characterized it as the best start to winter this decade and ranked it as the ninth best start since 1982.
“With a sizable chunk of the winter already behind us, this is a good starting point, however more than half of the winter remains,” he said in a written statement, adding that, in a typical year, Colorado has received about two fifths of the seasonal snowpack by the first week in January.
The mountains surrounding Steamboat Springs and the Yampa Valley aren’t leading the pack for Colorado, however. In fact, the Yampa/White Drainage, at 103 percent of median snowpack (water stored in the standing snow on the ground), is the lowest in the state. But at least it’s in plus territory. One year ago, the Yampa/White stood at 98 percent of median Jan. 7 and was poised to drop further during a mild February.
However, Domonkos said during a telephone interview Wednesday that snowfall patterns such as the one that delivered consistent, but modest snow accumulations of one to four inches at a time here during the week after Christmas, can be a significant contributor to overall snowpack.
The Tower site, above 10,000 feet on the Continental Divide north of Steamboat, is one of 13 snow measuring sites that were below 100 percent snowpack. Domonkos also mentioned the Elk and Little Snake watersheds in North Routt as being among the river basins that are below normal but still near the median.
There is an apparent disconnect between snowpack levels measured on the western summit of Rabbit Ears Pass — at 9,400 feet elevation where snowpack is 110 percent of median — and at the Tower site, where it’s just 69 percent of median, having slipped from 76 percent Jan. 1.
There’s more stored water on Buffalo Pass this week, with 14.8 inches, compared to 11.7 inches on Rabbit Ears. But Tower would typically have a little more than 21 inches stored in the snow on this date and hold one of the biggest snowpacks in the state.
“It looks like a very specific dividing line at this point in time,” Domonkos said. “I wouldn’t call it a disparity, but it’s definitely a difference where you’ve got more bountiful snowpack to the south and it’s drier to the north.”
The February snow course could give Domonkos’ agency a clearer picture of snowpack in this area.
“In your neck of the woods, it seems there are some differences among sub-basins, or smaller watersheds,” he said.
POW and POW Buff pass
Lots of POW here at Buff pass... waist deep yesterday..
We rode out of Grizzly parking lot..
Lots of POW here at Buff pass... waist deep yesterday..
We rode out of Grizzly parking lot..
Planning on coming that way the end of next week from SD. Never been to the area before....wondering where to unload. Was planning on staying in Steamboat. How far do you have to trailer from there? Doesn't sound like snow conditions will be an issue!!! Thanks in advance for any input.
Theres millions of acres out there to ride.. you can always find fresh
YES GETTING LOTS OF SNOW NOW BEEN SNOWING ALL WEEK
should be really really good...
Similar threads
