“Where’s the snow?” an unidentified woman seemingly asks as she scans the horizon at Wolf Creek on Saturday. Reporting 8 inches of man-made as of Tuesday, Wolf Creek is actually one of the lucky ones, with several Colorado resorts delaying their opening days due to warm temperatures and dry conditions. However, a cold front passing through this week is expected to at least allow some resorts to make enough snow to open limited terrain./Photo by David Halterman

by Missy Votel

For countless decades, anxious ski bums have been striking the match to their obsolete P-Tex every fall in a concerted effort to appease those obscure deities known only as “The Snow Gods.”

With the benefit of modern technology and scientific gizmos, these mysterious gods have taken on more definition in recent years. In fact, we have come to learn that they are not really gods at all, but mere mortals. And young ones at that.

That’s right, we’re talking El Niño, and his oscillating sister, La Niña, who is currently holding court over the Central Pacific, ripping apart the jet stream like a ragdoll and spoiling winter vacation plans throughout the Central Rockies with her cold-watered tantrum. Just this week, several Colorado resorts announced opening day postponements, including Vail, Steamboat and Telluride. And resorts outside of Colorado aren’t faring much better. Firsthand reports from as far afield as Taos, Sun Valley, Id., and Bozeman, Mont., paint a similarly brown picture of an “inconvenient winter.”

Indeed, there is even scientific data to back up the anecdotal reports. According to the latest (and final) winter outlook from the folks at NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), not only is La Niña sticking around, but she’s going to make her stay a royal pain in our ski bases until at least early next year. “La Niña strengthened during October, making it even more likely that the United States will see below-average precipitation in the already drought-stricken Southwest and Southeast this winter,” said Michael Halpert, of the Climate Prediction Center.

Nevertheless, the question remains: just how do those who inhabit the regions that seem to have fallen out of her favor worm their way back into her climactic good graces? Depends on who you ask.

“Actually, one of our new guides has vowed to jump in the lake at Colorado Basin,” said Jen Ader-Brill, of Silverton Mountain, which has a tentative opening date of Dec. 1, two weeks ahead of the Dec. 15 opening of years past. “Another one of our guides, John Shockley, jumped into the river earlier this fall, and it snowed afterwards, so this guy figured he’d do one better.”

Although Brill was unsure of the exact timing of the polar plunge, she said it would likely occur once the mercury dropped to a more respectable level, in order to get more mileage out of the stunt, er, sacrifice. “It’s got to be cold and snowy,” she said. However, after assessing the recent change of weather out her window, from sun to clouds and wind, Brill admitted, “It could be taking place right now, for all I know.”

Down the hill, at Durango Mountain Resort, they are taking less drastic measures, like rabbit foot rubbing and a couple of crossed fingers here and there.

“We’re still scheduled to open Dec. 1,” said Purg spokesperson Loryn Kasten. “It’s looking like this week we’ll be getting those consistently cold temperatures we’ve been looking for.”

Fortunately, Kasten said, the resort expanded its snowmaking system this year, adding 15 new state-of-the-art guns and upgrading the rest of the fleet. Furthermore, after two years in a row of delayed openings, resort officials decided to hedge their bets this year. “We decided last season to move it to Dec. 1 based on weather patterns,” said Kasten. “Storms just seem to be coming later and later and knowing how far south we are, it seemed like a wise decision.”

Across the mountains to the west, Telluride, which delayed its traditional pre-Thanksgiving Day opening, is taking the wait-and-see tack. “We’re remaining flexible, and we’ll open as soon as conditions allow,” said Mary Helen Kirwan, Telski spokeswoman. She, like others across the central Rockies, are pinning their hopes to a low pressure front expected to sweep the area this week, bringing with it lows in the teens and that highly coveted, four-letter word. “We’re very hopeful we’ll get some snow,” said Kirwan.

In the meantime, locals there, like their neighbors to the east and south, are hoping to woo the persnickety weather phenom by playing hard to get with their summer toys. “We’re mostly biking and

A rocky start: The bullwheel sits still last week at Silverton Mountain. The experts-only ski area is hoping to open on Dec. 1, weather depending. This year will mark SilvertonMountain’s first official season operating on its new Bureau of Land Management permt./Photo by David Halterman

hiking,” siad Kirwan. “We’re just thinking of it of it as more time to get in shape for ski season.”

The arrival of which, everyone agreed, was not a matter of “if” but “when.”

“It does always come,” said Kirwan.

Kasten agreed, noting that last year the resort saw huge dumps in January and March.

“It’s going to come, and when it does, it’s going to come in abundance,” she said.

And until that day, Brill pointed out, there’s no use getting one’s long underwear in a bunch, so to speak.

“I’m not worried yet,” she said. “Besides, there’s no use getting nervous. There’s nothing you can do about it.”

Well, not exactly nothing.

“If people want to start burning their skis, that probably couldn’t hurt,” said Kasten. •

For the latest developments on the 2007-08 ski season, visit the Colorado Ski Country USA web site at www.coloradoski.com. For the latest on weather trends in Colorado, visit www.crh.noaa.gov/gjt/.