DRIGGS — The slopes at Targhee are still brown and gray, an unusual sight for mid-November. The resort made the tough call today to delay opening day, which was planned for Friday, Nov. 18, until snow comes.
The resort received significant snowfall in early October, but has seen unseasonably warm conditions since then.
“Ten days of above-freezing temperatures and periods of heavy rain soaked the old snow below an elevation of 10,500 feet,” reported the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center. “These conditions melted the old snow on most aspects below an elevation of 9,000 feet and on south-facing terrain below an elevation of 10,000 feet.” (The base elevation at Targhee is 7,860 feet and the highest point at the resort, Mary’s Nipple, is 9,920 feet.)
That report came two weeks ago, and since then the region has seen light frost at night and t-shirt temperatures during the day.
For now, the resort will be concentrating on orienting and training new hires, and waiting for snow.
“We put everything on pause,” said Ken Rider, the director of marketing and sales at Targhee.
Targhee has some snow-making capabilities but temperatures have been too warm to fire up the snow guns.
“We will be monitoring conditions on a daily basis,” said Rider. “Once we start to see weather, we’re set to go.”
Regional forecasts show cooler temperatures and more precipitation starting Sunday and moving into next week. Targhee will be prepared to open as soon as snow flies.
Rider said the resort hasn’t postponed opening day in eight or nine years. This is not a Wyoming-specific problem; all across the Rockies and Intermountain region, resorts are grappling with an Indian summer in November. The Vail-owned Colorado resorts Keystone and Breckenridge made news by postponing their opening indefinitely.
This article was originally published in the Teton Valley News. It is used here with permission.
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