A weather-model figure, worked out the same way for every ski area, and lower than what actually falls. Use it to compare ski areas, not against the resort’s own totals. How we measure →
Updated: 10 Nov 2026, 12:15
Elevation of the ski area’s centre point, taken from a digital elevation model. It is not the base-to-summit range.
We do not show a snow depth here. The weather model we use reports snow lying on the ground — it knows nothing about grooming or snowmaking, and it is not the base depth a ski area publishes. In Japan we can check our figures against 234 weather stations. Outside Japan there is nothing to check them against, so we do not print a number we have not verified.
| Date | Weather | Snow (cm) | Low / high (°C) | Wind (km/h) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 9 Nov | Drizzle | 0 | 1 to 10 | 10 |
| Tue 10 Nov | Cloudy | 0 | 1 to 10 | 11 |
| Wed 11 Nov | Cloudy | 0 | 4 to 15 | 13 |
| Thu 12 Nov | Cloudy | 0 | 5 to 15 | 7 |
| Fri 13 Nov | Cloudy | 0 | 4 to 14 | 16 |
| Sat 14 Nov | Snow | 0 | 0 to 9 | 19 |
| Sun 15 Nov | Cloudy | 0 | −1 to 5 | 14 |
The five add up to the 100-point Powder Score: more fresh snow, more on the way and colder air all push it up. How we measure
Bear Basin Nordic Center is a ski area in United States, at about 1,675 m. Its mapped area is about 3.2 km across.
Over the last twelve winters the ERA5 weather model gives it 301 cm of snowfall a season, 476th (tied) of 3,069 worldwide and 39th in the United States. It swings a lot from year to year: the biggest winter, 2016/17 (423 cm), brought more than twice as much as the leanest, 2014/15 (166 cm). December brings as much snow as January here (87 and 70 cm on average).
Modelled from weather data the same way at all 3,069 ski areas we cover. These are not the resort’s own published figures.
Within 50 km in a straight line. Ski areas in the same weather-model cell (about 30 km across) get the same figure.
| Ski area | Distance | Seasonal snowfall | World rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Little Ski Hill | 2.1 km | 232 cm | 853 |
| Brundage Mountain | 6.3 km | 321 cm | 401 |
| McCall Activity Barn | 9.0 km | 234 cm | 832 |
| Jug Mountain Ranch Winter Trails | 16.0 km | 273 cm | 602 |
| Tamarack Resort | 29.0 km | 291 cm | 514 |
The most snow falls in December. March brings 90% of January’s snowfall. That is in line with the median for ski areas in the United States (85%). In amount, March brings 63 cm, more than the median of 30 cm.
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 301 cm, and 7 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2014/15 with 166 cm; the biggest was 2016/17 with 423 cm (2.5 times as much). For 33% of the 534 ski areas in the United States the leanest winter was 2015/16; here it was a different one.
Snowfall each winter (December–March total). The dashed line is the average; the numbers mark the leanest and the biggest winter.
The weather map, and where it sits among nearby ski areas.
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