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
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. Snow report on the official site ↗
| Date | Weather | Snow (cm) | Low / high (°C) | Wind (km/h) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 9 Nov | Clear | 0 | 2 to 9 | 23 |
| Tue 10 Nov | Cloudy | 0 | 1 to 9 | 31 |
| Wed 11 Nov | Cloudy | 0 | −1 to 8 | 14 |
| Thu 12 Nov | Clear | 0 | 0 to 11 | 9 |
| Fri 13 Nov | Cloudy | 0 | 0 to 10 | 11 |
| Sat 14 Nov | Snow | 3 | −1 to 6 | 12 |
| Sun 15 Nov | Snow | 1 | −5 to 1 | 17 |
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
Cuchara Mountain Resort, in United States, runs from 2,823 m at the base to 2,903 m at the top. Its mapped area is about 2.3 km across, with 31 marked runs and 1 lift (about 16 km of piste in all).
Over the last twelve winters the ERA5 weather model gives it 106 cm of snowfall a season, 2,301st (tied) of 3,069 worldwide and 355th in the United States. It swings a lot from year to year: the biggest winter, 2016/17 (160 cm), brought more than twice as much as the leanest, 2025/26 (60 cm). March is usually the snowiest month, with about 34 cm.
Counted from the runs and lifts drawn on OpenStreetMap, within the boundary of the ski area. These are not the resort’s own published figures.
97% of the vertical on the runs descends to the north or east. Those slopes get the least sun, so the snow lasts longer.
See past trail maps on Skimap.org ↗
Source: OpenSkiMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0). How finely ski areas are drawn varies by region, so treat the counts as indicative. Vertical is the difference between the highest and lowest points of the mapped runs and lifts.
Modelled from weather data the same way at all 3,069 ski areas we cover. These are not the resort’s own published figures.
The most snow falls in March. March brings as much as January, or more. In amount, March brings 34 cm, about the same as the median of 30 cm.
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 106 cm, and 7 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2025/26 with 60 cm; the biggest was 2016/17 with 160 cm (2.7 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.
Other booking sites: Booking.com ↗ · Agoda ↗
Japan vs elsewhere · 5 Sep 2026
Which Famous Ski Resorts Get the Most Snow? 24 Names, MeasuredNiseko is 526th in the world for snowfall. Zermatt is 554th, Jackson Hole 924th, Aspen 1,201st. Measured identically across 3,069 ski areas, the names everyone books and the places it actually snows turn out to be two different lists.
Japan vs elsewhere · 28 Aug 2026
A Black Run in Colorado and a Black Run in Austria Are Not the Same Thing. The Maps Prove It.Japan vs elsewhere · 11 Aug 2026
Niseko vs Whistler