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.
| Date | Weather | Snow (cm) | Low / high (°C) | Wind (km/h) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 9 Nov | Fog | 0 | 0 to 3 | 32 |
| Tue 10 Nov | Snow | 0 | −2 to 3 | 29 |
| Wed 11 Nov | Drizzle | 0 | −2 to 1 | 34 |
| Thu 12 Nov | Snow | 1 | −3 to 3 | 8 |
| Fri 13 Nov | Snow | 2 | −3 to 0 | 8 |
| Sat 14 Nov | Snow | 2 | −3 to 0 | 17 |
| Sun 15 Nov | Snow | 2 | −3 to 0 | 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
Saddleback Mountain, in United States, runs from 655 m at the base to 1,218 m at the top. Its mapped area is about 4.3 km across, with 72 marked runs and 5 lifts (about 36 km of piste in all).
Over the last twelve winters the ERA5 weather model gives it 175 cm of snowfall a season, 1,368th (tied) of 3,069 worldwide and 121st in the United States. Its winters are fairly steady; even the leanest, 2015/16 (124 cm), reached 71% of the average. March still brings 43 cm on average, close to January, its snowiest month.
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.
65% of the vertical on the runs descends to the north or east; plenty of the terrain faces the sun as well, so the lean is modest.
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rangeley Lakes Trails Center | 2.9 km | 169 cm | 1427 |
| Sugarloaf | 20.0 km | 182 cm | 1298 |
| Sugarloaf Outdoor Center | 23.0 km | 178 cm | 1335 |
| Black Mountain of Maine | 41.0 km | 147 cm | 1699 |
| Maine Huts and Trails | 42.0 km | 155 cm | 1601 |
The most snow falls in January. 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 43 cm, more than the median of 30 cm.
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 175 cm, and 7 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2015/16 with 124 cm; the biggest was 2016/17 with 224 cm (1.8 times as much).
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.
Other booking sites: Booking.com ↗ · Agoda ↗
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