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 →
Snow 24h
0 cm
Next 24h
0 cm
Temperature
1°C
Max wind
15 km/h
Elevation
2,850–3,603 m
Across
4.5 km
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.
7-day outlook
Date
Weather
Snow (cm)
Low / high (°C)
Wind (km/h)
Mon 9 Nov
Clear
0
−2 to 7
18
Tue 10 Nov
Cloudy
0
−2 to 5
18
Wed 11 Nov
Cloudy
0
−4 to 5
26
Thu 12 Nov
Clear
0
−4 to 8
8
Fri 13 Nov
Cloudy
0
−4 to 6
12
Sat 14 Nov
Snow showers
5
−5 to 3
13
Sun 15 Nov
Snow showers
3
−10 to −3
18
Score breakdown
Fresh (48h)0/40
Forecast (24h)0/25
Snow quality0/20
Wind8/10
Base2/5
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
Taos Ski Valley, in United States, runs from 2,850 m at the base to 3,603 m at the top. Its mapped area is about 4.5 km across, with 103 marked runs and 14 lifts (about 43 km of piste in all).
Over the last twelve winters the ERA5 weather model gives it 134 cm of snowfall a season, 1,892nd (tied) of 3,069 worldwide and 262nd in the United States. It swings a lot from year to year: the biggest winter, 2016/17 (226 cm), brought more than 3 times as much as the leanest, 2015/16 (66 cm). March is usually the snowiest month, with about 38 cm.
Runs and lifts
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.
Marked runs
103
Run length
43km
Lifts
14
Vertical
752m
Top 3,603 m · base 2,850 m
Run map
NoviceEasyIntermediateAdvancedExpertOtherLift
North is up. Runs are coloured by difficulty; black lines are lifts.Lifts that run far beyond the ski area are cut at the edge of the map.Slope shape, difficulty and lift types
The shape of the mountain
Longest run on the map2.5 km
Steepest pitch37°measured over at least 30 m
Average gradient of the runs13.9°
Which way the slopes face
North61%
East28%
South3%
West8%
89% of the vertical on the runs descends to the north or east. Those slopes get the least sun, so the snow lasts longer.
The most snow falls in March. March brings as much as January, or more. In amount, March brings 38 cm, more than the median of 30 cm.
26cmDec
34cmJan
37cmFeb
38cmMar
Average snowfall by month, last 12 winters
Winter by winter
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 134 cm, and 5 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2015/16 with 66 cm; the biggest was 2016/17 with 226 cm (3.4 times as much).
Niseko 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.