About

Colorado Snow Intel is a free newsletter and website published by NC Media LLC. Twice a week in ski season, on Mondays and Thursdays, it publishes the Colorado snow scoreboard: all 34 ski areas in the state, in one table, in plain language.

Thursday is the weekend outlook: expected snowfall for every hill, so you can pick your day and your direction before the weekend. Monday is the verdict: what actually fell, how it skied, and where every hill now stands on base and season totals.

It is built for the little guy. The destination resorts get the apps, the marketing, and the magazine covers. The independent hills and the town hills get this: the same size row in the table, the same fresh eyes on their weather, and their names in the headline when they catch the storm of the week.

The smallest hills are the point

Most snow coverage stops at the famous names. Colorado has 34 ski areas, and six of them are tiny community hills: Chapman Hill in Durango, Cranor Hill in Gunnison, Cuchara Mountain Park, Hoedown Hill in Windsor, Lake City Ski Hill, and Lee's Ski Hill in Ouray. Add Ski Cooper, Howelsen Hill, Kendall Mountain, and Sunlight, and you have the soul of skiing in this state: affordable, local, and loved. They are covered here first class, every storm, all season.

Where the numbers come from

• New snow, base, and season totals come from each area's own snow report and are labeled resort reported. When a hill does not publish a number, the table says so instead of guessing.
• Snow quality is checked against public SNOTEL stations near each hill. Snow water equivalent and temperature tell you whether new snow fell light and dry or heavy and wet.
• Expected snowfall comes from National Weather Service forecast data for each hill's location.
• Tiny hills report differently. Some town hills post storm totals on a sign, a social feed, or not at all. We publish what they publish, say where it came from, and never invent a number.

How each edition works

• Thursday outlook: expected snowfall by hill for Friday through Sunday, the storm's timing, and the quality read.
• Monday verdict: reported new snow against what was forecast, updated base and season totals, and the quality call on how it actually skied.
• The scoreboard, always: one table, all 34 hills, in every edition and on the homepage during ski season.

Colorado Snow Intel is independent. It is not affiliated with any ski resort, pass product, or tourism board, and no resort can pay for a better row. It is a sibling publication of Front Range Ride Intel, the NC Media newsletter for Front Range mountain biking.

Published by NC Media LLC. Contact: [email protected]. Sponsorship inquiries welcome at the same address.