A snowstorm of epic proportions hammered Marmot Basin over the weekend, dropping 54 centimetre of snow over the course of 24 hours.
It was the largest single snowfall so far this year and led to bumper-to-bumper traffic along the highway as thousands of skiers and snowboarders rushed to the mountain to try and get first tracks. In fact, at one point the combination of traffic and poor driving conditions led to a line up cars stretching from Marmot Basin to Becker鈥檚 Chalets, about 15 km from the hill.
According to Brian Rode, vice president of marketing and sales, the snow started falling on the morning of March 3 and didn鈥檛 stop until 9 a.m. on March 4. By Saturday morning 54 cm of dry Rocky Mountain powder had fallen, including 36 cm overnight.
鈥淪nowfalls of this magnitude have an interesting effect on avid skiers and snowboarders who, for the most part, are typically mature, polite adults; they turn into frenetic 鈥榚veryone for himself powder-crazed looneys,鈥欌�� Rode wrote in a press release.
Todd Noble, a local resident and passionate skier of 30 years, described the amount of snow as 鈥渙ut of this world.鈥�
鈥淚 had to look twice when I saw the Marmot snow report this morning.鈥�
鈥淔ifteen or 20 centimetres is enough for any skier or boarder to drop everything and head up to Marmot, but 54 centimetres is out of this world.鈥�
As of press time, a total of 305 cm of snow has fallen at Marmot Basin this year. Currently the mountain has a 135-cm base.
鈥淭his snowfall has set us up perfectly for the rest of the season. Snow conditions are remarkable to say the least and are as good as they get anywhere, anytime, anyplace,鈥� wrote Rode.
Marmot Basin will remain open until April 30.
Paul Clarke
[email protected]
