Where to Ski for the Best Snow This Winter 2026
If you booked a ski-trip to Colorado last year expecting a winter wonderland and knee deep powder you were severely disappointed. Many vacationers arrived only to find a couple of trails open and hardly any natural snow on the ground. In fact, Colorado's snowpack hit its lowest level since statewide recording began in 1987, and snowfall across the western US ran 50% below the 30-year average. The reason was a weak La Niña, which typically sends the best snow to the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies.
This winter the pattern has flipped. NOAA officially declared an El Niño Advisory in June 2026 and as of July gives it an 81% chance of reaching "very strong" intensity by October through December, with a 97% chance it runs through early spring 2027. Powderchasers is already calling this "one of the louder El Niño setups ski country has seen in years."
That means, instead of the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies collecting most of the season's precipitation, storms will track toward California, the Southwest, and the southern Rockies.Plan accordingly.
California
Southern Colorado and New Mexico
Utah
The Resorts to Approach Carefully
The Sierra Nevada gets the most straightforward boost in this pattern. When El Niño runs strong, the storm track aims directly at this range, and the snow can pile up fast. Mammoth Mountain is the easiest call on the list. It sits in the heart of the Sierra and has one of the most consistent El Niño track records of any resort in North America.
At Lake Tahoe, Palisades Tahoe has north-facing terrain above 8,000 feet that holds snow well during active Pacific cycles. Kirkwood sits at a 7,800-foot base in the Tahoe basin and tends to stack totals faster than its lower-elevation neighbors. Heavenly rounds out the Tahoe options at comparable elevation.
The southern storm track runs through the Four Corners and into the San Juan Mountains, which puts a cluster of high-elevation resorts in a good position.
Telluride sits at 8,725 feet base elevation in southwest Colorado, which means most of what falls on that mountain falls as snow. Wolf Creek in the San Juans is one of Colorado's highest resorts and tends to get buried when Four Corners moisture is active. It's not the most convenient destination, but it's on the right side of this forecast. Taos Ski Valley in northern New Mexico picks up both Pacific systems and Gulf moisture when the subtropical jet is running, and its base elevation is high enough that rain isn't really a factor. It's one of the most compelling options on the list for a winter shaped like this one.
Silverton Mountain is in the same San Juan zone and deserves a mention for expert skiers. It's the highest ski area in North America running on a single chairlift, with a 10,400-foot base and a summit at 12,300 feet, and it averages over 400 inches of snow a year. There are no groomed runs, no cut trails, and every inch of lift-served terrain is double black. Most of the season runs guide-only, with groups of around eight people getting 3-6 runs through untracked chutes and bowls. It is not a conventional resort experience, but in a strong San Juan winter it can be exceptional. Powderchasers flagged Wolf Creek, Telluride, and Silverton as specific watch-list resorts for this season.
Utah is more variable than the resorts above, but not a bad bet. Snowbird and Alta sit high enough in the Wasatch that they tend to produce good snow even in winters that don't fully cooperate. Southern Utah has cleaner El Niño upside than the northern Wasatch. Book with reasonable expectations and watch conditions as the season opens.
The Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies are on the wrong side of this pattern. El Niño winters in Washington and Oregon run warmer and drier, with rain showing up at elevations where you'd rather have powder. Mt. Bachelor and Crystal Mountain both sit in the zone NOAA's historical composites associate with below-average seasonal precipitation.
The Northern Rockies are in a similar spot. Big Sky and Jackson Hole sit in a zone where storms historically divert south in strong El Niño years. Freeskier was blunt about it: the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies should expect minimal powder days compared to the last two winters.
These are excellent mountains. They can still have great weeks when the right storm sets up. But the 2025-26 La Niña that loaded them with snow isn't coming back, and this year the pattern leans against them.
If you're already booked for the Northwest or Northern Rockies, keep your dates flexible and aim for the highest terrain both regions offer. Individual storms don't follow seasonal composites. But book accordingly.
January and February are the strongest windows in an El Niño winter. If Mammoth, Telluride, or Taos are on the list, now is the time.