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SALT LAKE CITY — Nathan Rafferty couldn't help but smile as he reflected on all the records Utah broke last year.
Some of the state's resorts collected over 900 inches of snowfall throughout the season for the first time ever, and all the snow resulted in a record 30-inch statewide snowpack. It also resulted in 7.1 million skier visits across the state's 15 resorts, a 22% increase from the previous record, as people raced up into the mountains to recreate in them.
It was, as he points it, a "once-in-a-generation ski season." The 2022-2023 ski season also ramped up expectations for the upcoming season, which officially began Friday when Solitude Mountain Resort opened a portion of its slopes to its pass holders over the weekend.
Yet Solitude's ability to open other lifts and runs depends on the weather, which is also why many resorts are either delaying opening days, waiting to announce opening days or putting up notices that opening days are subject to weather conditions. Utah's mild October, which has lingered into the first half of November, has made it difficult to collect snow or even manufacture it.
As of Tuesday, only three other resorts had plans to open by the end of this week. However, Rafferty, president and CEO of Ski Utah, and officials at Utah's resorts are optimistic that the season will begin in earnest soon as moisture returns to Utah's forecast.
"I kind of feel like Mother Nature was so good to us last year that maybe she's teasing us a bit," he joked as he spoke at the organization's annual season-opening gathering Tuesday.
High expectations for this season
Solitude Mountain Resort's opening weekend is rather symbolic of the anticipation of the 2023-2024 season after everything that happened last year. While the resort only offered limited access, hundreds of people turned out to take advantage of the opportunity.
Other ski resorts say that the desire to ski and snowboard remains high after all the snow last year.
"(There's) just excitement building right now. We're building a lot of stoke," said Kayla McFarland, spokeswoman for Snowbasin Resort in Weber County.
Snowbasin was tentatively slated to open on Nov. 24, but its opening date is now up in the air. But it and nearby Powder Mountain Resort are among the resorts using the delay to complete new infrastructure projects in time for the upcoming season, which is one upside to the wait.
Snow returns to Utah's forecast
It's unclear how long some resorts will have to wait to open, but storms are back in Utah's seven-day outlook.
Hayden Mahan, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said a "weak" storm is forecast to arrive in Utah from the southwest Thursday. It's projected to bring a few inches of snow to areas that are at least 8,000 feet in elevation in northern Utah and 9,000 feet in southern Utah.
A larger storm, this one from the Pacific Northwest, is waiting in the wings and could arrive by the end of the weekend. Mahan explains that initial weather models indicated that it would land east of the state, but newer models now suggest that it could hit Utah instead.
"We want to be cautious to see if that trend continues. If it continues to go further and further west, then maybe it clips us to the west and we don't see as much," he said. "But if it continues on the track it is now, we could be in for a pretty good storm. ... If we can't get much out of this weekend's storm, then the resorts might be reeling a little bit and looking for some snow."
One National Weather Service model indicates that up to 1 foot of snow or more is possible at some resorts between Wednesday night and Monday morning, while most resorts could receive more than 6 inches from the latter storm.
Even if it's not a major snow producer, McFarland says colder temperatures included in the forecast are "massively important" toward snow-making operations. Resorts need cooler air for snowmaking machines to work.
"We just need a little bit colder temperatures in order to keep it going," she said. "That helps give us a solid base that Mother Nature can build upon."
Full seven-day forecasts for areas across Utah can be found online at the KSL Weather Center.
While another high-pressure ridge is forecast to arrive after the second storm, Mahan said it may be short-lived as winter approaches. The weather center's Climate Prediction Center long-range forecasts over the next few weeks tend to favor colder and wetter conditions if any signal at all.
That's potentially good news for those looking for snow in Utah's mountains.
"You'd prefer to see a signal for a more stormy pattern, but it's better than seeing a signal for more (high-pressure) ridging and drying," he said.
Utah's resorts have their fingers crossed for the best in the meantime, so this season can really begin and build on last year's successes.
"I don't think I've been more excited for a ski season than this one," Rafferty said. "The best has yet to come for our industry."
