Premature reports

Rumors that Buttermilk will be closing a week early are entirely unfounded, according to the office of Mountain Manager Hans Hohl. The scheduled closing of April 4 still stands.

Another small slide was reported near that top of Highland Bowl yesterday.

Tuesday’s rainstorm washed away much of the remaining snow on the valley floor. A little further upslope, however, the rain turned to heavy snow that added up to 4 inches of fresh slush to the base.

An On the Hill correspondent reported that people were “bombing” down the groomers, mostly to pick up the speed needed to keep moving.

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center reported lightning was showing up on its radar in the middle of the day yesterday. “Several areas from Snowmass and Sunlight ski areas eastward toward Fremont Pass are reporting it visually as well,” read an e-mail from CAIC.

CAIC is predicting that the weather will get worse before it gets better. A weak jet stream was supposed to come in yesterday afternoon, bringing with it winds and chances of “thunder snow.”

Today is likely to be a lot like yesterday: warm, gray, kind of damp. Tomorrow could be just as tepid. But that’s no reason to lose hope.

Weather modeling programs indicate a storm moving our way over the weekend, although the track of the storm varies by a thousand miles or so depending on the model, so it’s a bit early to get too excited.

If you’re desperate for something to get excited about, get excited about this: Tuesday’s rain/snowstorm dumped 4 inches atop both Ajax and Snowmass, 3 inches on Highlands and 2 inches on Buttermilk.

The storm upped the base totals as follows: Snowmass has 70 inches on top, 50 midmountain; Aspen Highlands has 70 inches on top and 53 midmountain; Aspen Mountain has 53 inches on top and 47 midmountain; and Buttermilk has 42 on top and 37 midmountain.