Crazy

Snow piling up in near-record amounts

'SUMMIT COUNTY - If the daily buzz from snow removal trucks, or the tall piles of snow one can find all around Copper Mountain don't seem to demonstrate how much snow has fallen this year around the resort, then Copper Mountains Public Relations Director Lauren Pelletreau's number crunching shows it all in black and white.

"It's always fun to crunch it when it ends up on that side," said Pelletreau.

So far this year, more than 200 inches of snow has come down at Copper Mountain, making this one of the best snow years in the ski area's 35-year history.

"At the end of February we were at 240 inches of snowfall and that was our fifth best season to date," said Pelletreau.

A few miles away in the town of Breckenridge, weather watcher Rick Bly, is also recording big snow totals this year.

"Right now we're at about 140 inches," said Bly.

He says in the 130 years of National Weather Service records, this year ranks in the top 10 thanks to steady snowfall and cool temperatures.

"As of February 1, this is the eight snowiest winter we have had here in Breckenridge," said Bly.

The biggest winter of snow was the winter of 1888-1889, when more than 20 feet of the white stuff fell, forcing Breckenridge residents to dig tunnels around town just to get around.

"The big winter of 1888-1889 we got 257 inches by March 1," said Bly.

Big snow years can also be found in recent years. Bly's records show the third snowiest winter was in 1996 when 222 inches fell by March 1. Turns out, that happens to be Copper Mountain's snowiest year in its three-decade history.

"We got 391 inches for the season snowfall total," said Pelletreau.

It's not likely that this year will surpass that 1995-1996 snow season. Copper Mountain would have to still receive more that 10 feet of snow in the next month to do that.

However, after the snow year Colorado has seen, skiers will tell you anything can happen.

"Especially with the snow we have gotten this year, folks are excited about skiing," said Pelletreau.'