Due to a number of meteorological and geographical advantages, Irwin has a well-earned reputation as one of Colorado’s most consistent winter destinations, often receiving up to 3x as much snow as the town below. The quality of the snow—light, dry, and fluffy—is also aided by Irwin’s location, giving visitors some of the best turns found anywhere.
What makes a place like Irwin such a hotspot for cold, dry snow? To be able to rely on consistent snowfall a region has to have three things:
1. A Consistent Source of Water Vapor
This can be a nearby body of water, like an ocean or a large lake, or a reliable weather pattern bringing moist air into the region.
2. A Lifting Mechanism
In order to make snow, moisture needs to be cooled down and condensed. In the mountains, this is accomplished through a process known as orographic lift, where air is rapidly forced upwards and cooled by high peaks.
3. Freezing Temperatures
Colder temperatures can be more reliably found at higher altitudes, helping moist air cool to the necessary freezing point of 32°F (0° C).
Irwin doesn’t get its moisture from nearby water sources but rather from Pacific storms moving into the region. Since the Rockies are a long way from the coast, the warmer ocean air has had considerable time to cool by the time it reaches Irwin. Additionally, storms that move across the desert plateaus of Utah and Colorado won’t hit much high-altitude terrain until they reach the region. Sitting on the western edge of the West Elk Mountains, Irwin is one of the first places to experience this orographic lift, causing storms to dump nearly all of their moisture here before they even reach the town.
Storms of this kind provide some of the best powder skiing you’re likely to find anywhere. That’s because this cold, dry snow is light and fluffy, giving you the experience of floating on the snow rather than fighting against it, like you would with the moisture-laden snow found closer to the coast. Coastal snow has a lower Snow-to-Liquid Ratio, often closer to 10:1 (10 inches of snow for 1 inch of water), which leads to more “cement-like” snow that requires more work for the skier. In Irwin, ratios are known to reach 25:1 or even 30:1, resulting in “blower” or “cold smoke” powder that’s incredibly light and easy to ski, exploding in front of you with every turn.
Another meteorological anomaly in Irwin’s favor is the fact that it benefits from both El Niño and La Niña weather patterns. El Niño and La Niña patterns are the result of surface temperature anomalies in the equatorial Pacific, which affect the location and intensity of the winter jet stream. El Niño years typically favor southern states, while La Niña years tend to favor the northern states and Canada. Both patterns can cause meteorological events known as atmospheric rivers (long, narrow atmospheric regions that transport large amounts of moisture) and because of its location, Irwin is known to receive atmospheric river snow during both El Niño and La Niña years.
The local topography around Irwin is also working in its favor. Scarp Ridge and the nearby Anthracite Range act like a giant catcher’s mitt for storms, trapping air masses and forcing intense, localized cooling and snowfall. Due to the altitude of Irwin’s cat-skiing terrain—mostly between 10,000 and 12,200 feet—moisture almost always falls as snow, even in warmer spring months. The Irwin Basin is also a natural “cold pool,” trapping cold air within and ensuring that snow won’t warm up and degrade in quality throughout the day. For this reason, you can still find light powder snow even days after a storm. And because of the size and stability of its snowpack, Irwin’s terrain is less prone to avalanches, unlocking more terrain and delivering some of the best cat-skiing in the lower 48.
Experience the highs of a Rocky Mountain winter with huge snow totals, blower pow, and some of the best cat-skiing terrain in Colorado.
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