Chase Snow Like the Pros: PowderChaser Steve

One of the best storm forecasters in the West and one of Joel Gratz from Open Snow’s most trusted resources is not a trained meteorologist—he’s the most passionate powder skier you’ll ever meet.

Over a lifetime chasing the stuff, he has honed his weather skills to a science. Meet PowderChaser Steve.

Over the last 35 years or so, he’s been developing a sizable following, first through a simple email list, then through his website PowderChasers, and now through Open Snow. Throughout it all, he has remained anonymous, never revealing his last name so his day-job bosses wouldn’t find out he’s been taking meetings on the chairlift his whole career. (Steve, our lips are sealed.) 

Powder Chaser Steve in full stealth mode.

For those looking for some tips and tricks from the powder-chasing pro, he has a few up his sleeve. “My best advice is to arrive ahead of the storm or stage in the middle somewhere so you have flexibility,” he said. “Once you’re stuck in a resort town, you’re committed to that resort.” 

He typically stages on the west side of Eisenhower Tunnel in Grand Junction, within driving distance and from Telluride, Vail, Aspen, and Salt Lake; or in Idaho Falls, Idaho, within driving distance from Grand Targhee, Jackson Hole, or most Utah resorts. He gets up at 4 a.m., checks the snow telemetry sites, weather stations, snow cams, radar, temperatures, and wind, and then makes the call on who’s getting the goods.

Pow Chaser Steve's two staging areas for western snow.

He also likes to go where the people aren’t, which means smaller, independent resorts that are off the radar. “The Northwest is great for skiing, because here aren’t a lot of vacation people there,” he added. “I keep a car there fully loaded with my ski gear and fly in at the last minute. I can be on the slopes two hours later.”

As for his best excuse for skipping work to go skiing? “In the old days, I used to leave a coat on the chair and the light on,” he said. “But I’ve found it’s best to be honest. Tell your boss that powder makes you happy, and a happy person is a better employee. There’s no doubt that doing what you like will help you in your job. That’s totally the truth.”

We caught up with Steve recently to ask him more about chasing powder, and here’s what else he had to say.

Wagner: How did your powder-chasing obsession begin?
Steve: When I was a kid growing up in New York state, I used to jump out of bed in the middle of the night to watch the snowplow go down the road. I was obsessed with the snow going through the blade. I was definitely born with the snow gene. 

Wagner: Where did you grow up skiing?
Steve: I started at age 3 or 4 at Bromley in Vermont, then went to school in New Hampshire and skied at a teeny resort called Whaleback Mountain. In the old days, they had night skiing. Then I worked as a ski patroller at Sunday River for a long time. 

Wagner: When did you start your website, PowderChasers?
Steve: At least 35 years ago. I used to have a private blog of 35 emails that I used to send predictions to. Back in those days, there was very little data. The Internet didn’t have weather models on it, so I would base my predictions on how much snow places got further west and make a determination of how much snow would fall east of there. 

Wagner: How did you even find out who got what in terms of snowfall?
Steve: There were no web cams. I had this black book of all these phone numbers of every gas station, every bakery, and most of the plow truck phone numbers in it. I had all these secret numbers, including the Eisenhower Tunnel. Then I could call at 4 a.m. and find out what was going on. One of my favorite numbers was Baked in Telluride, because they’d get there at 5 a.m. But mostly they spoke Spanish, so you’d have to speak really slowly. 

It was way better than it was today, because no one would be on the highway and no one would know until the snow report. People could call Colorado Ski Country’s hotline—825-SNOW, I still know the number—but I’d already be on the road at 6. 

Wagner: When you are predicting who’s going to get the most snow—or the best snow—what’s the most important data you are you looking at? 
Steve: The three things I lean on most are amount of precipitation, wind direction, wind speed, and temperature. Those are all the major factors that go into chasing pow.

The Jackson Hole tram seems to run in all conditions.

Wagner: What are the optimal weather conditions you’re looking for? 
Steve: It really depends on how starved you are for powder. On a lean year, I don’t care. If its a big season, I don’t want wet snow. For best quality, you don’t want wind speeds gusting in the 50s and 60s because many resorts could have the upper mountain closed. The only exception is the Jackson Hole Tram, which seems to run in almost anything. Snow quality is also greatly impacted by wind in exposed places. If it’s blowing after a storm, it could fill things back in, and then you have a sneak-up powder day. I also like a Mount Baker reverse pow day, when there are zero inches on the snow report and 15 inches at 4 p.m. Telluride is mainly influenced by storms that are northern; they don’t do as well as Wolf Creek with southern storms. I prefer northwest wind direction, which are good for Vail and Steamboat. Wolf Creek, Purgatory, and Silverton do best with southwest winds.

Wagner: Do you and Joel Gratz, who founded Open Snow, ever disagree?
Steve: Four eyes is better than two eyes on any forecast, but Joel and I do sometimes disagree. I think that he has done an amazing job—he’s a phenomenal forecaster for Colorado. I enjoy looking at his forecasts. Sometimes I win and sometimes I lose. I'm pretty accurate most of the time, though. There’s no way to 100% forecast. There will always be a storm that you miss or one that over- or underperforms. It’s not a perfect science.

Wagner: What are your favorite storms to chase? 
Steve: The best storms are those that start at 5 a.m. Then you have a low snow report. That’s the only way you’ll get a quiet powder day. 

Follow Steve on Open Snow or on his website, PowderChasers.