The snow was deeper Sunday in Jackson Hole Mountain Resort’s Rendezvous Bowl than it has been on any Feb. 23 in the last 17 years, measurements show.

Readings from gauges monitored by the Bridger-Teton National Forest Avalanche Center showed a snowpack 121 inches deep at the Rendezvous Bowl study plot.

The last year the snow was that deep on Feb. 23 there was 1997, when instruments recorded 139 inches at the plot.

Snow rangers began keeping records at the location in 1975. Since that year, the Feb. 23 reading hit 120 inches or deeper five times, including in 1978, 1996 and this winter.

The readings in 1997 and 1986 were the two deepest at 139 inches. The measurement records settled snow depth.

Total snowfall is a different metric made by adding daily 24-hour accumulations. As of Monday, the Rendezvous Bowl study plot had recorded 336 inches this winter, the avalanche center reported.

Twenty inches fell over the weekend, making for excellent skiing but also long lift lines at the resort.

“It was just hectic,” resort spokeswoman Anna Cole said.

Leading into the winter, Ski Magazine named Jackson Hole the No. 1 resort in North America. The mountain’s new status on top of a so-far great snow year has led to high skier numbers all winter.

New Year’s Day set a record for skier and ’boarder numbers, and the winter of 2013-14 is trending toward an all-time record season, Cole said.

“We’re seeing steady increases in daily skier-day numbers over last year,” she said.

The snowpack can shrink as easily as it can grow. By Monday, there was a retreat from Sunday’s high reading with total snow depth at Rendezvous down to 117 inches.

This article appeared in the Jackson Hole News & Guide on February 25, 2014.