>>2848165I've heard about years like that but haven't experienced one yet, last winter/spring only had a single 2-week storm and a few other scattered days where ice and snow were an issue and this season has been really mild so far, the mountains already have a bunch of snow on them (pic from last week) but we've basically only had rain in town and the forecast seems like it's gonna stay that way for at least the next 10 days. (Though you're probably well aware of how unreliable forecasts are here.)
I think the general consensus here is that studs are only really necessary if you live in one of the higher mountain communities or go to Bachelor a ton, otherwise studless are fine and a lot of people just run all terrains (actual winter rated ones though) with 4WD. I did OK with 4WD and Wildpeak AT3Ws last year but I was able to sit the few bad days out, now I'm commuting to Redmond all week so I'll probably have to get something more serious.
That aside, the high elevation stuff is definitely snowed in for a long time, but the flipside is that you get to enjoy lots of winter sports and you can always head north or east out to the more deserty areas if you want hiking conditions early in the season.
