Ski resorts closing on high note
CHEWELAH – Fresh snow, sunshine and free spring break skiing are combining for a great last hurrah to winter at 49 Degrees North this week.
Families whose children are out of school for the week are flocking to the mountain to carve up snow that more resembles December than April.
“This is one of the best I can remember,” said Gary Deaver, the mountain’s operations director, who has been head of the 49 Degrees North ski patrol for 17 years. “The weather is phenomenal and the crowds are large and happy. Everyone is just happy.”
Regional ski resorts are happy, too, with near-record snowfalls. Even though there’s no shortage of powder, as is typical in early April, interest in snowboarding and skiing wanes as the days get longer and the temperatures warmer.
That means this weekend is the last of the season for area resorts, including 49 Degrees North.
Although Silver Mountain in Kellogg is celebrating its last weekend with spring carnival festivities, it will remain open the next three Saturdays, through April 26.
“There are a few diehards who send e-mails asking if we are sure we are going to close,” said Debbie Berger, marketing and communications coordinator.
Schweitzer Mountain Resort is also having a weekend closing festival, and Mt. Spokane decided to fire up its lifts for one more weekend.
For nearly a decade, Toyota has sponsored free spring break skiing at 49 Degrees North, allowing the resort to show off its variety of terrain on the mountain between Chewelah and Usk.
The sky was so blue and clear Wednesday that skiers and boarders unloading at the top of the peak could see Canada. And the sun helped warm several lunchtime barbecues that filled the muddy parking lot with the smell of grilling burgers.
Scott Robertson, of Spokane, and his 12-year-old daughter Cheyanne didn’t expect such a long wait in the rental line Wednesday morning.
But Robertson said one of the first sunny days of spring and free lift tickets were probably the right combination to rouse people for a few last runs.
They came for the same reasons, and for the fact that Cheyanne loves the mountain terrain off Chewelah Peak. “There’s lots of intermediate and beginner runs,” she said while unzipping her pink jacket. The weather was so warm by 10 a.m. that it felt hot just standing in line.
“I keep telling her she’s got too many clothes on,” Robertson said.
The free skiing makes it affordable for Lisa Wilson, of Colbert, and her three children, who attend Northwest Christian Academy. Wilson waited patiently outside the ticket office as her youngest son went through the rental line.
Ty Wilson, 13, stood anxiously with his mom, showing off a toothy grin and holding his ski boots. He was tired of waiting and wanted to rip.
Wilson brought her cross-country ski equipment in case she got the urge. If not, she had her own plan: “I may just sit in the sun.”
Deaver has his own break plans as well. After the resort closes, he will spend two days closing up the hill. Then he will get on his black Harley-Davidson and look for dry pavement.
“I’m going to try to wear her out,” he said.