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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Snow is slow to show this ski season

Skiers and snowboarders dodge weeds and bare spots at Schweitzer Mountain Resort in December. (Kathy Plonka)

In the past five years, Schweitzer Mountain Resort in North Idaho has invested about $1 million in upgrading its elaborate system for making artificial snow.

This year, the investment is paying off big time.

Schweitzer has been able to stay open – although on limited runs – and fulfill expectations of resort guests.

“It’s worth its weight in gold,” said Sean Mirus, marketing director at the all-season resort near Sandpoint.

Across the Pacific Northwest, a series of mild storms and unusually warm temperatures has all but erased early season snowfall and left three Inland Northwest ski areas idle as the lucrative holiday season approaches.

The closed resorts are Mt. Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park, 49 Degrees North Mountain Resort and Silver Mountain Resort.

It’s the thinnest early season snowpack in more than six years, according to the National Weather Service.

Forecasters are calling for 2 to 4 inches of snow in the mountains through Friday and another 6 to 10 inches over the weekend. But another shot of mild air should turn the snow to rain in the mountains on Sunday, causing the new snow to compress and pack down.

There is a small chance of another storm over Christmas, and then drier conditions are anticipated after that, said Jon Fox, forecaster at the National Weather Service.

“It’s snowing today, so I am going to be positive,” said Alexis Hartmann, marketing director at 49 Degrees North near Chewelah, where a couple of inches of fresh powder fell.

Even so, resort opening remains on standby.

“We want to open as soon as possible,” Hartmann said.

The holiday period from Dec. 19 through Jan. 4 is bread-and-butter in alpine country. “That’s really when we expect the highest number of people here,” Hartmann said.

Across the Selkirk Mountains, the workers at Mount Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park posted a sign on their website: “Pray for Snow.”

The resort’s Facebook page shows a video of them doing their best snow dances and Frosty with a sign saying, “Will beg for snow.”

Elsewhere, Lookout Pass Ski Resort and Recreation Area said it will open again at 9 a.m. today with a snow depth of 8 inches at the lodge and 26 inches at the summit. On Wednesday, the resort reported 2 inches of new snow in the past 24 hours.

An automated snow measuring station at 4,700 feet on Quartz Peak near Mount Spokane showed that only 4 inches of snow covered the ground there on Wednesday.

That compares with the 11 inches on the ground for the same date in 2008, the most recent year with a thin early season snow pack.

Fox said the Inland Northwest has recorded near normal precipitation this autumn, but mild temperatures have brought periods of rain to melt away those accumulations.

Across the broader area of northeast Washington and North Idaho, the snowpack is about half of normal, and much of that is at higher elevations.

In the North Cascades, snowpack is 50 to 70 percent of normal, while the southern Cascades are at 15 to 25 percent of normal.

The region has seen a repeating pattern of a mild southerly flow of weather systems and wet “atmospheric rivers” over the West Coast. Storms from this pattern have drenched drought-troubled California, causing flooding and slides.

The cold weather that froze the Inland Northwest last month came from dry arctic fronts.

Otherwise, Fox said, “temperatures have been too warm to support snow.”

That makes the managers at Schweitzer the smart cookies.

They purchased more snow guns, upgraded water lines and equipped their upslope reservoir to take advantage of various seasonal water supplies.

“This is the first year in the past 10 years we’ve had to depend on it,” Mirus said of the snowmaking system.

As a result, the resort can operate two of its main runs served by three different lifts.

For vacationing families, Schweitzer is putting on alternate activities such as zip-line rides, snowshoe hikes, yoga classes, skiing with Santa and indoor fun, Mirus said.

Skiers also can take advantage of free night skiing on Saturday starting at 3 p.m.

On Mount Spokane Park Drive, the owners of Bear Creek Lodge invested $40,000 in snowmaking equipment because they anticipated a mild early season like this one.

They operate an 800-foot inner tube run with a 90-foot vertical drop, which has become popular with organized groups. It is running successfully so far this season, even at an elevation that is much lower than downhill ski areas, said Sam Deal, owner and manager of the family run business.

The weather service has posted an El Nino watch, and said this week there is a 65 percent chance of a full-blown El Nino this winter. El Nino is known for milder winters in the Inland Northwest.

Ski areaAt summit
Schweitzer Mountain 22 inches
Silver Mountain26 inches
Mt. Spokane4 inches
49 Degrees North10 inches
Lookout Pass26 inches