WINTERSPORTS -- Road crews expect to reopen Highway 206 to Mount  Spokane around 9:30 a.m. today, Dec. 25, after the road was  closed early Wednesday morning by falling trees and downed power lines.

Mt. Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park will be open today, according to its website.

State crews chartered helicopters on Wednesday to fly over the highway and use the force of their propellers to blow the heavy load of wet snow out of the trees along the road.  Then snowplows moved in to clear the debris.  The trees were so loaded with heavy snow, they were leaning and falling, making road travel unsafe, sources say.