Harvesting Nature’s Bounty Area Resorts Consider Extending Ski Season

Skiers at 49 Degrees North in Chewelah have a favorite bell hanging from a slopeside tree that they can usually reach out and toll with a ski pole.

These days, even little tots have to stoop low to ring it, said Claudia Yamamoto, marketing director for 49 Degrees North. It’s a reflection of the enormous amount of snow stacked up on Inland Northwest mountains.

“It’s awesome,” Yamamoto said. “The snow’s never been better.”

Trouble is, the skiing business has. Despite record snowfall and decent weather to keep the snow fluffy and soft, skiers haven’t flocked to resorts to capitalize on what might be once-in-a-decade snow conditions.

The 15 feet on top of Chewelah Peak will be skiable likely through April, but the resort will stop the chairlifts on April 6, even if another few feet pile up.

The reason is pure economics. While plenty of people would like to put on skis to take advantage of an extended season at 49 Degrees North, nearly all would be season pass holders.

Without a number of condominiums or a hotel to house skiers, the resort depends solely on lift ticket income. The mountain wouldn’t cover its costs by extending its season, Yamamoto said. (In fact, owner John Eminger has asked the Washington Legislature for a decade-long sales tax exemption on lift tickets for state ski resorts.)

Still, other ski resorts are considering extending their ski seasons beyond the traditional first week of April.

Silver Mountain and Schweitzer Mountain resorts were to make decisions late this week about adding an extra weekend.

For Silver Mountain, the extra snow has been a pleasant surprise for the new owners, Eagle Crest Partners of Redmond, Ore. It could also be an opportunity to recoup some of the income lost during the holiday weekends.

In a case of meteorological irony, too much snow fell in the region during those two weeks surrounding Christmas and New Years. Skiers couldn’t get to Silver Mountain, said Terry Turnbow, general manager, or any regional hill for that matter.

For Schweitzer, adding another weekend could be tied to school scheduling, said Bob Hamilton, marketing director in Sandpoint. Schools in Bonner County and Spokane will take their spring break a week after Schweitzer had planned to close, April 6. “The kids need something to do,” he said.

The drawbacks are many. Student lift tickets are discounted from adult rates. The cost of running a fullservice ski resort like Schweitzer, which employs hundreds even in the slowest times, may not make sense, even if the mountain gets a huge turnout.

“We may have 200 people on the mountain, and 180 of them are season pass holders,” he said. “It’s not going to pay to be open for long.”

Lookout Pass Ski Area near Mullan has already added more weekdays to its March schedule and will likely tack on a weekend or two in April, said Dean Cooper, spokesman for the small but snow-rich ski hill.

Most ski areas use a variety of promotions to keep people coming back to the hill. Lookout hopes its Easter promotion the weekend of Mar. 29-30 - where kids hunt for eggs and adults fling snowballs at a guy in a bunny suit - will be a draw, Cooper said.

At troubled Mount Spokane Ski Area, owner Gregg Sowder says he will keep the mountain open “as long as people keep coming. It’s solely dependent on whether people support it or not.”

Sowder has been under fire from those who use the low-cost, easy-access hill. Meanwhile, his Washington State Parks & Recreation Commission landlords are trying to get him bought out and off the mountain for next season.

“We’ll see if people decide to do yardwork,” Sowder said. “We haven’t had this much snow at this time of year for many years.”

The minds of Inland Northwest residents, even those who live to ski, change as spring arrives, Schweitzer’s Hamilton said. Without snow on the ground in town, skis return to the attic, even though spring skiing can be the most enjoyable time of the year. It’s warmer, sunnier, and the snow often remains soft all day.

Even Colorado and Utah resorts that remain open deep into May do so only as a sort of “public relations buy,” Hamilton said. “They aren’t making any money doing it.”

A late-season marketing push may stimulate skiers, but simply adds to the risk the mountain would take in trying to recoup the costs of staying open longer, he said. Schweitzer, with its owners in financial receivership, is not about to double down with its money.

No ski resort here can afford such a ploy. The season’s financial performance hasn’t mirrored Mother Nature’s: the number of skier visits appears to be up just slightly from last year, which featured crummy snow.

The region’s ski resorts have weathered serious financial strains, with ownership changes or challenges affecting all but Lookout Pass Ski Area.

The psychology of this much snow may pay dividends down the road, some snow watchers believe. Skiers may hear about the Inland Northwest’s bounty of snow this year and make plans to book travel here next season.

Of course, there’s no guarantee that a similar snowpack will return next year. The business boils down to snow farming, as Hamilton likes to say. This year’s bumper crop can melt into next year’s drought.

Even if local mountains decide to run an extra weekend or two, skiing will be done by mid-April. That won’t stop some die-hard skiers, Hamilton said.

“Just like in the beginning of the season, we’ll have people who hike up the mountain when we’re not open and ski down it,” he said. “That’s not going to stop.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo Graphic: Snow bounty