OK, skiers: Get ready, get set, SNOW!

As I sit here in my office and write this, my friends, who don’t have the responsibility of writing a ski column, are actually out skiing. Painful, but true. And as I sit here gazing longingly out the window at the air filled with large fluffy snowfall, I realize that not only am I not skiing, but I am also not writing.

OK, concentrate.

This week’s snowstorms are, as always, welcome news and will be enough to open the remaining Inland Northwest ski areas. Schweitzer, Silver and Mt. Spokane open today.

While the alpine skiing environment is heating up (so to speak), the regional cross country skiing is better now than it ever was last year. May I just reiterate how fortunate we are to have so many reasons to love winter? I’m slowly discovering that the area is just teeming with options for classic cross country skiing and skate skiing.

I’ve been spending my time out on the Schweitzer cross country trails. They haven’t been grooming but will start as the resort opens today. The conditions are excellent and there has been a well-established skiers’ track. Now that the trails will be groomed for both classic and skate, you can count on conditions improving further. One-and-a-half and 2-hour loops take you away from the resort and into the forest with beautiful views of the lake and valley below. Trail passes and rentals are available at the resort as well as a nice warm meal or beverage after the outing.

Priest Lake trails and Fourth of July Pass outside of Coeur d’Alene are other great destinations in Idaho. (Fourth of July trails are scheduled to be groomed for the first time this weekend.)

Mike Aho, Outdoor Recreation Coordinator for the Spokane Parks and Recreation Department, told me that conditions on the trails at Mount Spokane are excellent. They have 30 kilometers of trails, which are groomed for classic and skate. Call the Snow Line at (509) 238-4025 for daily updated trail reports. You’ll need a Washington Sno-Park pass to park at the lot. Day passes ($9) and season passes ($42) are available for purchase at Fitness Fanatics, Mountain Gear, REI or you can purchase a day Sno-Park permit and print it out online at www.parks.wa.gov/winter

If there is enough snowfall, Aho hopes to groom trails in Spokane at both Downriver Golf Course and Riverside State Park. Call the Parks and Recreation Department for the status at those sites at (509) 625-6246.

You can get more informed on the cross country ski scene by visiting Fitness Fanatics, your local ski shop or call Spokane Parks and Recreation at the number listed above.

Speaking of which, Spokane Parks and Recreation Department offers lessons at all levels for classic and skate skiing. They also lead one-day ski trips to any of the locations I mentioned above on Sundays, beginning this Sunday. Moonlight Cross Country Ski and Dinner trips are not to be missed. Dec. 17 and Jan. 14, full-moon trips leave from Selkirk Lodge at Mt Spokane.

Phew, I wrote it. Now can I go out and play?