Mt. Spokane makes upgrades

Every summer the non-profit organization running Mt. Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park plows more than $1 million back into the ski area. This season the impact reaches from the slopes all the way to your cell phone.

Winding your way up the hill, you will notice more major improvements to the road. About 1,000 feet that washed out last spring have been repaired. Plus, a $1.6 million Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission contract has enabled the last mile of road to the ski area to be widened, realigned and repaved.

About $280,000 went into lift maintenance, including moving communication lines underground on chair one.

“Most of the improvements we made on the mountain you won’t see,” said Brad McQuarrie, Mt. Spokane’s general manager. “We’ve made a concerted effort over the last five years to upgrade the lifts. Many people have told me our downtime is less than most places. That’s one plus for having older lifts. They’re very simple and relatively easy to maintain.”

Night skiing will be bigger and brighter. McQuarrie spent $60,000 to install 14 light poles along Allison’s Way (a new run last season, between Two Face and Northwest Passage) that will illuminate 28 acres of additional terrain, including the trees in Gates Park.

“That was no-man’s-land for a lot of folks,” McQuarrie said. “Now there’s a sense of arrival that will invite people to ski it a lot more. It’s a lot easier to find your way down in there now, even during the day.”

A brand new $260,000 line groomer has been added to Mt. Spokane’s fleet. Anchor towers installed on the steeps of Two Face and Hourglass will allow a $400,000 winch cat added last season to be fully utilized.

“We used to anchor the winch cat with another cat at the top to groom those runs,” McQuarrie said. “Now we can groom more consistently with higher quality corduroy and use a lot less fuel.”

McQuarrie plans on grooming the right side of Two Face every Friday. The classic bump run on the left side – one of the best in the northwest – will continue to evolve naturally.

A $28,000 remodel of Lodge 2’s kitchen and concessions area streamlines the dining experience. Now you can order and pay at the same counter, find a table and wait for your number to be called when food is ready.

A $7,000 remodel makes the rental shop more efficient. About $40,000 has been invested in new gear, including a demo fleet of Atomic skis and snowboards.

“We’ve got new men’s and women’s gear for powder, freestyle and carving,” McQuarrie said. “It will all be for sale in February. If people try it and like it they can put their name in the hat to buy it.”

When the snow finally flies, you can get a text alert with the daily report. Powder hounds can opt for an alert that fires when the overnight harvest is six inches or more.

“The message comes at seven in the morning,” said Kristin Whitaker, Mt. Spokane’s marketing manager. “It’s not too early to wake up and it gives you plenty of time to get up here. Users will also be sent event updates, contests, and coupons. A message may come in saying ‘redeem this before two o’clock and get a free burger.’ ”

To sign up, dial 20123, type mtspokanesnow for the daily report, or mtspokanepow for the powder alert.

Then pray for snow.