Spokane-area powder hounds rejoice this weekend, if forecast delivers on promise of snow
Skiers, snowboarders and powder hounds may finally get what they have been asking for: more snow.
The National Weather Service is not forecasting a blizzard in Spokane’s future, but a snowfall might be enough to satisfy swooners of the slopes.
Antoinette Serrato, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said to expect a couple snow bands to move through the region, but that most of it will be concentrated in North Idaho.
“We could see up to 4 inches along really short distances,” Serrato said. “And so we’re expecting another one of those bands to kind of come through the Spokane area, maybe (Friday) night.”
She expects most of the precipitation to move through the region by Saturday morning and that the weekend will be relatively dry.
Temperatures should hover in the 35- to 37-degree Fahrenheit range Saturday afternoon, but dip down into the high 20s as the day progresses, she said. Temperatures, she added, should remain in the high 20s, but have potential to drop to the teens Saturday night and into Sunday morning.
“So it’ll be a cold, but dry weekend,” Serrato said.
She described a snow band as a high accumulation of snow within a few-mile focus. Once the band moves out, she said only a relatively small stretch of land is covered in snow. Fortunately for ski resorts in higher altitudes, the cold weather and chance of snow, even if minimal, brings an opportunity to open slopes up to the public.
“Right now, we’re just asking people to check road conditions before heading out,” Serrato said. “Just because with snow in not widespread areas, it could come on unexpectedly if you’re driving.”
Lookout Pass
Matt Sawyer, director of marketing at Lookout Pass, said the Idaho ski area has two lifts and 22 of their 59 slopes are open to the public.
If conditions allow, Sawyer said other slopes may open over the weekend. He said the Mullan, Idaho, mountain pass is expecting a good, heavy, packable snowfall, somewhere between 11 and 19 inches into Saturday. Lookout should know at the start of the weekend whether it will open additional lifts. If the snow falls, like expected, Sawyer said 900 of its 1,023 total acres could be open to the public. As of Friday afternoon, only 300 acres were open.
Sawyer said while the start to the ski season was a bit rough, he wants to remind folks there are still 114 days left. He expects Lookout Pass Ski and Recreation Area to stay open until the third or fourth weekend in April.
Silver Mountain Resort
Because 6 to 7 inches of snow fell Friday morning and even more is expected Friday night, Jeff Colburn, the general manager of Silver Mountain Resort, said the Kellogg, Idaho, mountain is planning to reopen skiing on Saturday.
While Silver has had tubing open the past week, Saturday will mark the fourth time this season that mountain-goers have had access to ski down the mountain. Colburn expects about one-third of the mountain to be open Saturday morning. He said the resort will be manning a full operation, including conducting ski lessons, despite the somewhat limiting conditions.
Schweitzer
High in the Selkirk Mountains of North Idaho, Schweitzer Ski Resort had only nine open trails out of their 92 total as of 4 p.m. Friday. This accounts for just 250 of their 2,900 acres of open terrain. Low temperatures and a chance for snow makes it entirely possible for more lifts to open up this weekend. On Friday morning, the Schweitzer website reported that 3 inches of snow fell, but that they hope it’s just the beginning.
“The snow this year has been as shy as the Abominable Snowman,” their website reads. “But that bubble is about to pop!”
Red Mountain
Perched in the Kootenay Rockies in British Columbia, Canada, a nice “little top-up of snow” made the upper slopes the best place to ride on Friday, according to their website. The same could be said for Saturday.
Out of the 111 runs, their website said about 15% of them are open, as of 4 p.m. Friday. A couple more lifts opened over the course of Friday afternoon, and it’s entirely possible this trend continues into the weekend.
Mount Spokane
Mount Spokane plans to open for skiing season Saturday morning, but with limited terrain. Lindsey Bangsberg, the digital media manager for Mt. Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park, said they know for certain that they are going to open Chair 5 Beginners Luck on Saturday.
Depending on the snowfall Friday night, the resort may open Chair 3 Parkway Express as well. From now until Monday, Bangsberg said the park is going to stick to this plan and take things day by day. But rest assured, she said , the snow will come.
In the near term, Bangsberg said they are planning a 10 a.m. delayed opening Saturday, pending continued snowfall.
49 Degrees
Just like many of the ski resorts previously mentioned, 49 Degrees North Ski and Snowboard Resort is hopeful the forecast will deliver. Rick Brown, the director of skier and rider services, said the resort is planning on opening skiing up officially on Sunday.
His most conservative estimate is that two chairs, the Northern Spirit Express and Gold Fever, along with three runs, will be operational on Sunday. The Chewelah, Washington, operation hopes to continue opening chairs and runs as the weather permits.
Brown, like every single spokesperson for all the ski resorts interviewed, reiterated the fact that while the start of the season may have not been the most ideal, there are still months remaining.
“We want to keep reminding people that why this may be a later start than normal for this region,” Brown said. “There is a lot of winter left.”