Opening dates for Spokane-area ski hills delayed

Chairlifts around the Inland Northwest will remain stationary this week as the region continues to stay light on snow.

Managers at the five ski resorts within two hours of Spokane had all hoped they’d be ready to open or close to it by now. Instead, they find themselves delaying planned opening dates and continuing to watch the weather.

Silver Mountain in Kellogg and Schweitzer in Sandpoint had hoped to open this past Friday. The snow didn’t show up, however, forcing both resorts to scuttle those plans, though Silver did open to tubers.

Neither has set a new opening date.

Dates are also unclear for Lookout Pass Ski and Recreation area on the Montana-Idaho border and 49 Degrees North near Chewelah. Both were reporting a few inches of snow at the base on Friday.

Mt. Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park had targeted an opening date of Dec. 6. As of Wednesday, the mountain’s website said there’s no chance there will be enough snow by then and that the best they can hope for is a Dec. 13 opening.

The trend is holding across the state. Mission Ridge, in Wenatchee, announced Wednesday that it wouldn’t be opening on Thanksgiving weekend and instead hoped to open on Dec. 5.

Crystal Mountain near Enumclaw called off its Black Friday opening, too, and hasn’t set a new opening date.