Early snow hits ski hills; swaps set for later this month in Spokane, Colville
Snow fell in the mountains around the Inland Northwest this week, which surely has skiers and snowboarders daydreaming about the powder days to come.
Some see no reason to wait.
Jim van Loeben Sels, the general manager of Mt. Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park, ran into a skier on the mountain Monday who had hiked to the top and skied down, making the most of the four or five inches covering the mountain. Thanks to summertime brush cutting, there was not much vegetation poking through the snow.
“He said he had some incredible turns coming down the mountain,” van Loeben Sels said.
All of the ski hills in the region got at least some snow over the weekend. The Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center wrote a brief avalanche forecast for the storm system that came through over the weekend, noting that people might find a foot of snow or more above about 5,500 feet. That also came with a simple warning that will hold for the rest of the season: “if there’s enough snow to ride, there’s enough snow to slide.”
It is still the pre-season for most skiers, though, and nobody knows what will become of this weekend’s snow. It could become the base layer for this winter’s snowpack or get eviscerated by rain or shine.
Either way, a winter storm ought to be enough to get people excited about the ski world’s most important preseason happenings: Ski swaps.
Mt. Spokane Ski Patrol runs the biggest swap in the region, and it is set for Oct. 25 and 26 at the Spokane Fair and Expo Center.
Swap organizers expect to have more than 24,000 items available this year, including skis, boards, boots, clothes and more. Downhill and Nordic gear will be up for grabs.
Admission is $5, and the swap will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the 25th and 9 a.m. to noon on the 26th. Sellers can bring their items to the Fair and Expo Center on Oct. 24 from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. to register it.
Money raised from admission fees and a commission on items sold goes back to Mt. Spokane Ski Patrol, an all-volunteer organization that patrols the mountain through the winter. It is the group’s one big fundraiser for the year.
A separate swap is happening this coming weekend in Colville. The 49 Degrees North Ski Patrol Ski Swap is on Friday and Saturday at the Colville Fairgrounds.
Gear drop off will take place Friday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., and shoppers can pay $20 to get “first tracks” access on Friday night.
Otherwise, the swap will be open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday with a $5 admission fee. It’s also a chance for those who bought season passes to 49 Degrees North to pick them up.
In North Idaho, Schweitzer has a ski swap planned for Nov. 8 at the Bonner County Fairgrounds from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The swap raises money for the Schweitzer Alpine Racing School.