Thursday’s snow lifted the moods of Inland Northwest ski operators. It meant they might have customers this weekend.
Four of the five resorts in eastern Washington and north Idaho had opened for at least a few days of skiing before this week's rain forced them to reassess their situations.
On Wednesday, the resorts’ webcams showed empty slopes and chair lifts and runs flecked with patches of brown or even big bare spots.
Schweitzer’s homepage had a prominent message: "Lifts closed through Wednesday." Lookout Pass’s homepage advised that the resort hoped to open Thursday or Friday. Mt. Spokane messaged earlier this week that it still hopes to open for the season on Saturday, but that they had to first navigate “some concerning warm weather.”
Thursday morning came and the snow began falling again, which was a step in the right direction, but by then, Lookout Pass had made the decision to wait until Saturday to welcome skiers back. Schweitzer remained closed Thursday, but announced that it would reopen Saturday. Mt. Spokane on Thursday announced it intends to open on December 13.
Gus Colburn from Silver Mountain says his resort lost some snow to rain, but a little preventive work minimized that.
“Last weekend [Dec. 1-3] we picked up 10 inches of fresh snow and then, after everyone had their fun on it, skied on it, we closed for the day on Sunday. We took the groomers out and packed it down in anticipation of the warm weather we were seeing in the forecast, packed it down so it was preserved, so the warm weather didn’t affect us too much," he said.
At 49 Degrees North, General Manager Eric Bakken says an investment in technology will minimize the resort’s down time.
“We lost all of our natural snowpack below about 5,000 feet," he said. "We got about five inches of rain, but we do have a snowmaking system that we’ve been building over the last three or four years and we made probably 20 acre feet of snow in some real critical areas this fall and that snowpack held up amazingly well.”
Bakken says it will allow 49 Degrees North to offer skiing this weekend.
At Lookout Pass, Matt Sawyer says he had some mild concern during the worst of the rain and balmy temperatures, but believes conditions will improve and skiers will enjoy a good season.
"The early birds? Yeah, they’ve been chomping at the bit for a couple of weeks," he said. “There’s a lot of time. Most skiers do not start skiing until the Christmas holiday."
