A long way to go for a little snow
SEATTLE – Skiers and snowboarders bummed about the warm, rainy winter in the Pacific Northwest didn’t find much encouragement on Crystal Mountain’s Web site Tuesday.
Try driving to Utah, it suggested.
“Go to Brighton, our sister mountain in Utah,” the Web site said.
“All season passes, midweek and unlimited, will be honored at Brighton for skiing and snowboarding while we are closed. Brighton has already received 376 inches of snowfall and has a base of 118 inches. So, what are you waiting for … pack the car and hit the road for some of the best conditions around.”
Crystal wasn’t alone in suggesting travel.
Two Lake Tahoe-area resorts in California are honoring season passes from the Summit at Snoqualmie for the rest of the season. And 49 Degrees North in Chewelah – the only Washington resort running normal operations – was trying to draw out-of-luck season-ticket holders from other resorts by giving them 50 percent discounts.
After a late start to the season, many of the resorts in the Cascade Mountains had three weeks of good snowfall before a weather pattern known as the “Pineapple Express” brought warm winds and rain from Hawaii.
In the mountains, the snow base melted. In the valleys, basements flooded.
Stevens Pass, Mount Baker and Snoqualmie all remained closed Tuesday but urged skiers and boarders not to give up on the season.
“We have never seen a ‘winter’ quite like this one,” Stevens Pass General Manager John Gifford said in an open letter to season-ticket holders.
“But we are not giving up and neither should you. We anticipate reopening this year and are determined to provide an excellent snowboarding and skiing experience when the time comes. … Long-range weather forecasts show indications of a change in February in the Northwest weather pattern to one more favorable for mountain snowfall.”
He also noted that an extremely bleak season in 1980-81 turned out well after 150 inches of snow fell in March. But if things don’t pan out this time, the resort will consider how to compensate season-ticket holders.
Baker said it was waiting on another foot of snow to reopen.
“So far this season, we have operated 56 days and from this coming weekend forward, we still potentially have 74 days of operation remaining,” Mount Baker said on its Web site.
“In an average winter, we typically operate 135 days total, so this means we still have the majority of the season to go. Stay tuned.”
Scientists warned that January’s snowpack was the lowest in 28 years and could also mean water shortages this summer.
The Yakima Valley’s snowpack is just 25 percent of normal, according to one estimate, and chances for a turnaround look grim.
The National Weather Service is predicting below-average precipitation for most of Washington for the rest of the winter.
“By now we should have had over half our total snowpack, so catching up is going to be pretty tough,” said Scott Pattee, a Mount Vernon-based water resources specialist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.