Friday, January 5, 2001

By GREG JOHNSTON
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
 
 

Ski-area operators in the Cascade Mountains are beginning to worry about a potential slide in business because of an unusually light snowpack.

 Their customers, spoiled by two winters of deep snow, are not happy either.

 Most ski areas yesterday were reporting light rain and snow depths of a little more than half the totals of last year at this time, and many skiers and boarders were noting exposed rocks, gravel and trees on the slopes.
 

Lift operator Tony Gillerstrom of Issaquah clears ice yesterday from the loading ramp of a ski lift at The Summit at Snoqualmie. Dan DeLong/P-I

"The snow hasn't been real good," said Chester Marler, an operations official at Stevens Pass Ski Area. "We're grooming it and moving it around and patching it as best we can. We feel fairly lucky considering the amount of snow (most areas) have."

 Yesterday, Stevens was reporting a base area snow depth of 46 inches, compared with 87 inches on this date last year.

 "We do have thin areas marked off where there is gravel that people need to avoid," Marler said. "People right now are confined to the groomed runs and they're looking forward to skiing more of the terrain here."

 Up on Snoqualmie Pass, operators of The Summit ski areas were sweating out a weekend forecast that called for mixed rain and snow -- particularly because many of its ski schools begin tomorrow.

 "I'm not feeling horrible yet, but obviously we'd like to see a whole lot more snow," said Guy Lawrence, Summit marketing director. "We're on a normal operating schedule, although with some marginal points. I think we're going to be OK."

 Skimpy snow is not unusual at The Summit, which is the state's lowest major ski area (Alpental and summits West, Central and East) with base elevations of about 3,000 feet. Last year in early January, for example, those areas were reporting a base depth of 40 inches; yesterday it was 34 inches.

 Even Mount Baker Ski Area, which two winters ago set a world record for seasonal snowfall at 1,140 inches, is experiencing a light season. Yesterday, Baker reported a base of 51 inches, compared with 111 last year in early January.

 "It's scary," said Amy Howat, marketing assistant at Baker. "Saturday and Sunday I was up on the hill, and it was actually like spring."

 Although it's too early to tell whether the light snowpack will cause any appreciable dip overall in numbers at the Washington ski areas -- deep snow can fall quickly in the mountains here any time fall through spring -- it has boosted repair business at some ski and snowboard shops.

 "From the beginning of the season, we've seen boards come back with tremendous damage," said John Logic, owner of the Snowboard Connection in downtown Seattle.

 Rich Carlton, a member of the shop's repair crew, said snowboards are coming in with bashed-in edges, cracked edges or deep scratches in their bases.

 "We've had repairs upward of 100 bucks this year," he said. "I've seen huge gouges up through the base into the wood (core)."

 Most ski areas in Washington are not seeing a huge drop-off in the number of skiers yet.

 Marler said Stevens Pass business over the holidays was at about 85 percent of last year's level, when the snow was excellent. Part of that could also be the result of an increase in the adult all-day lift rate, from $38 to $41.

 At Mission Ridge, marketing director Charlie Naismith said skier and snowboarder numbers are on pace with last year. Lawrence said The Summit's business during the holiday was up slightly over last year.

 The light snowfall appears largely confined to the Northwest, said Rob Linde, marketing director of the National Ski Areas Association.

 "The Pacific Northwest and Lake Tahoe regions do have a little less snow than the rest of the country right now," he said. "The Rockies are back to more of a normal season, the Midwest is seeing a lot of snow and New England and the East are doing fine."