RSSHopes run high at White Pass for early opening
Yakima Herald Republic
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WHITE PASS, Wash. — For the folks in the White Pass ski area community, both the recreationists schussing down the slopes and the businesses seasonally dependent on those skiers and snowboarders, any season opener prior to Thanksgiving is considered a very good year.
By that standard, this winter could be sensational. Because White Pass may open as early as Friday.
That was the tentative plan as of Monday afternoon, when the base area already had 24 inches of snow with forecasts calling for as much as another 10 to 12 inches by tonight.
A Friday opening would rank as one of the ski area’s five earliest season openers. The earliest on record was Nov. 4 in 1994.
“The snow started last week, just little by little, and it’s just been remarkably consistent,” White Pass marketing director Kathleen Goyette said.
Typically, the decision-makers at White Pass look for a solid 20 to 24 inches in the base area before opening, and Goyette said she expected some settling of the base that could drop it below that figure if today’s expected snowfall does not materialize.
“We know the base is going to consolidate,” she said. “We ran last year with as little as 17 inches in the base area, and that’s why we think we’re fairly safe in planning for or at least looking at the possibility of a Friday opening.
“If we get another foot on top of this, we’re going to be very secure in saying we’re going to operate on Friday. With that extra 10 to 12 inches on top, we’ll have very good conditions.”
The higher portions of the ski area don’t have much more snow than the base, though — just 27 inches. That will almost certainly mean the steepest runs (Execution, Mach 5, perhaps Roller Coaster Cliff) won’t be open this weekend.
But the mountain should be, and that figures to be a boon to the businesses along the Highway 12 corridor that depend on a big ski season.
“It’s good for the economy,” Goyette said. “We employ so many people who are just waiting now for the snow, and to know we can get those people back to work earlier is just great for everybody.”
Snow, baby, snow--in White Pass! Sounds like a lot of fun! And lucrative for White Pass businesses!
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