Thread: More PacNW closures...End of the season near?

Wow, not as this comes as a surprise... but more of a general public service announcment to fellow WA maggots...pretty soon you'll have to head north to Whistler or South to Bachelor to find any snow in our corridor of the world.

Stevens has now pulled the plug for the weekdays. Yep- they got a little moisture, but it was rain this morning- go figure. Weekend operating plans are still in debate- with a 29" base, I'm guessing they are done for now. Talked to guest relations today- they said to keep checking the website for passholder discounts forthcoming for next year (no date set yet)

Rumors coming down the Alpental/Snoqualmie Pass pipeline indicate that the Summit is getting ready to call it quits for 2005. No word yet on pass discount/refunds-but sounds like they will have some sort of incentive unveiled in about 3 weeks.

Crystal is still quoting "significant snowfall required to run lifts"
*anyone know if they will honor the 5-pack ticket books for next year?

And then there's the one saving grace- Baker.
Baker is now operating on limited service- chairs 1,2,3 only from Heather Meadows. At least Coleman is still accessible.

And with the forecast calling for mid-60's and sunshine for the next 2 weeks, I'd say that just about puts the hammer down on the little season we had. Dry, brown mountains on the Olympic and Cascade Crests. River season is probably going tank as well. Rafting companies are already thinking about cancelling the season with only 10%-30% normal snow pack At least the Wenatchee & Sky will run for a little while.

With that said- Utah, Colorado, and Mammoth trips scheduled. It really looked sad today driving to work- feels like June. I hope Ullr is ready to pay us back in spades next season. Cause this was a big 'take one for the team' season. Hoping for a good mountain bike season (a no fire closures!)

Edit: Maybe when North Cascades opens up in the upcoming weeks we can get a crew together to schralp the remains before it all disappears?

The season ouroboros.


Worst in my 30 years here. Trips are being sketched in.

I still haven't bothered to pick up my pass for Skibowl. Maybe I ought to head up Hoodski for a run or climb and I can stop by and get it. Then I can wear it around town or something...

So.... Reschedule the 4th of July summit from Hood to Mt. Shasta?

The PNW has been screwed beyond all reasonable bounds. Will Hood even be open this summer?

Tahoe's getting fried too now

60 degree daytime temps and might touch 70's this week

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/...te&query=96160

And let's not forget that besides getting dicked over this winter, there seems to be some punishment being doled out to those of us who are trying to travel to those areas that have gotten a winter this year...in the form of injuries...I plan on leaving to Tahoe on Saturday and all that i want to say to my fellow PNW'ers is BE SAFE OUT THERE!!!!! Someone has a hit out on our lives right now!

The law of averages is a powerful thing. I have a feeling that it will be a moist spring and summer, so .... who knows.

Does Shasta have skiable lifts in the summer? Maybe consider Mammoth.

Originally Posted by Buster Highmen

The law of averages is a powerful thing. I have a feeling that it will be a moist spring and summer, so .... who knows.

Does Shasta have skiable lifts in the summer? Maybe consider Mammoth.

According to the weather service we are seeing a weakening of El Ninõ, which means an average summer.

What's an "average summer?"

Edit: I think we need to add Squirrel to Duder's intervention. Come on guys, give it up and move on.

If The Child is weakening, should we change his pants?

Originally Posted by Buster Highmen

Does Shasta have skiable lifts in the summer? Maybe consider Mammoth.

No. It's low ski area as I recall. But with an abundance of snow, they may stay open late.

Baker will stay open through Sunday when the Komo Kids season ends. I seriously doubt they will stay open past 3:30 on Sunday, with the FL predicted at or above 10,000 by the weekend.

Amy has said, however, they will hold the LBS on 4/2, even if they have to fly snow down from the peak. We'll see.

Anyone want to go sea kayaking?

Bachelor holding steady with claimed 60" base, that's probably a bit high

50 degrees on the hill and 70 in town...record temps...

I finally get the replacement rear caliper for my mtbike this week. I'd be ready to rock out on the pedals starting next week. I have a little something something to take care of in Silverton in the meanwhile.

Historically, each El Nino year is followed by the La Nina, bringing conditions that are the opposite of the previous year. The last time these two events bookended each we had the winters 97/98 and 98/99. I wasn't in the PNW for the winter of 97/98, however, I remember 98/99 and the abundant snow fall that occured then.

So, having absolutely no background in meteorology, climatology, or astrology, !VIVA!, nonetheless, predicts a normal or better winter of 05/06.

Edit- more from some weather site:

At higher latitudes, El Niño and La Niña are among a number of factors that influence climate. However, the impacts of El Niño and La Niña at these latitudes are most clearly seen in wintertime. In the continental US, during El Niño years, temperatures in the winter are warmer than normal in the North Central States, and cooler than normal in the Southeast and the Southwest. During a La Niña year, winter temperatures are warmer than normal in the Southeast and cooler than normal in the Northwest. See U.S. La Niña impacts from

Originally Posted by SquawMan

Tahoe's getting fried too now

60 degree daytime temps and might touch 70's this week

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/...te&query=96160

Yeah, but I don't think any of the Tahoe areas will be closing until at least mid to late April, no matter how warm it gets- seeing that we are talking here about places (WA) that didn't have a base to start with this year begin sprouting wildflowers this week.

!Viva! La Nina or I'll be shooting junk on Capitol Hill instead of skiing in '06.

Join the shopping basket drill team for manoevers in drinking Nyquil under cash machine kiosks.

Originally Posted by Buster Highmen

Does Shasta have skiable lifts in the summer?

No, but I'll set the skin track. Hell, maybe we should just meet up at Lassen. Shorter hike/ better car shuttle.

I can't wait until the awesome droughts and water-usage restrictions in store for the summer can you? Thank you Ullr.

What about the fire danger. Hope there's not an abundance of wild fires this summer in the PNW.

Originally Posted by KQ

Edit: I think we need to add Squirrel to Duder's intervention. Come on guys, give it up and move on.

Only if you're pouring drinks, Sweetheart


But I took a peak in the encyclopedia this afternoon.
Intervention=
Climb Hood, Baker or Rainer.
Drive to the Sierras or Wasatch Mountains. Fly to South American Andes.

hmnn, now who'd a thought that?

perhaps a luau this weekend at chez flow, chez squirrel. it'll probably completely jinx our summer then!

Originally Posted by KQ

Come on guys, give it up and move on.

Amen. I've moved on - it's called overtime. Getting paid doubletime has funded my Phat Luvs and will assist with any repairs on scoob's bike.

Come on down to the Mammoth mini - join Squirrel99's caravan

Mammoth's got tons of snow - with more expected in a week(ish).

Also - like Viva said, you guys will have a great season next year. I know it's barely a band-aid for this year, though.

I like this luau idea

How does Palmer look these days? Seems with such insanely low snowpack that the summer coverage besides the main snowfield will be quite a bummer. Hope there's a recovery next year