Everett, Wash. Published: Saturday, December 1, 2007
Flake by flake, state's ski areas are getting snow needed to open
How much snow does it take to open Mount Baker to skiers and snowboarders?
On Thursday, a 35-inch snow base at Heather Meadows (yes, that's powder and packed powder, not Cascade cement) was enough to open the gates for normal midweek operation (9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) out of White Salmon Lodge. Chairs three through eight were operating Thursday, and all lifts and the base area should be open today.
Baker became the state's first major ski area to open fully, thanks in part to 17 inches of snow that fell earlier in the week. Baker benefits from more snow (average 647 inches per year) than most U.S. ski areas.
Of course, snow riders already have been enjoying Whistler and Blackcomb mountains in British Columbia.
Stevens Pass and White Pass ski areas do not have projected opening dates but Mission Ridge opened this weekend (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.), thanks mostly to snow-making equipment. Chair 1 and the beginning-area rope tow started Friday. Mission Ridge will be open daily Dec. 13 to Jan. 7.
Some other state ski areas have projections for their opening dates: the state's largest ski area, Crystal Mountain, opens this weekend only and will run the Chinook Express, Discovery and Forest Queen lifts from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The upper mountain remains closed.
The Summit at Snoqualmie projects a Dec. 8 opening; Alpental, Dec. 15.
What is SNOTEL? No, it's not a new cell tower. The acronym stands for a remote snow telemetry station that will be installed late summer 2008 in Olympic National Park, high in the upper Elwha to provide the first real data on weather patterns in the interior Olympics.
Snowmobile fight: Don't like the noise and pollution created by 250 snowmobiles a day in Yellowstone National Park? Too bad.
A Nov. 20 ruling has even the National Park Service retirees group up in arms. After 10 years and $10 million in studies, the park service has decided to allow up to 540 snowmobiles a day in Yellowstone, despite scientific reports urging fewer snowmobiles, not more.
As the 620-member Coalition of National Park Service Retirees point out, that would increase the pollution, noise and traffic-related disturbances of wildlife, nearly tripling the current acreage where visitors would hear snowmobiles to 63 square miles, and reject the advice of wildlife scientists by placing winter-stressed animals at greater risks.
The changes would start with the 2008-09 season, and while it implements many elements of the final environmental impact statement, the access numbers veered away from protecting the sounds of silence.
Although a press release says the "decision will allow fewer snowmobiles in the future," the park service doesn't follow up on what that might mean.
For now, apparently 540 best-available technology snowmobiles and 83 snow coaches can enter the park, and all will be guided.
Pin-up parks: Washington State Parks' 2008 calendars, featuring color landscape photographs, are now available.
The calendar sells for $12.95. Proceeds go toward the maintenance of state parks. To buy a calendar, go to www.parks.wa.gov/specialoffers.
On the bookshelf: Exploration can be below-freezing cold, above 100 degrees hot, wet, miserable for many more reasons -- and exhausting. That's before you add poisonous animals, whiteouts, thieves, whale attacks and life-endangering equipment failure.
Explorations also make for great anecdotes. In "They Lived to Tell the Tale" ($28, Globe Pequot), 40 stories are told by members of the Explorers Club. They'll take you into space, deep into the ocean, high on mountain peaks and through humid jungles.
