STEVENS PASS — The forecast was grim for this year’s ski season, but not because of the weather.
Economic concerns had Americans pinching pennies. Skiers and snowboarders were not expected to flock to the Cascades as they usually do.
Then, the snow came.
A series of storms since early December saved what could have been a downhill year for winter sports in the Cascades. Ski resorts, clinics and equipment shops are faring slightly better than they were at this time last year, local ski area officials and business owners said.
“It’s looking good now, I’m telling you,” said Chris Rudolph, marketing director at Stevens Pass ski area. “It’s beautiful.”
The Stevens Pass ski area — which didn’t have enough snow to open until the first week of December — boasted a base depth of 125 inches of snow on Thursday. The Summit at Snoqualmie Pass had a base total of 143 inches of snow.
More snow is forecast to fall in the mountains through the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.
Steve Alpers, 44, of Lynnwood always plans on skiing at least six weekends during the ski season. To save money, he hasn’t taken any extra trips this year, he said.
However, if the snow keeps falling as it has been, Alpers said he’ll probably tack on at least one more weekend of skiing.
“I’ve been making an effort to go up earlier than I usually do, just to get extra time in,” Alpers said.
Last week, too much snow on I-90 caused the state to shut down the mountain pass, blocking access to The Summit at Snoqualmie Pass, because of high avalanche danger.
Fueling the winter weather is this year’s La Nina weather pattern, said meteorologist Johnny Burg of the National Weather Service in Seattle.
The forecast through April calls for more precipitation than usual in the Puget Sound region, according to data from the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center. Temperatures were colder than normal for December and January, Burg said.
“That helps the snow stay around a lot longer,” he said.
The impact of the winter storms has been felt at skiing businesses in the lowlands.
At Bothell Ski &Bike, customers started snatching up ski and snowboard gear as soon as snow levels picked up in December, store owner Greg Pergament said.
“It doesn’t matter what the economy is doing, snow always helps the ski season,” Pergament said. “I wasn’t expecting as strong of a year as last season. Last season was a tremendous snow season, and how many times can you be so lucky?”
Francine Long, of Everett, is co-owner and director of Clancy’s Ski School, which gives lessons at Stevens Pass. Not expecting a great season, Long said she didn’t hire as many ski instructors as she normally would.
Now, Long and other staff members are working extra hours.
“We got snow in the mountains, and that means business is good,” Long said. “I don’t think we’ve had a down year.”
Ron Downing, co-owner of Mount Pilchuck Ski &Sport in Everett, said he expected a good snow season because of the La Nina weather pattern. Business has been great for his company, he said.
This ski season hasn’t been the best ever, but the snowfall since December has been outstanding, he said.
“The only thing that was a little disappointing was (the season) had a late start,” Downing said. “It was mid-December instead of late November. That would have helped even more, that would have made it a blockbuster.”
Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.
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