Washington’s Crystal Mountain extends ski, snowboard season amid healthy snowpack
Outdoor-savvy Washingtonians are getting their reward for enduring a wet winter: more time to hit the slopes.
Bolstered by a healthy snowpack following winter storms in February and a strong La Niña, Crystal Mountain Ski Resort is extending their ski and snowboard season to help meet increased demand.
The resort announced Thursday that it will continue daily operations until April 18 and be open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays until May 9th. Residents can make reservations for the extended season starting on April 1.
“The winter of 20/21 has been a different kind of season for Crystal Mountain. On the one hand we’ve had early and consistent snowfall, already more than 365″ with over six weeks left still,” wrote Frank DeBerry, the resort’s president and COO, in a news release. “On the other, Crystal and its guests have had to adjust to safely manage our way through the pandemic. From making reservations and mobile food ordering to wearing masks and maintaining physical distancing.”
Hitting the slopes is obviously different during the COVID-19 pandemic as physical distancing is required along with masks and timed reservations to ensure reduced occupancy levels.
“If this past year has taught us anything, it has been to see things like flexibility and patience, slowing the pace down and keeping an open mind as virtues,” DeBerry said.
The extension comes amid a record-breaking winter for much of Washington, as the Seattle metro area experienced its 12th snowiest day in 125 years.
SNOTEL data from the Natural Resources Conservation Service reported that the snowpack in the central Cascades was at 145% of normal, and the eastern slopes were at 123% of normal.
The snowpack is not only vital to the ski industry, but also plays a large role in Washington’s natural resources: it irrigates both the Yakima and Columbia Basin and sustains surviving salmon runs in the Columbia River. It could also help mitigate dangerous wildfires in the summer.
The snowpack usually reaches its apex on about April 1.
