Ski-Area Operators Primed For Snow -- Mt. Baker Builds New Chairlift

While most Washington ski areas have put major improvement plans on hold, Mount Baker has plunged into expansion.

The ski area east of Bellingham has built a new beginner chairlift, a 600-car parking lot and a Ski Patrol-ticket sales-restroom building, the first phase of Mount Baker's White Salmon Addition.

The new White Salmon chairlift, 2,500 feet long with a 600-foot vertical rise, is Mount Baker's seventh - and its first quadruple-chair lift.

The White Salmon day lodge is scheduled for construction next summer in the White Salmon Addition, which is three winding highway miles closer to Bellingham than the old lodge. Another new chairlift is planned for 1992-93.

The White Salmon lift will provide access to Chairlifts 4 and 5, linking the White Salmon Addition with the rest of the ski area.

But Duncan Howat, ski-area manager, said the lift will be more than a feeder.

``Once we get the new lodge built, it's going to be the best beginner lift on the mountain,'' Howat said. ``It'll have some nice wide runs, perfect for the beginner-low intermediate skier.'' He described the lift as ``protected, not in the wind,'' with ``user friendly'' loading and unloading areas, ``a very friendly family chairlift.''

Because of the economic pinch from last winter's late-snow season, most of the state's alpine ski areas limited offseason projects to grooming and routine maintenance.

But Mount Baker decided to push ahead with the White Salmon Addition almost immediately after receiving Forest Service approval in late August.

There was not enough time to build the new day lodge for this season. So the Mount Baker Recreation Co. opted for a beginner chairlift and a maintenance building large enough to house Ski Patrol and ticket-sales facilities and temporary restrooms. A snack bar is available nearby at the base area of Chairlifts 4 and 5.

Installation of the White Salmon chairlift expands Mount Baker's skiable terrain by about 50 acres. The new lift and parking lot are expected to spread the skiing crowd, helping to alleviate congestion during busy weekend and holiday periods.

Two new snow-grooming machines will help keep Mount Baker's slopes in skiing condition.

Mount Baker again plans to operate seven days a week (except Dec. 24-25) through Jan. 7. Five-day-a-week (Thursday through Sunday) operation is scheduled in January and February, dropping to Friday-Saturday-Sunday in April and weekends in early May.

Stevens Pass has increased night-skiing capacity by 24 percent by lighting the Hogsback chairlift. Extensive summer grooming will make upper Housewives run skiable earlier in the season. Stevens also has purchased a new snow-grooming machine.

Crystal Mountain plans to operate Chairlift 6 (High Campbell) seven days a week this season, providing daily access to 7,002-foot Silver Queen, the resort's highest point.

Slide Inn food-service facilities at Snoqualmie Summit have been modernized and the lower trail system at the Ski Acres Cross Country Center has been expanded.

Mission Ridge has taken over operation of its rental shop, formerly a concession operation, and stocked it with all new equipment.

After three seasons of Wednesday-Sunday operation, Mission will return to a daily schedule this season. The Wenatchee-area resort also will make it easier for Seattle skiers to visit. For eight Thursdays, beginning Jan. 17, there will be round-trip bus runs between Northgate and Mission Ridge. The $45 fee includes transportation, lift ticket, a continental breakfast on the eastward trip and snacks on the return trip. Olympic Sports stores will handle signups.

Mount Spokane has smoothed the Skookum run, the easiest trail off Chairlift 2. Ski Bluewood, in the state's southeast corner, has rebuilt its snowboard halfpipe and designated a snowboard run.

Pacific West is expected to operate under new ownership, to be decided after a hearing today in federal bankruptcy court.

An all-day weekend-holiday lift ticket generally will cost about $2 more this season, ranging from $15 at Mount Spokane to $28 at Crystal Mountain. But weekday skiers will find some bargain rates.

Monday-Tuesday lift tickets cost $10 at Stevens Pass, Alpental-Ski Acres-Snoqualmie and 49 Degrees North. Other weekday bargains: $14 - Wednesday-Friday at Alpental-Ski Acres-Snoqualmie or any weekday (except holidays or school vacation periods) at Mount Baker. $15 - Monday through Thursday at Crystal Mountain, Wednesday-Friday at Stevens Pass, any nonholiday weekday at Mission Ridge and White Pass.

None of these, however, can match Mount Spokane, where an all-day ticket costs $5 on Wednesday and Thursday and $10 on Friday and an unlimited-use season pass sells for $99. A season pass is only $69 for college students and $49 for high-school skiers.

The Best Western Snoqualmie Summit Inn, in conjunction with Alpental-Ski Acres-Snoqualmie, offers a $69 midweek skiing package, good Sunday through Thursday, that includes a night's lodging and a day's lift tickets for two. Ski Bluewood has a package combining bed-breakfast accommodations and a day's lift ticket for $30 a person.

Skier visits to Washington alpine areas dropped 26 percent last year, primarily because of the late season - some areas didn't open until January - and extremely heavy January snowfall which caused many highway closures.

But Northwest weather patterns appear to be more normal this fall. Operators are primed, ready to open as soon as sufficient snow piles up, and looking for a good year.

``We've had four bad seasons in the last 30 years. But historically we've never had two bad years back to back,'' said Mel Borgersen, president of the Pacific Northwest Ski Areas Association.

Let it snow.