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January 18-19, 2018 MT, ID, Mission Ridge
19 Jan 2018 20:14 #230831
by Zap
January 18-19, 2018 MT, ID, Mission Ridge was created by Zap
This is a story of how we tried to ski in MT and ID and went to Mission Ridge. When a winter storm is coming I spend hours on the web planning where we will ski tomorrow. For Jill that is a simple question, but for me it is a plan subject to change many times. I think it is a "guy thing".
The plan is to ski Schweitzer on Thursday. After skiing Fernie on Wednesday I double checked the forecast for the storm's arrival at Schweitzer. Rain on Wednesday day and night and then continued rain most of Thursday. OK, plan "B" - drive to Whitefish, MT for Thursday. We went to sleep in the Whitefish area, woke up at 6am, and found that it had rained all night and there is a freezing rain problem at the base. Freezing rain is when your vehicle's windows and mirrors are frozen and you put on your heater to defrost the windows. The 6:15am ski report says rain at the base, BUT it is snowing on the upper part of the mountain with a bonus of high wind at the summit. Being in our 70s (73 and 71) we do not ski in the rain even though we do have GoreTex, and even though you can get free tickets if you are 70 plus. Last year the same thing happened here with rain. Bad karma!
Plan "C" is to drive to Schweitzer for Friday. We drive on highway 2 and arrive at Sandpoint, ID at noon - 4 hours later. The updated weather report is for rain at the base and snow on the summit. The backside of the area is closed because of rain. They said they have their "fingers crossed" for snow tonight. Hmmm, we had a similar event 2 years ago. No more "finger crossing" for us. Darn, I'm spending more time on the web then skiing.
Plan "D" is to drive to Mission Ridge for Friday. On the drive from Spoken to Mission we had clear skies driving west. The update is for light snow and below freezing temps. OK. Four hours later we park the van in Wenatchee. It's been a long day with an 8 hour drive altogether from MT to get here, and we sure hope the weather is good in the morning. At 6:15am I get the weather/snow report from their marketing person, Kai. We have a grandson named Kai in New Hampshire and he is a good guy, so I believe in this Kai. We arrive at Mission Ridge, park at the front edge of the lot, and walk 40 feet to get our free tickets because of our Summit season passes. We are 14th and 15th for the lift loading with a bunch of retired locals. The conditions are great with 2" of new and packed powder on a groomed base. Sunny at the base and a slight cloud cover at the very top. It was cold with wind at the top. Everyone is skiing the groomers and there are signs saying not to ski off piste. The chair 4 lift is not operating and the terrain looked a bit "skimpy". It was a fun sunny day on the groomers, and we finished by skiing right to the van. We're now heading home to be ready for the next powder storm to hit the Cascades.
The plan is to ski Schweitzer on Thursday. After skiing Fernie on Wednesday I double checked the forecast for the storm's arrival at Schweitzer. Rain on Wednesday day and night and then continued rain most of Thursday. OK, plan "B" - drive to Whitefish, MT for Thursday. We went to sleep in the Whitefish area, woke up at 6am, and found that it had rained all night and there is a freezing rain problem at the base. Freezing rain is when your vehicle's windows and mirrors are frozen and you put on your heater to defrost the windows. The 6:15am ski report says rain at the base, BUT it is snowing on the upper part of the mountain with a bonus of high wind at the summit. Being in our 70s (73 and 71) we do not ski in the rain even though we do have GoreTex, and even though you can get free tickets if you are 70 plus. Last year the same thing happened here with rain. Bad karma!
Plan "C" is to drive to Schweitzer for Friday. We drive on highway 2 and arrive at Sandpoint, ID at noon - 4 hours later. The updated weather report is for rain at the base and snow on the summit. The backside of the area is closed because of rain. They said they have their "fingers crossed" for snow tonight. Hmmm, we had a similar event 2 years ago. No more "finger crossing" for us. Darn, I'm spending more time on the web then skiing.
Plan "D" is to drive to Mission Ridge for Friday. On the drive from Spoken to Mission we had clear skies driving west. The update is for light snow and below freezing temps. OK. Four hours later we park the van in Wenatchee. It's been a long day with an 8 hour drive altogether from MT to get here, and we sure hope the weather is good in the morning. At 6:15am I get the weather/snow report from their marketing person, Kai. We have a grandson named Kai in New Hampshire and he is a good guy, so I believe in this Kai. We arrive at Mission Ridge, park at the front edge of the lot, and walk 40 feet to get our free tickets because of our Summit season passes. We are 14th and 15th for the lift loading with a bunch of retired locals. The conditions are great with 2" of new and packed powder on a groomed base. Sunny at the base and a slight cloud cover at the very top. It was cold with wind at the top. Everyone is skiing the groomers and there are signs saying not to ski off piste. The chair 4 lift is not operating and the terrain looked a bit "skimpy". It was a fun sunny day on the groomers, and we finished by skiing right to the van. We're now heading home to be ready for the next powder storm to hit the Cascades.
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