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Ski area�s looking for a few good storms By Bill Kettler By Gene Landsmann�s calendar, winter is officially late. Never mind that the winter solstice is still nine days over the horizon. Dec. 10 marks the average opening day for Ski Ashland, where Landsmann works as marketing director. And Dec. 10 came and went Sunday with nowhere near enough snow for anyone to ski. "We need two good solid storms," said Landsmann, who has watched winters come and go on Mount Ashland since 1974. Ten to 15 inches of snow covered the ski trails Monday, and light snow was falling, but there were still patches of bare ground where Landsmann typically sees 2 or 3 feet of snow at this time of year. Conditions are no better at the Mount Shasta Board and Ski Park, where the average opening day (Dec. 5) sailed by last week without enough snow. There were barely 2 inches of snow at the Mount Shasta lodge Monday, and 8 to 10 inches at the top of Coyote Butte, the upper terminal of the ski resort�s highest chairlift. "We�re playing the waiting game," said Scott Ferguson, director of group sales. Landsmann said the dry spell is especially trying for the people who have been hired for seasonal jobs at ski areas. About 350 people have been hired at the two ski areas to teach skiing and snowboarding, operate chair lifts, maintain equipment, sell tickets, and provide food and bar service. But there�s no work for them until the ski areas open. "You can�t pay everybody when you�re not running," Landsmann said. After eight consecutive wet winters, skiers and snowboarders have grown accustomed to starting the season in late November or early December. But it wasn�t always so. Landsmann recalled that Ski Ashland opened as late as February during a dry winter in the 1980s. And Ferguson remembered the infamous "mud season" of 1986, when the Mount Shasta Ski Park operated for a grand total of 23 days. "We�ve seen this sort of thing before," he said. "It�s not common, but it�s not unusual." Several Oregon ski areas have enough snow to open at least some of their trails. Mount Bachelor reported 30 of its 70 runs open on Monday, and Mount Hood Meadows and Timberline have opened about 50 percent of their trails. Hoodoo, which had opened earlier, had to close for lack of snow and plans to reopen Dec. 15. State climatologist George Taylor said the absence of major weather patterns in the Pacific Ocean makes it difficult to predict Oregon�s winter precipitation this season. Recent winters were characterized by El Ni�o and La Ni�a patterns that brought Oregon generous amounts of rain and snow. Without either of those to influence Oregon rainfall, precipitation can vary tremendously. "We know why it�s been this way, but we�re not sure what created it," Taylor said of the current pattern. "If we did, we�d be a lot better at forecasting than we are." Taylor said December so far reminds him of the winters of 1985 and 1989, when Southern Oregon saw plenty of fog and little snow. Snow fell in Salem Monday as moist air moved in behind a cold front. The cold air mass had threatened to push Rogue Valley temperatures into the teens, but ran out of steam before it arrived here. Taylor said storms that are expected to arrive Friday could bring some of the snow that ski areas have been waiting for. "It looks like things are going to change by the end of the week," he said. "Maybe that�s the beginning of the real winter." Landsmann said the ski area will need several days to get ready when the snow finally comes. Trails will need to be groomed, food delivered, and boundary ropes set. "We need 72 hours," he said, "but we�d do our best to do it in 48." Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.