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Ski area welcomes storms photo by Roy Musitelli By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune Gene Landsmann figures a lot of folks could be heading down a slippery slope come Friday morning. That suits the Ski Ashland marketing director just fine. "It's looking very good that we'll open on Friday," he said Monday. "We need just a little more snow and it looks like we're going to get it." With 26 inches of snow on the ground at the lodge and more storms in the forecast, it's Christmas in November for the community-owned Ski Ashland. "We will be way ahead of the game if we open at the end of the week," Landsmann said. "It would have been nice to have been open for Thanksgiving weekend, but this is fine." Although the ski area sometimes opens in time for Thanksgiving, the average opening date isn't until Dec. 10, he noted. After a dismal 2000-2001 season which began on Dec. 17 and concluded March 15, nearly a month earlier than the annual target date of mid-April, the ski area could use a long white winter, Landsmann said. Last year's ski season was the shortest since Southern Oregon residents bought the formerly privately owned ski area in 1992. "What happened last year happens once or twice every decade here," said Landsmann, who has worked on Mount Ashland for more than 20 consecutive winters. After a slow start, snow began dropping in earnest around Southern Oregon in the past two weeks. There is now more than three feet of snow at Crater Lake National Park headquarters. And the National Weather Service forecasts a series of storms blowing into Southern Oregon this week, including one which could drop snow as low as 1,500 feet above sea level on Wednesday. Another storm is expected to drop precipitation on Thursday, albeit at higher elevations in the mountains. Mount Ashland rises to slightly more than 7,000 feet. In Medford, the November rainfall accumulation is at 3.26 inches, well above the monthly average of 2.63 inches. That marks the first above-average precipitation for any month in more than a year. Atop Mount Ashland, Ski Ashland employees have been preparing for opening day. Some 200 seasonal workers were trained in mid-November for the coming season, Landsmann said. "We've got crews out on the hill looking at what can be groomed," he said. "We're getting the ramps ready. There is always a lot of cleanup and prep work to do before you can open." Other tasks include everything from preparing a ski patrol and setting up a new tow rope to getting the lodge ready. "All kinds of things have to be done to get the little city running," he said. "But everything is right on schedule." That includes Mother Nature, although Landsmann knows she can be fickle in Southern Oregon. A warm front can move in, melting a skier's hopes, he acknowledged. But conditions are ideal now for opening on Friday, including a solid base of wet snow underneath topped by dry powder, he said. "We've got a wonderful winter landscape now," he said. "With another couple of storms coming in this week, Friday looks good." Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.