It was crunch time, but Mother Nature came through with
a punch of cold air and some snow.
On Monday, Sun Valley Co. announced that Bald Mountain, if only small
parts, will open for skiing on Thanksgiving Day. Also, the northern sections of the
Harriman Trail are open for Nordic skiing.
According to a Sun Valley Co. press release, the Lower River Run lift
on Bald Mountain will open on Thanksgiving day at 9 a.m.
Additionally, there is an 80-percent chance that the Greyhawk chairlift
on the Warm Springs side of Baldy will open to service Lower Warm Springs. That percentage
goes up to 100 by Saturday, Sun Valley Co. general manager Wally Huffman said in the press
release.
According to Sun Valley Co. spokesman Jack Sibbach, the snowmaking
crews have done a "wonderful job" working with the recent warm weather.
"We’ll continue to make snow and get runs open as the weather
permits," Sibbach said, adding that it looks like natural snow is going to be more
likely in the coming weeks.
Sibbach said Sun Valley Co. has called its expected guests for the
Thanksgiving holiday to tell them that snow conditions won’t be optimal. He said,
however, that there have been very few cancellations.
"I think our honesty has paid off for the community," he
said. "People will be going to movies and heading to town and helping to boost the
economy."
According to a press release from the Blaine County Recreation
District, the Harriman Trail can be groomed for skate skiing with as little as six inches
of snow.
Scott Thorne, recreation district grooming supervisor, recommends that
skiers use rock skis until more snow accumulates.
According to the Ketchum Ranger District’s records, two inches of
snow fell at the district offices in Ketchum over the weekend, and three inches fell in
Elkhorn. Eight inches fell on Baldy’s summit, according to the Sun Valley Co.
According to Debbie Danielson, a meteorologist for the National Weather
Service in Pocatello, the high pressure system that sat over the Rocky Mountains for two
months has broken up. She said tomorrow through the weekend should bring a weather pattern
with high probabilities of snow and slightly warmer-than-average temperatures.
Possibly it will rain in the valleys, she said.
Danielson said average temperatures and precipitation are expected into
December.
A Bombardier snowcat evenly distributes large snow
piles underneath Warm Springs Tower snow guns. (Express photo by
Willy Cook)