Skiers and snowboarders will be allowed to open one gift a day early this Christmas—the Seattle Ridge area is planned to open Thursday, Dec. 24.
Seattle Ridge Lodge would also be open until 2:30 p.m., if the plan holds.
Sun Valley Resort spokesman Jack Sibbach announced Tuesday that the company "intends" to open Seattle Ridge due to snowfall accumulating over Monday night and into Tuesday.
"Conditions look excellent for this terrain expansion," he said. "However, mountain conditions are weather-dependent and are subject to change."
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning Monday, predicting 9 to 15 inches of snowfall for elevations above 6,500 feet for Monday night into Tuesday morning. Most of Bald Mountain is above that elevation, but as of Tuesday at noon only 5 inches of new snow had fallen on the mountain.
Sibbach said the snowstorm could also enable the resort to open additional runs, such as Hemingway on the Warms Springs side, but that all depends on whether it keeps coming down.
"Hopefully, more of our mountain will open with the help of Mother Nature," he said.
Sibbach said the likelihood of opening the whole mountain by Christmas is still slim.
"We would need a whole lot of snow," he said.
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Nevertheless, Sibbach said Seattle Ridge is "good for the clientele."
With the Seattle Ridge area open, skiers are able to spread out. The area offers a variety of intermediate terrain.
With an increase of skiers and boarders expected over the weekend, that's great news. Last Saturday, 3,109 people hit both Baldy and Dollar mountains. On Sunday, there were 3,347 people. The weekend's total was 7 percent better than the five-year average for this same weekend, which stands at 425 fewer people.
Sibbach said he expects the number of skiers to double to about 6,000 a day over the coming Christmas weekend, similar to last year's numbers.
And Baldy's not the only one getting attention. Dollar's new terrain park, which opened last weekend, drew in more than double the usual customers during that weekend. Saturday saw 435 skiers, which blew the five-year average of 190 skiers out of the water. Sunday was even more impressive with 772 skiers, compared to a five-year average of 307.
Trevon Milliard: tmilliard@mtexpress.com
Sun Valley Nordic trails to open Christmas Day
Sun Valley's Nordic trails will open for the season on Christmas Day, Friday.
"It is even rumored that Santa may be taking a much deserved tour of the trails," said company spokesman Jack Sibbach.
This also means the Sun Valley Nordic and Snowshoe Center inside of the Sun Valley Clubhouse will be fully operational daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., offering private and group lessons, rental equipment and lockers.
Classical Nordic group lessons will begin daily at 10 a.m., and skate Nordic lessons will start at 2 p.m.
Guided historic snowshoe tours will begin at 2 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.
For updated grooming information, go to nordic.sunvalley.com or call 622-2250.
A skier catches air off one of the jumps at the new Dollar Mountain terrain park last weekend, during the debut of the new facility.
Express photo by Mark Oliver
