Silver surfers
<p>Brad Gatlin, visiting from Spokane, tries his hand at indoor surfing Wednesday at the Silver Rapids Indoor Waterpark at Silver Mountain.</p>
The wet and windy weather that wreaked havoc on the Silver Valley on Wednesday left many vacationers scrambling for something to do as the skiing conditions suffered mightily from the mid-winter thaw.
At Silver Mountain, extreme wind gusts made gondola rides an adventure, and they had a delayed opening on Wednesday to accommodate the inclement weather. On the ski runs, warmer-than-usual temperatures, combined with the wet snow that fell on the mountain Tuesday night caused snow to become heavy and slushy - not exactly ideal conditions.
John Williams, director of marketing for Silver Mountain, said that the conditions came at a terrible time, because the holidays weeks are "prime time," for the resort.
"The high wind gusts are more trouble for us than the mushy snow surface," Williams said about gales that rocked the gondola back and forth for skiers brave enough to ride it to the top. "It's not the most desirable condition to ski in."
Gondola rides slowed to a crawl, and groomers couldn't groom the trails into pristine condition.
The warm weather crossed over to Lookout Pass Wednesday as well.
Enough snow had fallen previously that the imperfect conditions didn't stop skiing in its tracks, said Bill Jennings, marketing director.
"Instead of ideal, they were less than ideal," he said. "You expect to get a couple of those every season."
Despite the brief warm up, 100 percent of Lookout's runs remained open. More snow is expected at higher elevations starting today and falling through the weekend.
As much as 30 inches of fresh powder could be dumped on at Silver Mountain by Saturday. Wind gusts are expected to persist, but should be around the 35 miles per hour range, which Williams said the gondola could handle just fine.
If the wind is still too much, swimming is an option, as many skiers retreated to the Silver Rapids Indoor Waterpark on Wednesday.
At Schweitzer Mountain Resort, temperatures are in the lower 30s, with 66 inches of snow at upper elevations and 37 inches at the base, according to its snow report.