SATURDAY is for SKIING

By KEITH ERICKSON

Staff Writer

Finally. The flakes are falling on area ski resorts — in big fashion. Skiers can wax their skis, dig out their slickest gloves and head to the mountains this weekend.

Local ski resorts on Thursday reported there’ll be plenty of snow as they celebrate the official opening of ski season.

“Exciting! We just got four-and-a-half inches at the base and 10 new inches on top. We’re expecting great ski conditions this weekend,” Gus Colburn, marketing coordinator for Silver Mountain Ski Resort, said Thursday.

And more snowy stuff is on the way. By Saturday, Colburn said, the resort is expecting another 12-16 inches of wintery bliss on the mountain peak at the resort, located just off Interstate 90 in the Silver Valley about 45 minutes east of Coeur d’Alene.

“This is just the start,” he said. “We’re looking for an awesome season.”

At Lookout Pass on the Montana/Idaho border, things are also looking up as the snow continues to fall.

“We’re so excited to get the season underway,” said Matt Sawyer, director of marketing at Lookout. “We’ve got 12 to 16 inches at the summit. We’re expecting another 24 inches or so over the weekend.”

Copious amounts of snow are also expected at Mount Spokane north of that city and Schweitzer Mountain Resort north of Sandpoint. Officials at both resorts did not respond to questions Thursday.

Back at Silver Mountain, Colburn said two chair lifts will open on Saturday and resort officials will keep a close eye on the sky to open seats on the mountain, which boasts 76 runs and a vertical drop of 2,200 feet.

As the snow continues to fall in the early season, now is the time to jump on snowy bargains.

“The time to get deals for season passes is now,” Colburn said.

Ready to ski? Call ahead:

Schweitzer: 208-263-9555

Silver Mountain: 866-344-2675

Lookout Pass: 208-744-1301

Mount Spokane: 509-238-2220