ALL THAT SNOW sitting atop the Olympic Mountains sure is inviting.
Now that Hurricane Ridge Road is open seven days a week — weather permitting, with tire chains, adequate fuel and a driver with a pulse — winter sports nuts can partake in the powder.
Just don’t expect any lifts back up the mountain during the next couple of weeks. That’s going to require a hike.
While downhill skiers and snowboarders are welcome to hit the hills this weekend, they won’t be accompanied by any operational rope tows or a crotch-busting Poma lift for the foreseeable future.
It’s going to take a few more feet of snow and a couple weeks worth of workable days before Mountain Manager Craig Hofer and his crew can get those apparatuses up and running.
“As far as I’m concerned, we’re just on our normal schedule,” said Hofer, who has 35-plus years of experience atop the Ridge.
“That’s where my head is at, and that’s going to be determined by snowfall. And when we get the snowfall, we got our work to do.”
A base of approximately 45 inches is required before Hofer can get to work setting up the rope tows on the south side of the mountain.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center website (http://tinyurl.com/29t6pww) reported 31 inches sitting on the Ridge.
That is a listing one can take with a grain of salt, however, since it does not accurately reflect the depth of the base on open areas atop the Ridge.
“We’ll get her going as soon as we can,” Hofer said.
“I know people are anxious, but this happens every year [after the first snowfall].”
Ski rentals do not begin until the weekend of Dec. 17, and the gift shop/snack bar is scheduled to open at the same time.
It’s probably a little overly optimistic to envision the rope tows opening up at the same time, given that there hasn’t been that early of a start date in several years.
More often than not, things get going right around Christmas break.
Hofer said he plans on taking the Hurricane Ridge Winter Sport Club’s snow cat up the mountain today.
So at the very least, things are getting put into motion.
For updates on organized winter sports at the Ridge, visit hurricaneridge.com.
Shuttle service
One again, there will not be a snow bus offered by the Winter Sports Club this winter.
There is an alternative to going out and buying the requisite tire chains, however.
All Points Charters and Tours is now offering twice-daily van service from downtown Port Angeles to the Ridge on Wednesdays through Sundays.
Vans will depart from the Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center on Railroad Avenue at 9 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. and pick up passengers at the Vern Burton Community Center, 308 E. Fourth St., at 9:05 a.m. and 1:05 p.m. before heading up the mountain.
Vans will leave the Ridge at approximately 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.
For reservations, contact All Points Charters and Tours at 360-460-7131 or tours@goallpoints.com.
The round-trip fare is $20 per person and does not include the $5 park entrance fee.
________
Matt Schubert is the outdoors and sports columnist for the Peninsula Daily News. His column regularly appears on Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at matt.schubert@peninsuladailynews.com.