Snow not enough for local skiers

The cold, dry snow that fell on the Sisters country over the weekend was not enough to get local skiers on the slopes.

"We're just not there yet," said Hoodoo Ski Area marketing director Rick Saul. "We need another foot."

Hoodoo has about 14 inches of the white stuff on the ground, but that's not enough to cover the terrain. The ski area got three or four inches of snow on Sunday, but, Saul said, it was so light and dry that it "packed down to nothing."

Thanksgiving weekend is the traditional opening date for Hoodoo; the area's now over a week past that benchmark. And the weather doesn't look too favorable, Saul said, with high pressure building into the area late in the week, erasing the promise of more snow.

That's not good news for ski area operators or for skiers, who are eager to hit the slopes over Christmas vacation.

"I'm going to start biting my nails on December 19," Saul said. "Christmas vacation is obviously very important to us and the ski area."

But in a year of unusual weather patterns, Hoodoo and its patrons will take snow whenever it comes.

Saul noted that Hoodoo has opened in January before, and still had a good season.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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