Mission Ridge Might Open Early After Over 12″ of Early Snow

After the weekend’s big snowstorm, things are shaping up great for the upcoming season at Mission Ridge Ski & Board Resort.

The popular spot for winter recreation has received well over a foot of snow since Saturday and is already near to its minimum base depth of 18 inches to begin seasonal operations.

The resort’s marketing manager, Tony Hickok, says the snow followed a stretch of cold rain, which makes for a great, early one-two punch to start the season.

“It’s an unusual amount of snowfall for so early in the month of November along with a lot of rain at the end of last week. The rain really saturated the ground well, which is a good thing because when it gets colder and freezes that helps to refrigerate the snow from underneath.”

Snowmaking had already started at Mission Ridge last Tuesday before Mother Nature brought her own kind of flakes to the resort.

Hickok says with all the snow of both the natural and manufactured variety now on the ground and likely to stick, it’s possible Mission Ridge could have an early opening this year.

“We always target the day after Thanksgiving to open but there is a possibility that we’ll be able to get things up and running a little bit earlier than that. We always try to go as early and as long as we can. Last year we were able to remain open into May, which was the first time since the late (19)70s we were able to have skiing in the month of May.”

The Ridge might see another few inches of snow by tomorrow morning (Tuesday, November 8) before things clear out.

Daytime temperatures are expected to remain in the mid-20s through the weekend with overnight lows in the mid-teens, which should prevent any of the recent snows at the resort from melting.