Schweitzer opens for season
—Photo by KEITH KINNAIRD<br>Snowboarders disembark from the Musical Chairs lift on opening day at Schweitzer Mountain Resort on Thursday.
SANDPOINT — It's limited, but at least it's an opening.
Schweitzer Mountain Resort officially opened Thursday, but slope conditions are keeping all lifts and runs except Musical Chairs and Happy Trails from being opened to skiers and snowboarders.
The mountain was caked with as much as 4 feet of snow during a 48-hour period last weekend, but the Pineapple Express stopped at the resort earlier this week, bringing with it unwanted rain.
"We experienced an extreme swing in conditions and temperatures," said Kurt Messersmith, Schweitzer's snow reporter.
Intermittent breaks in the overcast sky on Thursday briefly revealed parts of the south bowl. Slopes above the village were etched with ruts caused by cascading rain. Those who hiked above the village Thursday encountered an unforgiving, semi-breakable crust.
The good news is the snowpack-marring rains did not erase the substantial gains in building a base at the resort.
Temperatures have dipped back below freezing and the solidified snowpack can now be machined into shape, according to resort officials.
"It's good to see that much of the snowpack made it through the thaw, creating a good base for the season," Messersmith said.
Nordic trails such as Cloudwalker, Wolf Ridge, Upper Overland and Cougar Gulch are groomed for skate skiing, but the routes are not yet track-set yet.
Schweitzer reported having 36-40 inches of snow on lower parts of the mountain and as much as 48 inches on upper parts.