Snow Blows and Discovery Goes

From the Philipsburg Mail

December 20, 2012

Snow blows and Discovery goes

by Reecy Pontiff

It's been a slow start to winter but Discovery Ski Basin has had plenty of snow.

Though they've had some warm spells, overall it's been a good, cold start to the season according to Vice President of Resort Operations Ciche Pitcher.

“We feel a whole lot better about this early season than other years,” Pitcher said, “right now the skiing is the best we've had it for Christmas.”

For Discovery the good snow started around their opening date just after Thanksgiving but the last two weeks have been even better according to Pitcher.

This year the weather was “super dry into September,” Pitcher said, followed by a big snow storm in late September and another in October, both of which melted.

“Though we got some precipitation early in the year, we had some warmer temperatures.”

The weather this fall was typical in Pitcher's estimation. “It's pretty normal for us to have wide swings in temperature [in the fall],” though he said, “it's not very typical to get rain in December.”

“The part that was atypical was the weekend of December 3^rd we had a warm spell... it was frustrating because we were expecting a big storm, but it created a good base,” Pitcher said.

The Granite triple chair lift opened last Monday, meaning the resort is 80-90% operational. The only lift still closed is the Silver Chief on the “back side” – or Philipsburg side – of the mountain, whose base is only around 5500 feet. Most of Discovery averages around 6800 feet, according to Pitcher.

“The front side has great coverage,” said Ski Patrol Director Brad Legge, “we haven't had a whole lot of wind to scour the snow out.”

“Any new snow we get now, we should be in really good shape to keep the runs open,” Legge said.

Due to grooming issues a few trails at Discovery are yet to be opened, mainly on the Limelight lift on the back side of Discovery. The runs there are steep and craggy with little dirt, and the light, fluffy snow they've received has yet to properly cover the terrain, according to Pitcher.

“Though there's a lot of depth to [the snow on the back side] there isn't a lot of substance,” said Pitcher.

It's unusual for Discovery to have this many trails open before January and Pitcher is pleased with how winter has treated them so far. Thought they have snow-making capabilities, Pitcher and Legge both agree they've been fortunate not to need it this year.

“Having this much terrain open at Christmas is a real positive,” Pitcher said.

Last Monday Discovery had nine inches of snow, an “unexpected little dump,” according to Legge.

Pitcher called the early season weather this year “above par” thus far.

Though weather can be difficult to anticipate, Legge is optimistic about the short-term future of snow at Discovery.

“We're in the prevailing weather pattern, so it looks good for the next few weeks at least,” but because there's currently no El Nino or La Nina patterns in the Pacific, “it's hard to make long-term [weather] predictions,” Legge said.

“Every winter has it's own personality,” said Pitcher.