Snow drought leaves Interior slopes a little rough
19.7 inches - less than half the normal amount of snow - had fallen by Monday in Fairbanks
FAIRBANKS - Skiers and snowboarders in Fairbanks are hoping for more snow to smooth out hazards on area slopes.
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Mount Aurora Skiland opened Saturday and owner Steve Birdsall said conditions could have been better.
"Let's put it this way," Birdsall said Sunday from the top of Cleary Summit. "It's not too brushy because the mowers have been out all season, but there are places where stuff is sticking up through (the snow).
"When you come out, you have to realize you might hit something. That's the way it is."
The same is true at Moose Mountain Ski Resort in the Goldstream Valley, which opened Dec. 20. Owner Roger Evans described conditions as "organic" because of grass and brush poking up through the thin cover of snow.
"It gets a little better every time it snows an inch," said Evans, referring to what seems to have become the norm for a "dump" of snow in Fairbanks the last few years.
Even at Birch Hill Ski and Snowboard Area on Fort Wainwright, which opened Nov. 9 largely because it has snowmaking equipment to help offset the season's snow drought, Mother Nature has found a way to conspire against snowboarding enthusiasts.
Warm, windy weather at the beginning of December prevented the area from making enough snow to construct its halfpipe this season. There's a good chance there won't be a halfpipe this year, said area manager Greg Taylor.
"It's Christmas break; we're not going to close the hill to make a halfpipe," he said. It would take about a week of snowmaking to amass enough snow to build the popular snowboarding feature.
Nevertheless, things are looking up for Fairbanks' three downhill ski areas compared to last year.
Just 19.7 inches of snow had fallen at Fairbanks International Airport as of Monday, less than half the normal snowfall of 41.7 inches for that date. But only 14.2 inches of snow had fallen last year at this time.
"Things could be worse," said Scott Berg, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Fairbanks.
Last year, Moose Mountain didn't open until Dec. 28 and skiers didn't hit the slopes at Skiland until Jan. 13.
Crowds at Moose Mountain have been a little down because of the lack of snow, but even with grass and twigs sticking up, skiing is decent, he said.
"I haven't even scratched my skis and I've skied 10 times," Evans said.
Business has been brisk at Birch Hill since it opened Nov. 9 and there are plenty of attractions to keep snowboarders busy even without the halfpipe, Taylor said.
"We've got a new rail up; we've got both of our big jumps up," he said. "We've got all the jumps and bumps up for everybody to have fun."
While Skiland could have waited for more snow to open, Birdsall said, he decided to fire up the chair lift "to give everybody a chance to use their Christmas presents." Besides, there's enough snow for safe skiing and that's the main concern, he said.
"We could wait forever for the snow and we don't want to do that," he said. "It's safe."