By Ben Olson
Reader Staff
After the last ski season tested everyone’s patience, Schweitzer is pleased to see signs of a big snow year. For their “preview weekend,” Schweitzer will open Friday, Nov. 22, through Sunday, Nov. 24, before closing Nov. 25-28 to allow staff time to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday. Starting Friday, Nov. 29, the mountain will remain open for its entire seven-days-a-week operation.
Marketing Communications Manager Taylor Prather said the start of this year’s ski season is remarkably better than last year.
“It’s a night-and-day difference,” Prather told the Reader. “There’s always some excitement around opening day, but it’s even bigger when we’re getting four-plus feet of snow in advance of opening day. The excitement is off the charts.”
Over 49 inches of snow have fallen thus far, most of which has come in the past three weeks. The only hiccup came last weekend when the snow briefly turned to rain, but the temperatures dropped again, and the moisture switched back to snowflakes.
Along with natural snowfall, Prather said Schweitzer has been operating their snowmaking machines as often as possible to build a good base, which measures 38 inches at the summit and 31 inches at the village.
“Fun fact: We didn’t hit that number last year until late February,” Prather said.
The Magic Carpet, Basin Express Quad and Lakeview Triple lifts will all be open for the preview weekend, and all terrain off those lifts will be open for skiing.
Prather encouraged skiers and riders to park in the Lakeview Lot, Gateway Lot or down at the Red Barn since the Creekside Lift will not operate on opening day. There will not be a shuttle service to the Fall Line Lot for opening weekend.
“All of those lots are free for the weekend,” she said.
While most people are used to checking Schweitzer’s Instagram for parking updates, Prather said a new feature on the snow conditions page will share real-time updates showing if a particular lot is full.
“There’s a green, yellow and red light on the snow conditions page,” she said. “Yellow means the lot is starting to fill up, and red means it’s completely full. Our parking staff updates that page in real-time.”
Prather said the slope maintenance team put in a lot of work over the summer to mow and brush-cut the mountain.
“I think you’ll see some improved experiences on the slopes,” she said. “There’s been a lot of maintenance taking place, which makes for a better ski and ride experience.”
Prather also pointed to the Kids Ski Free Week, which offers free lift tickets for kids 17 and under from Dec. 7-13.
“It’s an Alterra-wide program and a really cool way to offer our community of kids a chance to ride for free that week,” she said.
Prather said after the early snowfall, the forecasts are very encouraging.
“We’re predicting 7 to 11 inches today and 3 to 5 inches tonight,” she said Nov. 20. “It just keeps coming.”
For more information or to check the snow conditions, visit schweitzer.com.
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Coming up this week! Don’t miss Festivus, Skiing with Santa, Hogwire, and more! See the full list of events in the 
