It’s certainly no secret by now that a strong El Nino winter is forecast. And that has fishing interests, irrigators, ski resorts and others who depend on snow on edge.
Dave Tragethon, executive director for marketing at Mount Hood Meadows, should be among the worried — but he’s not.
Here’s why: Meadows officials have compared seasonal snow data with ocean El Nino-La Nina cycles for the past 35 years.
“Strong El Nino’s, as this winter is forecast, actually bring near average, or even way above average snow to Mount Hood Meadows,’’ Tragethon said. “Snow data indicates strong El Nino’s average 96 percent of seasonal snow averages.’’
The average for Mount Hood Meadows is 429 inches of snow, measured from the first snow that opens the season in November or December through the last snow when the season ends.
For the four strong El Nino’s (winters of 1982-83, 1991-92, 1994-95 and 1997-98) that this winter is being compared to, Meadows has averaged 413 inches.
The El Nino winter of 1982-83 brought 623 inches, the second most snow in 35 seasons.
Now, if forecasters were predicting a weak El Nino, Tragethon would be worried.
“Weak El Ninos are more likely to produce lower snowfall than strong El Ninos,’’ he said. “This past season and the 2004-05 season produced two of the lowest snow seasons and both were weak El Ninos….There is more correlation between La Nina winters bringing above average snow than El Ninos bringing below average snow seasons.’’
Meadows announced today that it will operate the Daisy, Easy Rider and Buttercup chairs, plus the Ballroom Carpet conveyor, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, offering a limited amount of terrain.
A special preview rail park is under construction for freestylers. Cross country skiing will be available at the nordic center all three days.
Tragethon said the area got four inches of snow Monday night, giving it a 12-inch base and 26 inches at mid-mountain.
“We’re making the most out of the 26 inches of snow we’ve received so far,’’ he said.
Due to the limited terrain, chairlift tickets are reduced to $39 for adults and $29 for ages 7 to 14 and 65 to 74.
Mount Hood Skibowl will start operation of its Snow Tube and Adventure Park on Friday, said Hans Wipper, a Skibowl spokesman.
Day tubing will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday through Sunday. Cosmic tubing will be from 5 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Timberline Lodge has been operating Bruno’s chair, a beginner lift, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. since Saturday.
Jon Tullis of Timberline said more snow is needed for a full opener. Pucci chairlift was added to Bruno’s on Wednesday and two will run through the weekend.
A discounted ticket price is in place until more chairs are open, he added.
Here’s a look at what’s new at the Mount Hood ski areas for this winter:
Mount Hood Meadows — The ski area has improved its snow harvesting ability by equipping a snowcat with a dump bed and also done a lot of brush cutting and summer slope maintenance.
The work has “readied the resort for an early opening and quality coverage regardless of how much natural snow falls,’’ Tragethon said.
Meadows also open Altitude, a mountain-lifestyle store in Portland’s Pearl District, which provides a year-round source of revenue.
The area is considering adding fat bikes (on-the-snow bikes) to spring offerings and has expanded its hiking operations.
Timberline Lodge — The lodge has invested $2 million in improvements to food service and snow grooming.
Wy’East Cafe is replacing Black Iron Grill in Wy’East Day Lodge. The $1 million remodel will include food stations featuring burritos, bowls, pizza, pasta, burgers and a fry bar, in addition to a grab-and-go section with sandwiches and salads. The Market Cafe has been renamed Y’Bar.
Ski-in, ski-out food service will be available on the slopes at the Phlox Point Boy Scout cabin. The historic cabin has been remodeled into a warming hut offering food-cart style tacos and beverages.
Timberline has invested more than $1 million in snow grooming, grooming technology and snowmaking equipment.
New for 2015-2016 are two PistenBully 400 ParkPro Snowcats, the first terrain park machines Timberline has owned. Also new is a PistenBully SnowSat, a fleet management system with snow depth measurement based on satellite-guided positioning.
Mount Hood Meadows and Timberline both will offer drone video services to guests this winter, with Cape Productions providing edited videos.
The service will be on selected ski runs.
“We plan to have a staging area where the guest can purchase the service,’’ said Tom Scully, director of mountain operations at Meadows. “While the run will remain open to the public, we’ll create controlled spacing to allow those using the service to be featured in the video.’’
Cape will produce and publish online a video.
“The drones can fly up to 40 mph, staying ahead of even the most hard core athletes, withstanding the weather conditions and high altitudes and avoiding obstacles,’’ Tragethon said.
Personal drones are not allowed on the Mount Hood National Forest.
Mount Hood Skibowl — A 70-acre parcel next to Skibowl East will be groomed, marked into a one-way loop and available for visitors to try riding a snowmobile for a 30-minute period. Longer rides then can be purchased, if desired.
Wipper said the course is intended to give newcomers to snowmobile riding a safe environment.
Also new — sort of — at Skibowl is a conveyor lift replacing the parking lot rope tow, he said. The lift actually was new last winter, but did not get used. The conveyor makes it easy for first-timers to get up the slope.
Skibowl offered just 11 days of skiing in 2014-15 season, during the Christmas break, plus 71 days of tubing, due to the meager snowpack.
Water from the Government Camp municipal system has been extended to Skibowl West, which supplements the ability to make snow. Two snow guns have been bought to expand snowmaking on the west side tube hill.
