Snoqualmie snow: Estimated 78 inches have already fallen

SNOQUALMIE PASS, Wash. – It is the kind of snowy Saturday that skiers in the Pacific Northwest will happily take — experts and novices alike.

Vicente Gonzalez came from Seattle to hit the slopes at Snoqualmie Ski Resort. We asked him if it was his first time learning to ski.

“Yeah, yeah,” he replied.

But 13-year-old Arthur Antonchik said Saturday was not his first day at the Summit at Snoqualmie this season.

“I was here yesterday,” he said. “It was better conditions and you could see down the hill.”

Basking in this bounty of snow are the people who run the ski resort. They estimate 78 inches of snow have fallen so far this season, and it’s not even winter yet.

The snow is especially sweet because they remember all too well how dry it was in 2014.

“Two years ago, we only had 104 inches,” said Guy Lawrence, marketing director for 21 years. “We’re getting close to beating that probably by the next week or two.”

Good as this is, Lawrence says he is a realist about snowfall here at just 3,000 feet.

“January can be a little bit on the dry side,” he conceded. “Not always; there are exceptions.”

But that isn’t on the minds of those skiing and snowboarding here. This has been a Saturday in December to savor.

“Yeah, we’re visiting, my husband and I,” said Kristy Huffman, from Akron, Ohio.  “It’s my birthday today. We came skiing. There aren’t any mountains in Ohio, so this is our entrance into mountain skiing.”

It really hasn’t stopped snowing since early afternoon.  And that is good news for night skiers since the Summit is open Saturday night.

But what a difference an hour makes.

In both directions of I-90, traction tires are now required.  Chains are required for vehicles over 10,000 pounds.