49 Degrees North, WA: March 13, 2021

[ChrisC]

I waited to ski 49 Degrees North until the weekend since the mountain does not operate all of its lifts during the week (the weekdays that it is even open). In particular, the Angel Peak lift only seems to operate on the weekends.

Also, today was my first day using the recently purchased Spring Indy Pass $149. Like they need to discount this thing more? I'll take it though!

Again, it was another classic spring day - temps warming into the mid-40s from the 20s. I was worried everything would be frozen solid in the early AM, but that was not the case. Snow preservation on due north facing terrain was still packed powder .... remarkably preserved.

The mountain skied really well and had interesting terrain so I kept a pretty aggressive day going despite slow lifts.

I started with runs off Chair 1 which were perfectly groomed packed powder or soft snow found in glades. Although a looong lift, the mid-station allowed you to cut off half the length and just ski the most relevant parts. This will no longer be an issue next year since it will be replaced by a high-speed quad.

Angel Peak in distance.

Next moved over to east-facing Angel Peak since the snow began to soften around 10 am. Some views back to Chair 4 Silver Lode.

As the snow continued to soften, I figured I should get over to east-facing Chair 5 Sunrise Quad before conditions got too sloppy.

Mt Spokane West Face in distance

There was a demo day by a local Oregon ski company Deviation, so I decided to check some new boards out. Allowed my to get a quick tune on my skis at the same time.

Decided to ski the lightly gladed areas off of Chair 1 in the afternoon.

The snow on the north-facing areas again remained packed powder all day - Cy's Glade, Mahre's, Klondike, Tombstone, etc. Impressive preservation.

Overall, excellent sizable NW ski mountain. Highly recommend.

Some photos of downtown Spokane where I was staying for a couple of nights. The Spokane River area is quite attractive.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

I assume that it's considered part of the Great Gray North; however anecdotally, FTOers seem to have had a fair number of sunny, pleasant outings at 49 Degrees North and the other Inland Northwest ski areas.

Thanks for the downtown Spokane pix. As mentioned previously, we're aware of the nasty reputation it has as the Breaking-Bad equivalent of the northwest but it seems decent enough on the surface. Size-wise and general appearance, it reminds me of my hometown, Syracuse NY, with lot of nice ski options within driving distance, cute nearby Coeur d'Alene, and other outdoor opportunities.

 

[Tony Crocker]

I believe as you move into March the odds of Great Gray North start declining. We know winter inversions start to decline with stronger sun around mid-February based upon Salt Lake data and Jackson experience. The chronic cloudiness above 45 latitude or so is surely impacted similarly though the timing may be different.

I tend to avoid the region after early March because most of these areas have bad exposure but get away with it during the chronic cloud season.

We had a sunny but not overly warm day at 49 North so it was at least 80% winter snow. The altitude is on the low side but it’s good to know the snow holds up well mid March with the north exposure.

 

[snowave]

Thanks for the report. Was tempted to head over there on my trip a week or so earlier, but just a bit too far from my base point in Kellogg. Plus, waiting until the new chair next year sounds more enticing.

I also agree, (and can confirm firsthand living several years in the region) with TonyC about the nearly constant gray usually eases up in Late February to early March as sun angle increases. While it does preserve snow, skiing in fog/slate gray skies all winter sucks, IMO. Thats what I like about the area I live in now (McCall).. plenty of sunny days mixed in with the gray, as we are just far south enough (45 *) to get out of that "PacNW bowl" where it stays socked in most of the winter.

 

[Tony Crocker]

I've wondered about what the borderline areas are in terms of the chronic winter overcast. Some of it is windward vs. leeward side of mountains: "Grand Foghee" vs. Jackson for example. I think all of the B.C. areas are in the gray zone. Alberta gets more sun but midwinter temps are so low that snow preservation is as good or better than the cloudy areas farther west.

There are likely some microclimates too. I always hear about Mission Ridge being much drier than areas on the Cascade Crest and perhaps it's sunnier too. Conversely Mt. Ashland is near the California border at latitude 42 but I suspect in the midst of the Cascades and not that far from the coast that it has the chronic midwinter overcast.

In Idaho I would have assumed that Brundage/Tamarack/Bogus would be fairly cloudy, being on the windward side of the Sawtooth mountains that shadow Sun Valley.

 

[snowave]

Some good thoughts, TonyC. As you know, my wife and I have been bouncing around the west the last 10 yrs trying on places to see where we want to live, long term. Winter sun ended up being one of the biggest priorities, but trying find a good balance of sun and snow was a challenge. I also don't want 300 days of sunshine a year, either. Been there done that in CO and CA.

Overall, I think the 45th parallel (which i live directly on) seems to be a good indicator for the magic 200 days/yr of sun limit, which I've found to be about right for plenty of snow, but also still a fair amount of sunny days. However, there are exceptions as you mentioned, where windward/leeward slopes can make a difference, too.

While my time at many of these places does not give a large sample size (usually 2 yrs or less at each one), it did give an idea on what the local patterns are generally like.

I will start with my time in Leavenworth WA. ~ It was a bleak winter in 2012-13, with fall forest fires giving way to relentless storms through January. By February, the storm track let up, but the gray did not. Stevens Pass was socked in most of the winter, with only the occasional day of sun on the top of the mountain. Mission Ridge, yes.. more sun up top, but the fog/cloud layer liked to creep up onto the lower slopes at times. The East slope of the Cascades tends to get ~200 days of sun a year, but almost none of that in the winter. That said, locals told me that winter was worse than most as far as lack of sunshine.

Alta, WY: again, about 200 days of sun a year. I found it very tolerable compared to WA in terms of a good mix of clouds and sun. The Foghee name is somewhat deserving, but the year I lived there I did not think it was oppressive. Often times, it was only the top few hundred feet of the summit, and then you'd ski/ride out of it. I only went to Jackson Hole a few times, and they were usually either cloudy or at least the top was socked in. Probably Not a fair comparison due to my lack of days there compared to Targhee, which was my home mtn., but I think sometimes lee vs windward on a singular/narrow mountain range isn't that much different, hence.. Jackson/Targhee and Brundage/Tamarack.

Whitefish MT: Only ~150 days of sun/yr, and it felt like it. While I enjoyed the terrain at Whitefish Mtn, it was socked in the majority of the time. Locals say the proximately to the large Flathead Lake was a contributor, which I somewhat agree with... but the bigger problem was just being so far north and being stuck in a bowl. Again, sometimes the top of the mountain would poke out of the muck, but you quickly skied back into below. The biggest problem here was the dense fog. Even riding the spaced trees was sometimes difficult due to very low visability. As TonyC stated above, the clouds are what keep Whitefish snow quality good, as a majority of the resort faces South. I also spent several days at Blacktail Mtn, on the westside of Flathead Lake. I found it to have slightly more sunshine than Whitefish mtn, probably due to its overall higher elevation of much of the ski area. Prevailing winds (which were usually light across most of the valley, and often from either the NW of South) did not bank up moisture from the lake much.

Pagosa CO: Wolf Creek had no problems with sunny days, so not even going to bother talking about it.

McCall ID : ~200 days sun... Brundage/Tamarack: I have found these places to be a very good compromise on sun/snow/clouds. I've been here two seasons now, and have been happy with the sun/clouds/snow conditions. The first year had more clouds, but dense fog on the mountains wasn't usually a big problem. Of course, both ski areas have trees close to or at the summit, so that helped. Not much a difference that I could tell with Brundage being west facing vs Tamarack east facing, as far as the sun/cloud ratio... Although I haven't been to Sun Valley yet, stats say they only avg around that 200 day mark as well, so not sure they get that much more sun, even though they are significantly shadowed from precipitation events from every direction except the south.

There are some good resources on solar radiation around, including this one.: https://www.nrel.gov/gis/solar.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Thanks snowave. Interesting to hear the POV of someone who's spent a season or two at several ski areas as opposed to many of us whose impressions are more anecdotal.

 

[flyover]

In 2024-25 I added four new resorts to my modest list: Silver, Mt. Spokane, 49 Degrees North, and Fernie. Skied all with reasonably good packed-powder conditions, but no recent fresh snow. Honestly, overall, I enjoyed our days at the first three more than my two days at Fernie. I see both myself and us doing more skiing at the mom-and-pop and midsized resorts of the Northern Rockies in the coming years.

 

[Tony Crocker]

In 2024-25 I added four new resorts to my modest list: Silver, Mt. Spokane, 49 Degrees North, and Fernie. Skied all with reasonably good packed-powder conditions, but no recent fresh snow.... I see both myself and us doing more skiing at the mom-and-pop and midsized resorts of the Northern Rockies in the coming years.

They are driveable for you and that region is where the most interesting mom-and-pop resorts are. Recall that James, ChrisC and I all took pandemic 2021 ski tours there.

Honestly, overall, I enjoyed our days at the first three more than my two days at Fernie.

Still haven't made it to Castle???

 

[flyover]

They are driveable for you and that region is where the most interesting mom-and-pop resorts are. Recall that James, ChrisC and I all took pandemic 2021 ski tours there.

Agreed. In January my wife and I flew into Spokane, rented a car, and did a 4-day dirtbag road trip spending two days at Silver, and a day each at Mt. Spokane and 49 Degrees North. I reviewed the above-mentioned TRs before booking the flights. We're likely take a similar trip out of Boise this winter.

Still haven't made it to Castle???

No, and, yes, I regret it. Fernie did not put its best foot forward when John and I visited after Mustang in February. RCR's underinvestment in its resorts seems to have reached a crisis point. The White Pass Quad was shut down for unscheduled repairs all of both days we were at Fernie. The Elk Quad was similarly shut down for the last three or so hours of our second day at Fernie. We had purchased our lift tickets well ahead of time, so we were stuck with that second day. Those two days at Fernie were, by far, the most I have ever spent for lift tickets, so it was an extreme bummer to be shut out of so much of Fernie's best terrain by RCR's failure to maintain Fernie's frankly-outdated lift infrastructure. I think we would have been much happier at Castle, but John and I both felt the driving was too much with the time we had. I'll get there someday.

 

[tseeb]

Of the ski area near Spokane, beside Schweitzer, I've only skied 49 North (with some Arctic freeze on return from my last Mustang trip in 2023). Do you think Silver Mountain and Mt Spokane compare or are worth paying for when Schweitzer is free for me?

 

[flyover]

Of the ski area near Spokane, beside Schweitzer, I've only skied 49 North (with some Artic freeze on return from my last Mustang trip in 2023). Do you think Silver Mountain and Mt Spokane compare or are worth paying for when Schweitzer is free for me?

IMHO, probably not Mt. Spokane. Its terrain is a little less interesting and it gets less snow. OTOH, it has just about 360 degrees of exposure, which might make it useful if the weather is/has been temperamental. We had comp tickets, and might not have stopped there if we had not. The vibe, however, was excellent, and on a (rare?) powder day, some of the trees would clearly be worth skiing.

Silver is probably worth a stop at only $63 (for you) midweek. Here's how Chris C concluded his 2021 report: "Silver Mountain is an excellent inland NW gem with steeps, glades, and low-capacity lifts to preserve snow." I couldn't agree more.

I will add that the locals we talked to in town seem to be holding on to their historical preference for Lookout (also confirmed by mystified transplants to Kellogg that we talked to at Silver), giving me the impression that midweek powder days must be pretty relaxed. I think you might think Silver is still worth a weekday stop without new snow. The grooming on the days we were there was unexpectedly great and extended to many (maybe even most) of the steepest cut trails, which was enjoyable. Understand, however, that it is all fixed-grip lifts, so you're not going to rack up a ton of vertical.

 

[Tony Crocker]

It's terrain is a little less interesting and it gets less snow.

How do we know about less snow? Exposure at Mt. Spokane is worse than Schweitzer or 49 North, so that has to affect snowpack and conditions. Elevation range is exactly the same as 49 North.

Do you think Silver Mountain and Mt Spokane compare or are worth paying for when Schweitzer is free for me?

Sure, these places don't charge Vail/Alterra prices. Even for more reasonably priced places it now pays to check if online prices the day before are cheaper than window though. That said Schweitzer is overall a notch better in terrain extent and quality, and I've personally led a charmed life there with powder.

Silver gets somewhat more snow and has much higher proportion north exposure if you happen to be in the region when it's lacking its usual chronic cloudiness. Lookout gets a lot more snow but fits ChrisC's mountain pass stereotype of mostly intermediate pitch.

All of the places mentioned here top out around 6,000 feet and will get rain from atmospheric river type storms. 2004-05 and 2014-15 were bad at all of them due to too much rain. Red Mt. across the border has the same overall climate but is on a complete different level in terms of expert terrain.

 

[flyover]

How do we know about less snow?

Sorry, but I'm confused by this question.

tseeb asked me for my opinion about whether it would be worth visiting Mt. Spokane and/or Silver when he can ski Schweitzer for free.

I responded that, for him, it probably would not be worth it to visit Mt. Spokane because, compared to Silver, its terrain is less interesting and (I believe) it gets less snow.

You ask the question above. Fair enough, but then you write:

Silver gets somewhat more snow. . .

I hate to answer a question with a question, but. . .

To more directly answer your question, my assumption is based upon: (1) the snowfall history and depths both resorts were reporting over about six weeks or so before our trip, (2) Mt. Spokane's location in essentially a smallish island range, vs Silver's location just a stone's throw west of Lookout Pass, and (3) our casual conversations with locals at both hills. Not exactly scientific, I know.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

The Inland Empire is one of my favorite ski regions in North America for someone of my skill level. Juliet and I had a nice trip there in 2013: 49 Degrees. Mount Spokane, Lookout, and Schweitzer. I hit Silver a number of years later.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Mt. Spokane unquestionably gets less snow than Silver. My question is whether it gets less than Schweitzer and 49 Degrees North, probably a little bit due to

(2) Mt. Spokane's location in essentially a smallish island range.

I have ongoing extensive data for Schweitzer and limited datasets from Silver (64 months) and Lookout (50 months). That data was maintained by an avid local, Greg Marsh. I stumbled upon it in 2017, and after a couple of e-mails added it to my site. After an update in 2018, both Greg and his website disappeared in 2019.

 

[ChrisC]

To more directly answer your question, my assumption is based upon: (1) the snowfall history and depths both resorts were reporting over about six weeks or so before our trip, (2) Mt. Spokane's location in essentially a smallish island range, vs Silver's location just a stone's throw west of Lookout Pass, and (3) our casual conversations with locals at both hills. Not exactly scientific, I know.

Cost: If you have free skiing at Schweitzer, I would probably always take that over Silver, 49, and Spokane.

Snow: Silver>Schweitzer>49/Spokane. Schweitzer is at the southern end of the Selkirks (?) - which form almost a wall to lift moisture. And they have a snowcat operation off the backside.

Weather: if it's snowy, both 49/Spokane can be fun. In spring or sunny weather, Mt. Spokane could be better since it is a 360-degree cone, so you can follow the sun.

Management: Mt. Spokane is a nonprofit organization located within a state park. They have expanded primarily by buying 2nd hand lifts (like every remaining Riblet). Akin to Discovery Basin.

Location: Mt. Spokane is conveniently close to the Spokane airport, making it easy to add a half-day trip. It's on the way to Sandpoint/Schweitzer. If heading up to Canada (Red/Whitewater), then 49 makes more sense.

On a snowy weekday, you might be able to lap the HSQuad at 49.

Schedule: Check operations. Mt. Spokane has a unique schedule, especially on weekdays. But offers night skiing often.