April is far from the cruelest month this year for Washington skiers and snowboarders. A spring snowstorm on Wednesday and Thursday brought unseasonably cold temperatures and up to a foot of snow in parts of the Cascades, giving an extended lease on life to a lackluster ski season.
With heavy rain washing away much of the March snowfall bonanza, it looked like Cascades ski areas would limp to the finish line during a fleeting spring season. But Crystal Mountain, originally slated to wrap up on April 19, seized on the promising forecast and announced a bonus weekend on April 25-26. Expect the Mt. Rainier Gondola to whisk skiers, riders and sightseers to the top, with the Green Valley chairlift spinning for slush laps under the spring sun. Whether Rainier Express will also run depends on how much snow melts in the weeks to come.
We already knew ahead of the storm that we were going to be able to sustain Green Valley for at least one (additional) weekend, if not two," said Crystal President and COO Linnea Hansen on Thursday as snowflakes swirled around the resort's base area on a day that looked — and skied — more like January than April. "It's been an up and down season, so we decided to go out swinging with an extended weekend."
The Summit at Snoqualmie received less snow — 9 inches at the top of Alpental but only 3 inches at pass level. However, the ski area benefited from lower than usual temperatures for early April, allowing for two additional nights of snowmaking at Summit West. The extra dose of artificial snow bolstered terrain served by the Pacific Crest chairlift heading into a warm Easter weekend that may herald the end of the season. The resort management will not guarantee they can squeeze an additional weekend at Summit West and Alpental, but the prospects look better after this week.
"We need to get through Saturday and Sunday to evaluate whether we can pull something off for the following weekend," said ski area spokesperson Karter Riach.
Farther south, White Pass has been holding strong with over 90 inches of snow on the ground at midmountain. Daily operations will continue through April 12, then switch to weekends only.
"After the March storms rolled in White Pass has been 100% open — all lifts, all terrain with excellent skiing this spring," said resort spokesperson Kathleen Goyette. "If visits are strong, it’s likely we will run first weekend in May also."
In Eastern Washington, the top of 49 Degrees North nabbed 7 inches, allowing the state's second-largest ski area to push operations into April.
Others in the Cascades are staying with their original plans despite the early April refresh. Mt. Baker has the deepest base in Washington, with over 150 inches atop Pan Dome at 5,020 feet in time for Saturday's Golden Egg Hunt (grand prize: 2026-27 season pass). But the Whatcom County ski area will cease daily operations after April 12, then open for a final weekend from April 17-19. Stevens Pass will wind down the season with its annual Community Fair on April 11 and Spring Fest pond skim on April 12.
Sticking with closing dates set at the beginning of the ski and snowboard season was no mean feat across the West, with Washington faring better than most other states. Dozens of ski areas have already closed or are calling it quits this weekend, including destination resorts like Beaver Creek, Snowmass, Steamboat and Telluride in Colorado; Deer Valley, Snowbasin and Sundance in Utah; Schweitzer, Idaho; and Taos, New Mexico. Ski areas known for long spring seasons like Palisades Tahoe, California will close a month early, while Mt. Hood Meadows, Oregon will close three weeks early on April 12.
Not everyone in Washington fared as well in the recent storm. Mission Ridge only netted an inch and will hang up the skis and boards this weekend with the annual Flamingo Days celebration. While the ski area in the eastern Cascades above Wenatchee pulled off the Bomber Banked Slalom on March 28-29, the zany Dummy Downhill was canceled.
Cancellations plagued Washington's late winter events calendar. February marquee races like Mt. Baker's Legendary Banked Slalom snowboard race, Methow Trails' Ski to the Sun cross-country marathon and Alpental's Vertfest skimo race were all scratched due to insufficient snow. With Summit East barely open this season, March competitions like the fifth PacWest Banked Slalom and nearly 20-year-old Serpentine Massacre snowskate race also fell victim.
But for those lamenting the lack of opportunities to test their mettle or show off their goofy side on the slopes, the extended season at Crystal comes with a cherry on top. In addition to the return of the swimsuits-and-skivvies Bikini Downhill (April 11), a new snowboard event debuts on Crystal's closing weekend with $10,000 worth of prizes at stake: the Mt. Rainier Berm Brawl Banked Slalom. (A skier version, the Slushhammer, is tentatively slated to debut in spring 2027.)
For Crystal's mountain operations, prepping for these events starts early in the winter as grooming equipment strategically positions snow to stockpile in anticipation of the spring — Pro Course, where the banked slalom will take place, currently sits under 8 feet of snow. And for Crystal's leadership, the motivation is simple.
"We want to keep people skiing longer," said Hansen. "We want to own spring.
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