Saturday's sold-out Pond Skim put an exclamation point on another snowy and profitable season at White Pass Ski Area.
Spokesperson Kathleen Goyette said the 2022-23 winter brought the second-most visitors ever, behind only the 2020-21 season when skiers and snowboarders flocked to the mountain during widespread COVID-19 closures. Those high numbers carried over to areas throughout the region, and Goyette said they saw increasing profits across the board in every department.
"It's a good time to be in outdoor recreation, I think," Goyette said. "Not just the ski industry."
Mission Ridge marketing director Tony Hickok said consistent snow and cold temperatures kept skiers and snowboarders coming back for their busiest year ever, thanks in part to a 135-day season for the first time in 25 years. Significant snowfall allowed Mission Ridge to open on Nov. 19 — White Pass opened Dec. 2 — and it won't close until after this weekend's annual Flamingo Days, including a scavenger hunt featuring free season passes and other prizes.
White Pass plans to host a similar Yeti Hunt and reward winners with a season pass on its last weekend this Saturday and Sunday. The mountain got enough snow in early April that Goyette said they gave serious thought to staying open for the first weekend of May.
Strong demand occasionally forced both places to stop selling daily lift tickets, especially on busy Saturdays. But Goyette said they also saw more visitors on Sunday and mid-week days, so that helped to better manage big crowds, even for the most popular times, like Winter Carnival.
"All of the events have gone extremely well," Goyette said. "We feel like we're just so fortunate to have such loyal customers and just generations of customers who share White Pass with their friends."
She expects the benefits of the mountain's recent success to include infrastructure improvements, some of which could be announced in the coming weeks. Although White Pass declined to speak about it publicly, the independently owned ski area previously submitted a proposal to the Forest Service to double the size of High Camp, its mid-mountain lodge, and build a new two-story guest services building to replace the existing small ticket window.
Construction will continue on the White Pass nordic trails, which hosted what could become an annual race for the first time in 20 years. The kids' team keeps growing and the expansion should eventually lead to an ascent of 900 feet with a high point overlooking Deer Lake and offering views of Mt. Rainier and the Goat Rocks.
"They're definitely going to work on dialing in what we did because we had some stuff that definitely needs to be addressed on the existing trail that was cut," Goyette said. "I haven't heard how much they're going to work on the additional new trail next year."
More visitors allowed the nordic center to stay open Mondays during the holiday season through President's Day, and Goyette expects that to continue next season. It remains closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
White Pass already sold out its spring allotment of season passes for next winter, and Hickok said Mission Ridge expects to do the same in the near future. He's expecting a quieter summer after Mission Ridge added lights to create the second-longest vertical night skiing in the country, a big reason for the mountain's increasing popularity even though it didn't come close to matching its single-day record.
"We really focus on keeping the experience quality and to avoid overcrowding," Hickok said. "We saw people enjoying more of the season."
