Montana ski areas cling to spring season

MISSOULA COUNTY, Mont. — Many Montanans say this ski season hasn't been quite as good as they'd hoped for.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service's snow report for early March painted a bleak picture, reporting snow levels as low as 60% of the average.

Right now, according to Drought.gov, two-thirds of the state is in drought. All of which means that late season skiing and riding is in jeopardy.

For one Montana ski area, the season already ended 22 days early.

"I'm standing here in the middle of Lake Bridger. Let me give you some sad news. Unfortunately, we're going to have to close the season this Sunday, March 22nd," said Hiram Towle, general manager of Bridger Bowl Ski Area in a Facebook post.

Towle cited the low snowpack and dim outlook for some late season storms for pushing up the closure from April 12.

North of Missoula, Montana Snowbowl hopes to keep to their April 5 closing date. Ski School Supervisor Meaghan Leonardi credits some extra prep before opening day.

"At the end of last season we made the decision to up that snowmaking capacity so we could keep like a thick base so that we could keep going for longer in the season," Leonardi said. "We've been almost 100% open most of the season. Currently, we are 90% open and trying to keep chugging along."

Leonardi says they're paying close attention to how other areas are handling the end of the season.

"We are constantly looking at other mountains to see how they're doing with their snow, how open they are and on their closing days," she said. "I know Bridger's closing day was recent and kind of came out of nowhere, but we are trying to keep in the loop with everybody else."

But for all that's been said about this being a lackluster ski season, Leonardi says she's been having a good time.

"I personally really enjoyed this season. I feel like no matter what's the weather in town, when it's raining down there, it'll typically be snowing up here," Leonardi said. "And our snow has been surprisingly good. I feel like given the lack of snowfall, our snow base has stayed thick and great skiing."

Leonardi added that Snowbowl will make a push to stay open past April 5 if they're able.