UPDATED: 12:02 P.M.

The snow is falling in the mountains!

A check of webcams shows fresh snow on the ground at Paradise at Mount Rainier National Park. Crystal Mountain webcams are harder to read, but consider their Facebook post from a short time ago:

“It officially just started DUMPING!!! If this keeps up all day like it’s supposed to, we’ll be in really good shape for opening on Friday.”

Here is a post from White Pass:”Just started snowing and it’s COMING DOWN!!!”

You have to love their enthusiasm.

The folks at Crystal Mountain announced yesterday they plan to …

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UPDATED: 2:20 P.M.

Crystal Mountain officials are counting on a mid-week storm to bring enough snow to allow a limited opening Friday. The ski area announced its plans this afternoon based on the winter storm forecast for Wednesday and Thursday.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch for Wednesday and Thursday in the Cascades. The forecast for the Snoqualmie Pass area calls for almost 2 feet of snow those days, with more snow through the weekend.

Currently there is just over a foot of snow in Green Valley.

“It’s a bold move to announce the …

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Crystal Mountain has received 15 inches of snow so far, but still needs more to open.

This morning, the ski area was reporting 14 inches of snow at the summit and 10 inches at the base.

“It’s starting to look really good out there but we still need roughly another foot to open,” said a notice on the ski area’s website this morning. “We are expecting a little snow today and tomorrow, but the storm Wednesday looks like it could bring a foot or more.”

Ski Magazine’s top 30 resorts issue came out earlier this month. The story listed the top 30 ski resorts in North America and the top 10 ski areas in 20 categories.

Below I’ve listed how all of Washington’s ski areas fared.

What’s that you say? “Hey, you didn’t list anybody.” That’s because nobody in Washington made the list.

To be fair to SKI Magazine, these lists are determined by their readers not their writers and editors.  But each year all I seem to learn from this issue is that SKI readers don’t ski the Northwest …

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Not sure what to this holiday weekend, hike, boat, ski? This year will be the second time in Crystal Mountain history skiers and snowboarders can celebrate Independence Day on snow.

The Mount Rainier Gondola and Green Valley will be open for skiing Saturday-Monday.

More than 600 inches of snow has fallen since Crystal opened Nov. 19, breaking the previous snowfall record of 598 inches. Set in 1999, that record season was the only other time the slopes were open on July 4.

Lift tickets for skiing are reduced to $35. The base area will host a barbecue and live …

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Crystal Mountain set a new record for snowfall passing the 600-inch mark Friday morning, said resort spokeswoman Tiana Enger.

The ski area is still open for operation and will run four lifts this weekends. It is the only ski area in the state still operating.

The previous record for snow fall was 596 inches set in 1999 when the resort was open for skiing until July 14.

Season passes for Crystal are currently on sale, but prices increase by $100 on June 1.

UPDATED AT 2:43 P.M.: Crystal Mountain ski area has announced it will open on Friday, serving skiers and snowboarders with four chair lifts. Tickets will be just $20 for opening day.

After getting 16-18 inches of snow in the last 24 hours, the ski area this afternoon is reporting 16 inches of snow at the base and 35 inches at the summit. The Discovery and Quicksilver chairlifts will open at 9 a.m. and Chinook Express and Forest Queen around 11 a.m., said Tiana Enger, spokeswoman for the area.

Mount Baker is scheduled to open a day later, starting …

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Coverage of the North Face Masters of Snowboarding event held at Crystal Mountain last month will airs tonight on Comcast Sportsnet’s Northwest region.

The show airs at 8 p.m. It will be shown again Saturday at 4:30 p.m. and Sunday at 5:30 p.m.

New this season, the Mountain Sports International Big Mountain Series is an eight-show action sports television series showcasing the big mountain skiing and snowboarding.

The fourth of eight shows, featuring the second stop of The North Face Masters of Snowboarding from Crystal Mountain.

On Feb. 12, after a storm dumped feet of new snow on Crystal …

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