UPDATE (11 a.m., 12/22): Mount Rainier National Park is reporting that the gate to Paradise at Longmire is open and the snowplay area is open. Tire chains or 4WD/AWD required.

The snowplay area at Paradise will not open today as scheduled.

Following a series of storms in the last week, Mount Rainier National Park road crews have been working this week to remove fallen trees and clear snow from park roads and parking lots. They are today beginning to groom the runs at Paradise.

More than 50 inches of snow has fallen at Paradise in the last week, leaving …

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The scheduled Friday opening of the Paradise snowplay area might be delayed as crews work to clear snow off the road from Longmire to Paradise.

Winter storms have kept Mount Rainier National Park plow drivers busy clearing roads and parking areas. More than 54 inches of new snow in recent days has pushed the total on the ground to 126 inches.

The snowplay area is scheduled to open Friday, once the runs are constructed.
The first priority for park crews, however, is safe access to Paradise. These winter storms may delay the start of snowplay, said a park news …

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Anyone who has been watching the weather reports, or got the blizzard alerts Sunday, will not be surprised that the road from Longmire to Paradise is not expected to open today.

Mount Rainier National Park officials made that announcement earlier this morning.

Some of the reasons: winds whipping to 100 mph at Camp Muir and 44 mph at Paradise, on top of the 33 inches of new snow at Paradise.

According to weather data from Paradise, there is now 110 inches of snow on the ground. That should be good news for Saturday’s opening of the snowplay area, assuming crews …

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The snowplay area at Paradise, the only place to go sledding at Mount Rainier National Park, will open Dec. 21.

“We have staff coming on for training this week and next to prepare for the Dec. 21 opening,” said chief ranger Chuck Young.

“It looks like there will be plenty of snow by that date, so, barring an extreme warm spell, we should be good to go on that date,” he added.

There is currently 78 inches of snow on the ground at Paradise. Park managers like to have at least 60 inches on the ground to protect the fragile …

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The snowplay area at Paradise is scheduled to open Dec. 15, assuming there is enough snow on the ground. And if conditions continue as they are, there should be plenty of snow by then.

“We look for at least 5 feet of snow before we can safely open the area,” said Chuck Young, chief ranger at Mount Rainier.

As of this morning, after more than a foot of new snow, there was 5w inches of snow on the ground at Paradise.

Remember that park visitors are required to have tire chains when driving into the park during the winter.

UPDATED 10:29 A.M.

Mount Rainier National Park officials just announced the road to Paradise will remain closed at Longmire today.

The latest winter storm has brought 7-9 inches of new snow to Paradise, and more is expected today. The current National Weather Service forecast is calling for another 12-20 inches of snow today and tonight at Paradise.

Despite today’s closure, the park is planning for Paradise and the snowplay area to be open for the entire weekend, said Chief Ranger Chuck Young.

“The only thing that would prevent that would be if weather and snow is so extreme …

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UPDATE: The road above Longmire is expected to be closed again Monday as searchers look for a missing snowshoer.

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The snowplay area at Paradise will be open this weekend, Mount Rainier National Park announced earlier today.

While the area will be open, there will be limited runs until Paradise receives some additional snow. There is currently 72 inches on the ground. The National Weather Service forecast for Paradise calls for 4-8 inches of new snow Saturday, 2-5 inches Sunday and 2-4 inches on Monday.

The area has been closed since the Jan. 1 shooting death of law …

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There is a good chance the snowplay area at Paradise will open this weekend.

In the last 24 hours, more than a foot of snow has fallen at the popular winter play area at Mount Rainier National Park. The forecast calls for another eight-15 inches of snow.

How soon the area can open depends on just how much snow falls, said Chuck Young, the park’s chief ranger.

Crews will not start grooming the snowplay area runs Saturday until they have cleared the road from Longmire to Paradise. That didn’t happen until about noon today. Once the road is open, they …

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