Today's snowfall proved to be good news for skiers and snowboarders.

With six inches of snow since 5 a.m., the Summit at Snoqualmie has decided to open Friday.

White Pass will have a limited opening Friday. The resort previously planned to open Saturday. Steep runs will not be open Friday at White Pass because they still need more snow to be safe.

Stevens Pass plans to open Thursday.

Crystal, Mt. Baker, Mission Ridge and 49 Degrees North are already open.

While Alpine ski resorts continue to open (White Pass opens Friday), they aren’t the only places benefiting from this week’s snow storms.

MTTA trails circa 2001. (Photo: The Legendary Skip Card)

The Mount Tahoma Trail Association in Ashford now has enough snow to make cross-country skiing possible, Bob Myrick of the MTTA said via e-mail. Often times the trails are not skiable until the last week of December or even early January.
He said there was enough snow Dec. 13 to ski from the Road 45 Gate in Ashford to the Copper Creek Hut.
A Sno-Park pass ($10 per vehicle per day) is required to park at the sno-parks when using the trail system.
The MTTA trail system is located north and south of the Highway 706, however the south country was closed since the November 2006 flood because of the washed-out bridge over Catt Creek. The bridge was repaired over the summer so three of the four huts in the south country can be accessed this winter.
Snow Bowl Hut burned to the ground earlier this year and the MTTA is working to rebuild the hut.
The huts are available for day use. You can stay overnight in the huts for $5 per night plus a $20 refundable deposit. For more info visit mtta.org.

From Whistler Blackcomb:

Early this morning, the British Columbia Safety Authority (BCSA), in conjunction with Whistler Blackcomb, will complete a secondary inspection of mountain lifts currently in operation. A preliminary inspection across Whistler and Blackcomb was undertaken throughout the night by a team of 20 lift maintenance staff. After determining the cause of yesterday’s tower failure on Blackcomb Mountain’s Excalibur Gondola, and reviewing all similar tower structures to confirm that no similar issues exist, the BCSA is expected to confirm Whistler Blackcomb’s findings that the integrity of other towers have not been compromised.

Whistler Mountain will open for regular morning operations as early as 7:30am, as the Whistler Village Gondola and the Creekside Gondola are different types of lift installations and have different tower structures. Remaining Whistler Mountain lifts as well as Blackcomb Mountain lifts are expected to open when the secondary inspection by BCSA is complete; Whistler lifts by 8:30am and Blackcomb lifts by midday. The one exception is the Excalibur Gondola, which will remain closed.

Read more about Tuesday's collapse here.