THE SNOW MADE a valiant attempt last weekend, and now the Hurricane Ridge ski and snowboard area is much closer to opening.
Closer, but not quite.
“It’s not gonna happen this weekend,” Frank Crippen, owner of North by Northwest Surf Co. (360-452-5144) in Port Angeles, said.
Hurricane Ridge needs at least 3 feet of well-packed snow in order to open for skiing and snowboarding.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the Ridge had 28 inches, or 2 feet, 4 inches. That’s 8 inches less than is needed, provided it is well-packed snow.
If that news doesn’t sting enough, this ought to ruin your day: Hurricane Ridge would have been open an extra day this weekend in honor of Martin Luther King Day, and the fees into Olympic National Park would have been waived that day.
Talk about a wasted weekend.
“I was hoping it would open up for that three-day weekend, but no such luck,” Crippen said.
But . . . free entry
Anyway, about that other thing. You know, fees being waved at Olympic National Park.
Well, that’s pretty good news, and it extends to the state parks.
In honor of Martin Luther King Day on Monday, entry into most national and state parks will be free of cost.
Olympic National Park is offering free entry on Monday, while the state parks have two free days, Sunday and Monday.
Of course, these free days are pending good weather.
Razor dig happening
The latest razor clam dig will run through Saturday on three coastal beaches.
This dig was approved after marine toxin tests confirmed the clams are safe to eat.
On a related note, digging for the razor clams also should be safe and enjoyable.
“The timing of the upcoming dig appears to be shaping up nicely,” said Dan Ayres, state Department of Fish and Wildlife shellfish manager, said in a news release.
“After a week of 30-foot waves, the ocean is settling down with a chance of sun breaks.”
If the clams are found safe to eat, here are the dates, low tides and participating beaches:
■ Today: 6:51 p.m.; -0.1 feet; Twin Harbors.
■ Friday: 7:22 p.m.; 0.0 feet; Twin Harbors, Long Beach and Mocrocks.
■ Saturday: 7:53 p.m.; 0.2 feet; Twin Harbors, Long Beach and Mocrocks.
As usual, no digging is allowed before noon at any beach.
Diggers can take 15 razor clams per day and are required to keep the first 15 they dig.
Each digger’s clams must be kept in a separate container.
Puget Sound Anglers
The next meeting of the North Olympic Peninsula Chapter of the Puget Sound Anglers is tonight and will feature Scott Chitwood, fisheries manager for Jamestown S’Klallam tribe, who will talk about how salmon management has evolved in the Pacific Northwest.
Included in his talk will be how the North of Falcon Salmon conference process is used to set the annual salmon fishing seasons.
The meeting will be held tonight at 6:45 p.m. at the Trinity United Methodist Church (100 S. Blake Ave. in Sequim).
In addition to that meeting, the chapter will hold its annual fund-raising auction and dinner at 5 p.m. Saturday, February 22, at SunLand Golf and Country Club.
The proceeds from this auction provide the majority of funding for the annual Olympic Peninsula Kids Fishing Program held every summer at the Sequim water reclamation pond, Carry Blake Park.
Further details of the event will be announced at the end of January.
For more information about the Puget Sound Anglers, see www.psanopc.org.
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Sports Editor Lee Horton appears here Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
