Washington's Ski Season Is Delayed Until Further Notice

Originally posted on Powder | By Ian Greenwood | Last updated Dec 10, 2025 6:03 PM ET

For the most part, the ski season remains on ice across Washington as resorts hold off on confirming opening days.

While Mission Ridge, a mountain near Wenatchee, has plans to reopen on Friday, December 12, 2025, after previously kicking off the season, many of Washington's major ski resorts are waiting for better weather before welcoming skiers.

The problem isn’t a lack of precipitation. Instead, it’s the kind of precipitation.

“It’s raining where you are, it’s raining where we are,” the Summit at Snoqualmie, outside Seattle, wrote in a social media post this week. “We’re sitting at over 8 inches of rain since December 4. Washington is getting drenched right now.”

In an update published on Wednesday, Crystal Mountain—another resort popular amongst Seattle area skiers—advised that it’ll remain closed at least through Friday. Stevens Pass also won't be opening this week, but plans to share an update ahead of the weekend.

“After a wallop of rain on Monday and some decent overnight snow coming into Tuesday, it's a great reminder that our snowpack hinges on only a couple degrees of temp difference,” Crystal Mountain wrote, noting that soggier weather in the forecast is keeping its opening date up in the air.

The 2026 POWDER Photo Annual is here! Look for a print copy on a newsstand near you, or click here to have a copy shipped directly to your front door.

The wobbling temperatures hint that an astounding amount of snow could, but probably won’t, fall at Washington’s ski resorts if the mercury drops.

WTOL’s chief meteorologist, Chris Vickers, reported that Mount Rainier—Washington’s highest peak—could see between 106 inches and 134 inches of snow. Yet, there are no ski resorts perched on the flanks of Mountain Rainier.

The rain, meanwhile, has been heavy.

Moisture hit the state on Monday, and more is expected the rest of this week, with the National Water Center issuing flood warnings across western Washington. KOMO News reported that some parts of the state could see catastrophic flooding by Thursday morning.

In a social media post on Wednesday, Washington’s governor, Bob Ferguson, warned that “Many rivers in Western Washington are forecasted to reach major flooding levels,” asking residents to “stay alert to warnings from local officials.”

Later, Ferguson announced that he had signed an emergency declaration in response to the flooding, which allows the state to seek federal funds.