Only Mother Nature knows if it’ll be turkey legs or ski poles next week

Will skiers be carving slopes along with turkeys next week?

“We still need another two feet of snow for that to happen,” said Tiana Anderson, spokeswoman for Crystal Mountain Resort, on Thursday.

“It’s a waiting game and a guessing game,” she said.

The waiting is for more storms. The guessing is if they’ll be cold enough to drop snow instead of rain.

Conflicting weather reports suggest either scenario is possible before Thanksgiving.

“Anything could happen in a week,” she said.

On Thursday, Crystal only had one to two inches at its base and six to eight inches at the summit. But crews were busy making snow.

October’s record-breaking rain means running creeks and full water tanks.

“We push it around it around and spread it out,” Anderson said.

Normally, Crystal needs two feet of snow at its base before it can open for the season.

“If it comes in wet and heavy we can sometimes get away with 15 to 18 inches,” Anderson said.

The long range forecast is calling for a light La Nina season which usually means lots of snow, Anderson said.

“Assuming this fall is the same pattern we should have a great ski season to look forward to.”

The Summit at Snoqualmie was reporting one to 11 inches on Thursday with temperatures at or below freezing.

White Pass was reporting a depth of two to 11 inches on Thursday with snow falling and temperatures ranging from 25 to 29 degrees.

This story was originally published November 17, 2016 at 4:45 PM with the headline "Only Mother Nature knows if it’ll be turkey legs or ski poles next week."