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Mount Washington slowly reopens after heavy snowfall that stranded visitors

Victoria’s Louise Hartland made the drive home from Mount Washington Monday with good memories of a snowed-in night on the slopes. “We were supposed to leave Sunday, but there was absolutely no way,” she said.

Victoria’s Louise Hartland made the drive home from Mount Washington Monday with good memories of a snowed-in night on the slopes.

“We were supposed to leave Sunday, but there was absolutely no way,” she said. “There was no way we were getting out of our parking lot.

“The main road up has been plowed really well, but we were off on a side road.”

Some people were able to get going on Sunday, but Hartland wasn’t confident her vehicle could handle the conditions.

A scout troop was among about three dozen people who had to hunker down Saturday night on whatever floor space was available, including at the main alpine lodge and in Ted’s Bar & Grill, the resort’s pub. Some people were rescued from cars stuck on the mountain road, which had to be closed for a time.

Hartland said she had arrived with family and friends Thursday to celebrate her birthday on the mountain, which they do every year. The snow got progressively worse, she said.

She said her birthday appropriately came on Saturday, when the snow was at its heaviest.

“My mom said I was born during a snowstorm, so it was kind of apropos,” Hartland said. “We were out snowshoeing on Saturday and all of a sudden the snow just started bucketing around noon. It was just dumping down.”

The mountain was forced to close Sunday because of the wintry blast, the first time that has happened since a three-day snow closure in 1999. Mount Washington reported receiving a whopping 125 centimetres of snow over 48 hours.

Some of the ski hill was back up and running Monday.

Hartland said the snowbound mountain was a beautiful sight.

“It was the best place in the world to be stuck. We had a great condo with lots of room. We were happy campers.”

A nighttime walk Sunday was eerily quiet, Hartland said. “It was like being in a zombie apocalypse.”

Lister Farrar was able to make it back to Victoria on Sunday after staying Friday and Saturday night. Despite the closure, he still spent time in the snow Sunday.

“We’d heard that the road was not in very good a shape, so we went cross-country skiing and packed up and then headed down,” he said. “The road was still only one lane in many places and they were still towing cars off the road.”

Mount Washington spokeswoman Sheila Rivers said Monday’s re-opening included the Whiskey Jack and Hawk lifts. Other areas at higher elevations were set to remain closed through Monday, waiting for the all-clear from avalanche control.

The accumulations helped make for great skiing on Monday, Rivers said.

“It’s one of the best days we’ve had in recent memory.”

She said while a few small storms appear to be approaching, it’s nothing like what the weekend brought.

jwbell@timescolonist.com