The bleakest snow season in decades got a little brighter for one Western Washington ski area this weekend.

The Mount Baker Ski Area announced yesterday that, after a 2-1/2-week closure, it will reopen today at 9 a.m.

At least four of the resort's seven chairlifts will be operating, spokeswoman Gwyn Howat said.

Lift-ticket prices will be reduced, she added, but the size of the discount hadn't been determined yesterday afternoon.

Mount Baker received 15 inches of new snow Friday and early yesterday, bringing the snow base to 31 inches.

All other Western Washington ski areas remain closed, according to their Web sites and telephone-information recordings.

Information

Mount Baker Ski Area: 360-671-0211 or www.mtbaker.us

Why? "Location, location, location," Howat said. "We're in the volcano's snow shadow."

Storms that come in from the south often turn from rain to snow when they hit 10,800-foot Mount Baker and the air rises and cools, she said.

And, as the northernmost ski area in Western Washington, Mount Baker also sometimes catches the edge of colder air that drops down from Alaska, Howat said.

Eric Pryne: 206-464-2231 or epryne@seattletimes.com