Judd's "Best of Snow" awards

Look: Over there, on the horizon.

Serious snow flurries. Major hype dumps.

It means the big 2005-06 snow season has — brace yourself for this, preferably in a thigh-building wall-sit — already arrived, sneaking in when you weren't looking, like all those blasted Christmas decorations at Costco.

Will it last? Only the gods — and by this we refer to Larry Schick and his two best friends — know for sure.

But let's face it: After last season's winter-that-wasn't, healthy doses of skepticism are in order. Some of you, in fact, might have been tempted to put the Volkls up for sale and just move on to the inevitable: year-around lowland sports, such as — and we join you in cringing at the very thought — golf.

Well, step away from those plaid pants, at least one perpetual optimist advises.

"Last year was a freak," says our oft-cited snowfall-accumulation, ahem, expert, Mr. Schick, who knows a thing or two about freaks.

Schick, a former local TV weathergoof and current keeper of the Northwest deep-dump flame via his "Powder Alert" service at www.skiwashington.com, weeks ago predicted a more "normal" snowfall year than the last one.

So he's already wrong on one count: This year is also a freak — in the good, Bode Miller sort of way. The opening of most of Washington's ski resorts two weeks before Thanksgiving was anything but normal. It was practically unprecedented.

Alas, as we all know, it could turn around with one big late-November wet/warm surge, the kind that sends cows scurrying onto their critter pads in the lower Snoqualmie Valley.

But Schick and others say the weather patterns are, for once, working with us. His '05-'06 prediction: Neither a La Niņa nor El Niņo shall this winter be. Try "La Nada," or a normal winter, if such a thing even exists anymore.

Schick is rolling in the early dumpage and urging the Northwest snow faithful to block out all the hype about global warming, and even exercise selective amnesia about that big, fat season's pass that became a $700 wall hanging for many of us last winter.

"Let's move on," implores Commander Larry, who, now that we think about it, bears an uncanny resemblance to Dr. Phil. "The atmosphere has no memory of the past! It's a clean, new slate."

We'll take his word for it.

Well, no we won't. But the early November whitewashing of the Cascades is as good as it gets, omen-wise. Plus, Larry's bold prediction of a full season of rock-free runs is backed up by another trusted source, Mark Moore of the Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center.

Moore notes that the jet stream, the wonderful ocean current that occasionally sends Oldsmobile Bravadas skidding down Sommerset Heights and regularly turns our local slopes into the nation's greatest collective Slip 'n' Slide, has its hose-nozzle-end pointed right back at us, where it belongs.

Keep it there, and maybe we'll start believing again.

An upbeat attitude is necessary for other reasons: Thanks to last year's snow drought, which sucked resort coffers drier than Ellensburg in August, the biggest change you're likely to see at your favorite mountain this year is a boosted ticket price.

One notable exception: Mission Ridge, home of very fine snow, just not enough of it, finally took the financial leap necessary to perhaps compete with other Northwest resorts, picking up a secondhand express quad from Winter Park, Colo. The mountain also installed a major snowmaking system, which just might give Mission the stump coverup it's always needed.

Bottom line: We're with Larry on this one. You've got to believe. Turns are being made, and turning shall continue. And in keeping with that theme, we're revamping our traditional snow-resort Best/Worst Awards to be (almost) exclusively bests, just to keep that upbeat juice flowing.

Think continued cold and damp, and pass the envelopes, please:

Best Snow, Deep division: As always, Mount Baker.

Best Snow, Dry division: White Pass. Honorable mentions: Sun Valley, Idaho; Mount Bachelor.

Best Snow, Redi-Mix Division: The Summit at Snoqualmie. If truth-in-advertising laws applied, all runs would be named "Spackle."

Best Commute, Greyhound Division: Silver Mountain, Idaho.

Best Commute, James Bond Division: Mount Baker.

Best Night Skiing: The Summit. Night skiing is what it is — cold, miserable, damp and uncrowded — anywhere you do it. So don't spend all day getting there.

Best Seattle Commuter Area: Stevens Pass.

Worst Seattle Commuter Area: Whistler Blackcomb. Yeah, sure, they're fixing the road. So come back after 2010.

Best Romantic Ski Weekend Getaway: Timberline Lodge, Mount Hood. The very best thing in Oregon, excepting perhaps the Columbia outlet.

Best Resort Turnaround: Crystal Mountain, which feels regularly like it's run by smart businesspeople who actually ski or ride.

Best Place to Use Frozen-in-place Gapers as Natural Slalom Gates: Razorhone Canyon, Mount Baker.

Best Clear-day Views: Tie — the top of Whistler Peak, the Summit House at Crystal Mountain and the top of Chair 8 at Mount Baker.

Best Weatherperson: Rebecca Stevenson, KING-TV. Oh, sure, guys like Rich Marriott and our friend Andy Wappler might have more snow-forecasting chops, but they lack that one essential, technical meteorological ingredient: dimples.

Best Place to Let Those Retro 207s Get Out and Run: Mount Bachelor, after all these years, still the place where cruisers go to die — or come back to life.

Best Place to Re-enact CNN Anchor Anderson Cooper Getting the Color Blown Clean Out of His Hair by Major Hurricane: The parking lot at Timberline during a January Southwesterly.

Best Way to Ensure Your Cellphone Will Never Ring on the Chairlift: Ski at Blue Mountain or 49 Degrees North.

Best Place For a Low-tech, Oldtime, Family Friendly Ski Night: Leavenworth Ski Hill. When the snow level dips enough to paint the old hill white, it's like stepping back into 1935 — but still having good modern painkiller drugs back at the motel.

Best Way to Restore Faith in the Extended Family Ski Trip: Book a week at Silver Star, B.C.

Best Overall Resorts, Hardcore Snowrider's Division: Crystal Mountain, Mount Bachelor.

Best Overall Resort, Horizon Frequent-flier Division: Big Sky, Mont.

Best Overall Resort, Delta Frequent-flier Division: Park City, Utah.

Best Overall Resort, Poser Division: Whistler Blackcomb.

Best Day Lodges: White Salmon, Mount Baker. Seattle Ridge, Sun Valley. Although we, too, are itching to plop the boots down in Crystal's new Campbell Basin digs.

Worst Day Lodges, All-Time: The Summit at Snoqualmie.

Best Places You've Been Meaning to Try, and Still Really Should: Willamette Pass, Ore.; Sun Peaks, B.C.; Mount Washington, Vancouver Island.

Best Place to Throw a Wheelbarrow Full of Seasons' Pass Funds Down a Rathole: The First National Bank of Stevens Pass, where owners last spring Grinched loyal skiers by refusing to extend season's pass privileges to this season after the disastrous low-snow year.

Best Resort You'll Never Set Foot In (Unless You're Carrying Your Boss's Bags): Yellowstone Club, Mont.

Best One-stop, Low-budget, All-around Snowplay Destination: Paradise parking lot, Mount Rainier National Park.

Best Cross-country Destination: Methow Valley, which, one of these days, bonehead radio advertising people will learn to correctly pronounce, "MET-how," not "METH-ow" or "Met-TOW."

Best Sunburn Potential: Big White, B.C.; Schweitzer Mountain and, of course, Sun Valley, Idaho.

Best Lodging, Foofoo Division: Whistler Blackcomb.

Best Lodging, Real-world Division: Big White, B.C.

Best Lodging, Lodge Division: Timberline, Ore.

Best Halfpipe: Superpipe, Central Park, The Summit. Now lighted at night, so you can better see the frozen-steel snow rushing up to meet your head.

Best Annual Events: Spring Carnival, White Pass. The Legendary Banked Slalom, Mount Baker.

Best Youth Ski Racing: Hands down, Crystal Mountain, which has produced three current potential Olympic-level racers for the U.S. ski team.

Best Terrain Variety: It's pretty hard to deny Whistler Blackcomb.

Best Place to Flash Freeze Your Head Harder Than a Block of Green Giant Broccoli: The Magic Mile, Timberline.

Best Sewing-machine-knee Steeps: Alpental.

Best Warren-Miller-movie Steeps: Big Sky, Mont.

Best Candidate for Water-Slide Conversion if Current Global Warming Trends Hold True: The Summit at Snoqualmie.

Best Place to Run Into Phil Mahre on the Lift: White Pass.

Best Way to Lose 20 Bucks: Racing Phil Mahre down Hourglass.

Best Low-budget, Bode Miller Fantasy Experience: City League ski racing, www.cityleague.com.

Best Ski Shop: Sturtevant's Sports, Bellevue.

Best Rental-gear Operation: Mount Bachelor.

Best Place to Drop 45 Bucks on Lunch: (tie) Sun Valley, Idaho, Deer Valley, Utah.

Best On-mountain Coffee Stand: Raven's Hot, Mount Baker.

Best Beginner Area: Crystal Mountain.

Best Local Ski Legends: Otto Lang, West Seattle. Warren Miller, Orcas Island.

Best Reason to Call in Well: 18 inches new at Red Resort (the stupidly renamed former Red Mountain), B.C.

Best Apres-ski Food: Milano's in Glacier on Mount Baker Highway.

Best Still-Available New Run Names: Glove Liner. Snotsickle. Angst. Speed Dial. Uh-oh. Upper Mid Lower. Chef's Surprise. Rough chop. Insanity Defense. Limps Plus. Mag-and-Bag. Phlegmtastic. Weenie Boy. Category 5. Upchuck. Patdown.

Best Guaranteed Way to Get Rid of Tiresome Significant Other: Volunteer to be his/her personal ski instructor for the weekend.

Best Gore-Tex Test Kitchen: Base area, elevation 2,200 feet, Whistler Blackcomb, where the sheets at the Marriott almost, but not quite, make up for the sheets of rain.

Best Skier Airline: Horizon. Let's face it, nobody else flies to Redmond, Ore. And you get to pick up your stomach off the little rack as you exit the aircraft.

Best Little-Known Horizon Feature: The Dash-8 is actually small enough to drop you curbside at the Inn of the Seventh Mountain in Bend.

Best Questionable New Horizon Innovation: Wingtop Thule Racks.

Best Ski Car, Historical Division: Chevy Suburban.

Best Guess at Fuel Cost to Drive Best Ski Car, Historical Division, to Mission Ridge and Back: $235.

Best Reason to Major in International Finance: Owning a Chevy Suburban.

Second Best Reason: The $1,875 season's pass at Sun Valley.

Best Deal: Fifth-graders still ski or ride for free at Mount Baker.

Best Deal You Already Missed: The '06 "Big S" pass at The Summit, $299 until the early snow dump finally stopped last week. There's always next year.

Ron Judd: 206-464-8280 or rjudd@seattletimes.com.