Two dates set up the north shore's winter. One is Saturday, Nov. 21, when the Echo Valley Ski Swap fills the Manson Grange from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The other is Saturday, Dec. 19, which Echo Valley lists as its tentative opening day. The gear changes hands and the season memberships get bought between those two Saturdays. All of it happens before the hill on Cooper Gulch Road knows whether it will have snow.
That's how a volunteer ski hill works. Echo Valley is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has run since 1955, and the Lake Chelan Lions Club sponsors it. When the hill was hiring for last season, it put the whole operating model in one line:
"Our operations schedule is highly dependent on the weather. Without snow, we can't open… think Snow!!"
That line is on Echo Valley's employment page. This year the forecast behind it looks shakier than usual, and that matters most for everyone making a November decision.
The November calendar runs through Manson
Before the hill opens, everything happens on the north shore. The swap is a consignment sale. You bring in used or new gear, it gets tagged, and you either pay a consignment fee if it sells or pick it up after the sale. The schedule this month:
- Wednesday, Nov. 18, 1 to 4 p.m.: gear drop-off at 134 Summer Breeze Road in Manson.
- Friday, Nov. 20, 5 to 6:30 p.m.: gear drop-off at the Manson Grange.
- Saturday, Nov. 21, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.: the sale itself at the Manson Grange. Cash and all major credit cards accepted.
- Friday, Nov. 27: last day for early-bird pricing on 2026/27 Echo Valley memberships.
- By Tuesday, Dec. 1: Echo Valley's target date for announcing drop-in lesson availability.
This year the swap won't take gear on sale day, so anything you plan to sell has to come in on Wednesday or Friday. If your garage holds outgrown boots and short skis from last winter, those two windows are your only chance to get them into the sale.
What the hill is waiting on this year
The snow question is bigger this year. In its Nov. 2, 2026 update, NOAA's Climate Prediction Center listed an El Niño Advisory. It said El Niño "continues to strengthen" and gave a strong-to-very strong El Niño a greater than 83% chance of lasting through January to March 2027. NOAA updates those statements on the second Thursday of each month, which this month is Nov. 12, so a new reading comes out the day this post does.
The Washington State Climate Office's Early October Climate Outlook uses a familiar year as its benchmark. On Oct. 1, 2026, sea surface temperatures in the Niño 3.4 region were 3.33°C above normal. That beats the peak anomaly of the very strong 2015 El Niño, which was 3.04°C on Nov. 19, 2015, and this year's reading came more than a month earlier in the season. For October through December, the office's outlook leans warmer than normal statewide and drier than normal across the eastern half of the state. It also says these conditions raise the chance of above-normal temperatures and below-normal snowpack in Washington this winter.
Both outlooks cover the whole state, and they put the odds against an early snowpack. The hill's own history shows what a slow start looks like on Cooper Gulch Road.
When the snow has come late before
Lake Chelan Now reported in December 2018 that Echo Valley had pushed back its scheduled opening because it needed more snow. A follow-up from the same outlet set the opening for Thursday, Dec. 27, with the rope tows and tubing hill running, and said the hill needed a bit more snow to open the Poma.
The 2023-24 season started the same way. On Dec. 26, 2023, Lake Chelan Now reported that the area had "just enough snowfall" to open the tubing hill that Tuesday while downhill skiing waited for more snow. By the weekend of Jan. 6 and 7, 2024, the hill was offering tubing and only Rope Tow 2 for skiing, according to the same outlet.
A good year looks different. Lake Chelan Now's Jan. 3, 2025 report had all the rope tows and the Poma running that weekend.
Across those seasons, tubing tends to open first, then the rope tows, and the Poma comes last. The six-lane tubing hill runs on the least snow, and the 1,400-foot Poma needs the most. The tubing hill is open to kids 3 and older.
The numbers behind the Nov. 27 deadline
Here's what the hill lists for 2026/27:
| Option | Price |
|---|---|
| Full-day lift ticket | $40 |
| Late-arrival lift ticket, after 1 p.m. | $30 |
| Full-day tubing | $20 |
| Individual membership, early-bird / full | $140 / $175 |
| Family membership, early-bird / full | $360 / $475 |
At $40 a day, an early-bird individual membership costs the same as three and a half full-day tickets, so it pays for itself on the fourth day on the hill. At the $175 full price, that becomes the fifth day. Kids 5 and under ski free, and kids 3 to 5 tube free.
The calendar is what makes those break-even points meaningful. Echo Valley plans to run daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Dec. 19 through Jan. 3, which is 16 straight days. After that it switches to weekends and holidays, with Presidents weekend as closing weekend "if the weather permits." The parking lot opens at 9 a.m., and the lifts and tubing hill start at 10. That holiday stretch is the hill's longest run of operating days, and in 2018 and 2023 it was also when the late December snow decided how much of the hill could open.
Memberships come with a few extras. Individual memberships include one Buddy Pass and family memberships include three, each good for a single day. Members also get reciprocal access at participating nonprofit ski areas. The hill also offers a volunteer deal for 2026/27. Early-bird buyers, individual or family, who put in three hours per person keep their early-bird rate until next season's price increase. So for a family that already helps out, the membership is partly paid in work hours, and the snow doesn't change that.
Getting up Cooper Gulch Road from Manson
Echo Valley is at 1700 Cooper Gulch Road, about 10 miles from either Manson or Chelan. From Manson, the hill gives these directions:
- Head toward Chelan on Highway 150.
- Turn left on Winesap Road at Lake Chelan Winery and go about three miles.
- Turn left at the stop sign and drive about two miles to Cooper Gulch Road.
- Turn left and follow the ski area signs.
At the top there's a day lodge with a log-sized fireplace and a food concession, Terri's Treats, which serves hot lunches. Group lessons are listed at $35 for 1.5 hours, for ages 5 and up, starting at 10:30 a.m. or 1 p.m. The hill says drop-in availability will be posted by Dec. 1.
Two miles past the ski hill, the Nordic side
The same road continues to Echo Ridge. The Nordic trailheads are about two miles beyond the downhill area, up a Forest Service road, with Lower and Upper trailhead lots that each hold about 50 vehicles, according to the Washington Trails Association. The U.S. Forest Service lists 25 miles of groomed winter cross-country trail there, groomed by the Lake Chelan Nordic Club.
The Nordic club's pricing is built around the same uncertainty about snow. Its 2026-27 Echo Ridge season pass went on sale Nov. 1. It costs $150 for one adult, includes club membership, and covers unlimited Nordic skiing, snowshoeing and fat biking. Day passes are $20 per adult for skiing and $15 for snowshoeing or fat biking, and anyone 17 or under is free. The club doesn't sell day passes until grooming starts. That way, anyone who wants to wait for snow can pay by the day once the trails are actually groomed.
The club's winter gathering lines up with the downhill calendar. Soup Saturdays at the Yurt are scheduled from Dec. 19, 2026, through Feb. 27, 2027, from 11 a.m. to about 1 p.m. once grooming begins. Donations are accepted, and the club is looking for volunteers to host soup. The first one is set for the same day as Echo Valley's tentative opening, so Dec. 19 is the date to watch on both sides of Cooper Gulch Road.
I'll be watching the snow on Cooper Gulch Road this winter too. If you're working out how a lake home fits around Echo Valley weekends, Echo Ridge trail days and the Manson calendar, I'm happy to talk it through with you. Let's Connect with Nick Bowler.
