Welcome to March, one of the most fickle months of the year when it comes to weather. It’s a time when just about anything can happen ranging from temperatures in the seventies to blizzards.
Last week’s series of blessed snowstorms was one for the record books with epic snowfall. Vermont ski resorts were the big winners with storm totals topping off at 59 inches at Killington, 52 at Bolton Valley, 40 at Mount Snow and 36 at Okemo and Magic.
I was fortunate to ski Killington for three days over the weekend to wallow in this incredible snow. I was able to enjoy trails I haven’t skied in years, many under the lifts. And tree skiing? It was everywhere. I also rode the South Ridge chair, infamous for its two quick sudden turns.
One of the best places to see how much snow fell was at the summit where a small hut had to be dug out, pictured above. And on the super easy Solitude trail, pictured below, where trees were encased with snow. 
Heading into the trees, you prayed you wouldn’t lose a ski because it would be near impossible to find anything in the deep snow.
The amazing thing: most of this heavy snow was confined to the mountains. While Killington got up to 59 inches, drive down to Rutland a few miles away and you actually saw bare ground! The reason? Rutland and the valleys saw lots of rain while colder temperartures in the mountains kept it all snow.
That’s the way it’s usually in March and one of the reasons people in southern Connecticut stop thinking about skiing and snowboarding when temperatures rise and the first flowers start poking through the ground. The reality is conditions up north are usually at their best of the season and with more comfortable temperatures and warm sunshine.
This past weekend at The Beast, conditions, were a bit challenging because an overcast sky created a flat light most of the days. That made it difficult to see moguls that grew hour by hour. Sometimes the summits of the peaks were covered by clouds that reduced visibility to about 20 feet. Other times there were breaks of sunshine.
Friday and Saturday saw more snow that upped the snow total to nearly 5 feet. Naturally, the huge snowfall sent crowds to skiers to Vermont this weekend. And judging by the traffic heading south on I-91 late Sunday afternoon, many of them were from Connecticut.
The good news is that this snow creates a good base for spring skiing and snowboarding. And March is historically the snowiest month in Vermont. So after a slow start to the season, things have turned out just nicely.
So if you haven’t done much skiing and snowboarding this season, what are you waiting for? Realize that the clock is ticking on the end of the season. With Easter earlier this year, April 4, many areas will be ending their season shortly afterwards. So if you want to enjoy prime conditions, hop like a bunny and get going.
