Mount Snow GM Kelly Pawlak writes on her blog: "Thank you for all the snowdances, prayers and for all that had faith in winter. She has arrived and graced us with over 17” of snow."
Finally. We’re skiing and snowboarding on “pow pow” today!!!
And just when we were starting to think winter wasn’t going to return to New England.
This weekend is probably the best one, condition wise, this season. But as we all know with skiing in New England, there’s always something. This time it’s bitter cold temperatures.
The National Weather Service says wind chills in northwest and southern Vermont could hit minus 19 degrees. Actually, that sounds worse than it really is. Just take precautions and no exposed skin. On Sunday in Ski Country, it will be sunny and cold with temps in the upper single numbers. MLK Day on Monday looks sweet with partly sunny skies and temps in the 20s.
Just look at these snowfall totals from the past two days.
In Vermont: Jay, the winner with 23 inches … Stowe 18 inches … Mount Snow 17 inches … Sugarbush 16 inches … Killington 14 inches. Stratton … 11 inches.
In New Hampshire … Wildcat 13 inches … Waterville and Loon 10 inches … Mount Sunapee and Gunstock 8 inches.
Maine didn’t get slammed as much as Vermont; Saddleback got 9 inches, Sunday River got 6 inches and Shawnee Peak around 10 inches.
Massachusetts did nicely with 14 inches at Berkshire East … 7 at Jiminy Peak … Catamount and Butternut with 4 inches.
New York areas got a few inches, but not the Big Dump. Whiteface, Windham and Hunter picked up around 6 inches.
And Connecticut? Zilch.
That’s why ski areas in the Banana Belt of New England have snowmaking.
Thanks to some fresh snow (and more still coming down), trail counts are increasing across Ski County.
Video was shot Thursday at Sugarbush in Vermont.
Up to 10 inches of snow fell across northern New England allowing most resorts to open up about half their trails. That’s a big improvement from a couple of weeks ago when some areas were struggling.
Big winners in the snow totals were New Hampshire areas like Wildcat, Attitash, Cranmore, Mount Sunapee and Gunstock with up to 9 inches.
Most Vermont areas received at least a half a foot.
Areas that have massive snowmaking arsenals like Okemo, Mount Snow, Stratton and Killington in Vermont lead pack with open terrain. But if you look at Magic Mountain in central Vermont, there’s only five of 40 trails open despite the 7 inches it received Thursday. Why? You guessed it, an antiquated snowmaking system that has hurt this area for years.
Stratton opened five more trails today including Upper and Lower Liftline and Lower Kidderbrook, and Solstice Way ; Bolton in northern Vermont dropped the rope on seven more trails.
And something many have been waiting for … Outer Limits at Killington is now open. I’ll wait.
Mad River Glen in Vermont is absolutely giddy this morning.
Its report: “Finally it is GAME ON here at MRG and after what has been an interminable wait we are going to FINALLY re-open the main mountain today. We picked up 4-6″ of snow in part 1 of the storm and we are expecting another 6″ (the Single Chair Weather Blog says maybe as much as a foot) in part 2 which is expected to start later this morning and continue into the evening. It could be one of those amazing days when conditions just keep getting better and better, but be aware that temps are expected to fall precipitously throughout the day.”
In Massachusetts, Jiminy got just three inches, but that combined with their snowmaking will open up 85 percent of its trails this weekend.
Butternut in Great Barrington got 5 inches at the summit, allowing it to open all 22 of its trails, one of only three resorts in the East to achieve that. Catamount now has 25 of its 33 trails open.
Despite the rain, Connecticut areas will be in good shape this weekend.
Ski Sundown has all of its trails open. Mohawk has 13 of 25 open; Mount Southington 9 of 14; and Woodbury 10 of 15 trails. If you want to go skiing or snowboarding today here’s a $15 off coupon for Southington.
It’s the long Martin Luther King Jr. weekened, meaning resorts will be charging higher holiday rates. But don’t expect large crowds this weekend because of the combination of very cold temperatures (in the single digits Sunday) and the football playoffs.
Hopefully the Snow Gods, and the meteorologists, aren’t playing any games with us this time.
But … there’s significant snow in the forecast for upper New England Thursday into Friday. I’m trying not to get too excited, but it’s possible that more than a foot of snow could fall in the higher elevations, maybe more.
Sunrise at Stowe, Vermont this morning.
It’s one of those situations where you got to keep checking the forecasts and see if this dream forecast becomes a reality. And that means the complete forecast, not just the snow totals. For example, the NWS’s mountain forecast for Thursday calls for summits to be “in and out of the clouds” with southeast winds between 35 to 50 mph. And we all know how wind can ruin a day and put lifts of hold.
But if you really want to get teased, read Josh Fox Single Chair Weather Blog from Mad River Glen in Vermont where he says “it’s possible” this storm could drop between 10 and 20 inches.
In southern New England it’s also possible that ski areas can pick up a few inches of fresh snow before it changes to sleet and dreaded rain.
Overall, it looks likely this could set the stage f0r an excellent MLK weekend.
Since this could be the first big dump of the season, there could be a run on moderately priced lodging this weekend; like the chain hotels popular with skiers and snowboarders on a budget.
Naturally, skiing and snowboarding midweek is always better, both in terms of ticket deals and crowds, especially since the college kids will be heading back to school next week.
And here’s a nice incentive:
Mount Snow in southern Vermont is offering FREE midweek lodging next week. The offer, based on double occupancy, costs $75 per person, per day. You can stay between Monday and Thursday next week. But you have to book by 5 p.m. Friday. Details here.
By the way there’s interesting reading about how Mount Snow has survived this poor winter on GM Kelly Pawlak’s blog. She notes that Snow’s December temperatures average 8 degrees above normal with a series of “rain events.”
We’ve finally hit the mark – the coldest day of the season so far.
Ranging from -9.5 degrees on Mount Washington, to the single digit and teens in ski country. All we need now is some significant natural snow to get the winter in high gear.
Temperatures are expected to moderate across the East the next few days with an increasing change of light snow and snow showers.
That combined with great deals is the right combination for some good skiing and snowboarding in the days ahead.
One of the better deals is THIS Sunday at Mount Snow in southern Vermont kids pay their age for a lift ticket. That means if a kid is 12, their lift ticket is only $12. The deal is for “kids” 18 and under. Snow warns: “For some ages, valid ID may be required for verification.” If you’ve been looking to take the kids skiing or snowboarding this is it!
On Thursday at Mount Snow, college students pay just $29 for a lift ticket on Thursday with a valid ID.
Hunter Mountain in New York is also giving college students a discount; $35 tickets through Friday and from Sunday to next Friday.
At Okemo in Vermont when skiers and riders pre-buy a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday lift ticket online in advance, they pay just $49. This offer is valid every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday through the month of January.
Also at Okemo, kids ski or ride for $1 when their family stays at an Okemo Mountain Resort managed property for at least two nights in January (excluding MLK weekend). In addition, if they book three nights, everyone stays the third night free.
Jiminy Peak in northeastern Mass. has just posted a number of e-coupon days through March that can greatly reduce the price of a lift ticket. Even better, some are on weekend day. Check them out here.
Despite the lack of a major snowfall, ski areas from New York State to Maine are steadily expanding terrain thanks to continued snowmaking. Both Okemo and Stowe in Vermont are nearly the 50 percent mark of having all its trails open. Sunday River in Maine leads the pack in that state with 53 of its 132 trails. Loon and Sunapee have half their trails open in New Hampshire.
In New York, Hunter’s got 31 of 55 trails open, Belleayre has 16 and the big mountain of Whiteface is reporting 35 of 86 open.
Massachusetts areas like Butternut, Catamount and Jiminy Peak are pushing to get 75 percent of their terrain open. And in Connecticut…Ski Sundown now has all 15 trails open.
A post on Sugarbush’s Facebook page from late Wednesday: ”It was totally dumping all day at the mountain, 12″ or more and still coming down. At points, Valley House was not visible from Gate House, maybe 2″ an hour. Burlington got nothing, Boston was sunny all day, Sugarbush was in the snow globe. Last run was best and rumors of rope drops tomorrow should have pow-hounds here early. Game on!”
In southern Vermont, areas like Mount Snow, Okemo and Stratton were less fortunate with the inch or two from Wednesday’s storm.
New Hampshire areas also picked up a few inches. In fact, loon got 14 inches in the last six days.
Also this makes it a more compelling reason to head north for New Year’s weekend, especially since many resorts have rooms available.
This is the weekend when you don’t have to travel hundreds of miles to go skiing or snowboarding. Areas in southern New England, including our own state, will be open.
Don’t let this dreary drizzle get you down, the weekend forecast calls for colder temperatures that should set up some good sliding conditions.
At Mount Snow in Vermont there will be free demo boards from Burton, Forum, and Never Summer out in front of Backside Snowboard Shop. A credit card and driver’s license will be required for security deposit.
Over in at their Snowboard school they will be offering FREE group lessons at 9:15, 11:15, and 1:15. All you need to do is meet at the bottom of Launch Pad just outside the Discovery building.
Stratton in southern Vermont will also be offering a free group snowboarding lesson at 9:45 a.m Sunday.
CONNECTICUT
Ski Sundown in New Hartford will have lifts turning starting at 8 a.m. Saturday. It plans to have six trails open: Canyon Run, Nor’easter, Exhibition, Stinger, Temptor and Little Joe.
Best bet: Buy a two-hour ticket for $31, instead of an all-day one for $55. The clock starts ticking when you buy it.
Mohawk Mountain will start its 65th season on Saturday. Viewing their webcam it looks like they’ve made lots of snow. New this season is a four- and eight-hour flex tickets . The price on Friday, Saturday and Sunday is $54 for eight, $49 for four.
Best bet: Want to save money? Ski/ride midweek for $30 ($5 more than last season).
Mount Southington. Scheduled to open Thursday, Dec. 22. Print out this coupon to get $10 off an eight-hour ticket on opening day.
Woodbury. Opened weeks ago. Will have at least two trails open this weekend. Check out its livecam.
MASSACHUSETTS
Butternut will open Friday and expects to have 10 trails open. They will also have lifts turning through the weekend.
Catamount will open Saturday with nine trails and four lifts running. No word on whether there will be a discount on its $61 Saturday or Sunday ticket.
Jiminy Peak. Already open with 15 trails, the resort will start night skiing/snowboarding on Saturday. Best bet: Go online and print e-coupons. For Friday, it’s only $25 and on Sunday, it’s $40 for an eight-hour ticket or $30 for a twilight one. Note: You need to print them out 24 hours in advance.
Berkshire East will open Sunday. They made snow on on Exhibition, Big Chief, all of the base area, Competition, Upper Competition, War Dance and Upper Flying Cloud.
Tip: Got a nice discount page, including $5 off tickets for AAA members.
VERMONT and NEW HAMPSHIRE
Nearly all Vermont areas will be open this weekend. Don’t expect lots of terrain open, but nearly all have satisfying top-to-bottom runs. Killington leads the pack with just under 30 trails. Ski Vermont has all the details.
Over in New Hampshire, best bests are Bretton Woods and Loon. Ski New Hampshire has the last updates and quick links to all resorts.
Ski resorts around New England should not be crowded this weekend because many people are wrapped up in holiday plans.
A layer of fresh snow covers the mountains around Killington in Vermont Thursday morning.
Finally … some good news from Ski County … snow. And to top it off cold temperatures for snowmaking!
Sweet!
No it wasn’t a large snowfall … between 4 and 8 inches across New England … but it was just enough for skiers and snowboarders to get excited that the early season seems to have turned a corner for the better. It’s about time.
In Vermont, Smugglers is logging in with 6 inches, Killington with 5 inches, Okemo and Stowe up to 4. Unfortunately, the quick-moving storm did not live up to some forecasters predictions of more than a foot of snow.
The new snow won’t open up lots of new terrain, but the cold temperatures will allow snowmakers to cover lost ground in preparation for the holiday hoards in a couple of weeks. The long range forecast has several days of good nighttime snowmaking.
Look for trail counts to increase greatly by next weekend.
Mohawk Mountain in Connecticut had hoped to open Saturday, but that looks questionable at this point. But it is possible with its extensive snowmaking arsenal. Other state areas including Ski Sundown in New Hartford and Mount Southington are shooting for an opening next Saturday.
The outlook for the weekend looks good. Sure there still isn’t alot of terrain open, but there should be a nice packed power surface on the trails.
Sugarbush in Vermont got a few inches, but conditions seem less than ideal today. The Bush is reporting windy conditions. Check out its live cam at the base.
Okemo in Vermont is shooting to have top-to-bottom skiing/snowboarding this weekend. ”We made snow on Countdown, Drop Off, Timberline, Defiance, Lower World Cup, Upper Arrow, and Sapphire last night, and will continue to make snow on Upper Arrow, Lower World Cup, and Jolly Green Giant through today. The wind up top is brisk, so be sure to throw a neck gaitor on to stay warm while skiing the machine groomed snow on Buckhorn, Countdown, Upper World Cup, and Drop Off,” Okemo reported this morning.
Killington is now up to 15 trails with top-to-bottom skiing/snowboarding “under the guns” on Killington Peak and Snowdown. Check out the live cam of the K1 gondola heading to the summit.
More ski areas will also be open this weekend. They include:
Stratton in southern Vermont is closed today to get ready for the weekend.
“Our hard-earned base took a hit yesterday,” Stratton reports, “We will spend the day earning it back since the temperatures dropped substantially during the night giving our snowmakers their best opportunity so far. We’re letting her rip today and blasting snow from base to peak. Our crew has been out all night turning the guns on Black Bear, Polar Bear and Frank’s Fall Line (North American), and is moving onto lower mountain trails, including Grizzly Access, Suntanner and Village Walk and more.”
Mount Snow in Vermont that has been itching to go for weeks. Snow will also be firing up its new lift The Bluebird Express that, thankfully, replaces the slow moving Standard chair.
Bromley in southern Vermont will open at 9 a.m. Sunday.
Bolton in northern Vermont will open Saturday with the Mid-Mountain and Mighty Mite lifts with skiing and riding on Bear Run, Beech Seal and Mighty Mite.
Jiminy Peak in Massachusetts on its Facebook page reports: ”4″ at the base, 8″ of snow at the summit. And even better? Snowmaking weather has finally arrived! Snowguns began running about 4am. It looks like we’ll have some good nights coming up for snowmaking. Fingers crossed that we can at least open a few lower mtn trails this weekend.”
The skiers, snowboarders and resort owners are all itching to get their season off in full swing. But cold, then warm temperatures have thrown a big monkey wrench in their plans.
That means many areas have put their openings on hold until they can make more snow.
Some areas like Killington in Vermont are doing better, partly because they are concentrating on their upper mountain trails. Thirteen are open.
Other Vermont areas open include Okemo (with four trails) and Stowe (with five trails). Sugarbush hopes to reopen this weekend.
“As temperatures swung in our favor Wednesday night, the opposite happened last night, more proof that Mother Nature enjoys toying with us. After a good start to snowmaking Wednesday night and through the day on Thursday, temperatures rose Thursday night and we could not make as much snow as we had expected.
“Our hard-working mountain operations team is on the hill right now assessing conditions and we’ll have more news as soon as they report back. If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a million times: the weather this time of year is extremely unpredictable. Everyone here is ready and waiting to open and we’re doing everything in our power to get the mountain open while keeping a watchful eye on the weather’s constant mood swings.”
And what about Mount Snow, also in Vermont?
GM Kelly Pawak summed it up on her blog on the prospect of opening this weekend: ”Too early to tell. Can’t imagine how we could possibly be ready by Saturday but I will give Sunday a slight chance – we will know more by Friday.”
Over it New Hampshire, it’s the same deal. Only two areas are open; Loon and Bretton Woods, but only with a dozen trails between them.
And Massachusetts? Fuh-gedda-boud-dit. They are hoping to open next weekend.
