by Albert Neubert
Spring skiing and snowboarding has arrived and local skiing is in countdown mode to the end of the season over the next few weeks. Places like Mount Peter, in Warwick, Holiday Mountain near Monticello and the Victor Constant Ski Slopes at West Point have closed. This coming weekend will mark another round of closings for areas like Mohawk, in Cornwall, Connecticut and Thunder Ridge, in Patterson, New York.
The massive Nor’easter, also known as Winter Storm Sage, extended the winter experience another week into March, but last week’s warm-up, with temps going to the upper 50s and even low 60s transformed the local slopes into typical spring conditions. When you see ski reports that say “spring conditions,” that really means highly variable snow conditions that encompass a range from rock hard marble like surfaces to heavy and deep “corn” snow. Its called corn snow because it resembles kernels of corn when if freezes and thaws and refreezes into tiny ice balls that change in consistency depending on temperature and sun.
The skiing and snowboarding season is likely to last a few more weeks in the Catskills with Hunter, Belleayre, Plattekill and maybe Windham staying open and with deep bases on a lot of their terrain. If you head further north to the Adirondack Mountains of New York, the Green Mountains of Vermont, the White Mountains of New Hampshire and Maine and places like Saddleback, Sunday River and Sugarloaf, all in Maine, the season will extend through April and even into the first week of May.
Killington, in Central Vermont, will try to make it to June on their Superstar trail, where the World Cup women’s giant slalom and slalom events are held in late November, and their operations team buries the slope with as much as 30 feet of snow. I skied at Killington on April 28th last season on a day that had temps never breaking 30, after a five inch snowfall and there were still about 30 runs open. Superstar made it to the first weekend in June and it looked like a beach party on the last day. If you’re into hiking to ski in late spring, there’s always Tuckerman’s Ravine, on the shoulder of Mountain Washington, the highest peak in the Northeast at 6,288 feet. Snow can be as deep as 75 feet in some years in the ravine and there are times you can still ski there on July 4th .
Spring skiing can offer the best skiing and riding of the season. You often have temperatures that can go into the low 60s, like it did last week, overnight freezes that set up the groomed snow on trails to a crisp granular corduroy and a sun that is brighter in the sky and lasts longer throughout the ski day. There’s nothing like riding up a chair on a sunny, mild spring day and coming down with perfect visibility on the slopes.
However, you have to think differently during the waning weeks of the spring skiing period. First, rethink your expectations of a full day of hitting the slopes and instead consider keeping your experience to about two hours. Get out early when the trails have a firm corduroy groom because once the late March and April sun hits them they soften up quickly and can get heavy and sticky. Once that happens you will encounter thick corn snow and for a while it can feel like you’re skiing or snowboarding in sand with molasses in it.
Learn to “play” the sun. Note the exposure of the ski area and that of each trail you plan on skiing or riding. The less exposed to the sun, the better the snow conditions will hold up. A northwest exposure is the best. Eastern exposures get the early morning sun which quickly softens up the snow. Southern exposures are the worst while a northern exposure is very good.
Some ski areas, like Thunder Ridge and Mohawk, have western exposures and are terrific for skiing a morning session in the springtime. Hit the trails that have the least exposure to the sun early and move to those trails that stay in the shade as long as possible. Areas that always soften up quickly in the springtime are the bases around the lodges and lifts and the unloading areas at the top of lifts, because they have the most oblique angle to the sun. I also find that skiing the edges of trails where the trees
provide some shade are also a way to capture better snow conditions later into the morning
hours.
The sun is your enemy during the spring skiing period, except for when you are taking breaks or finish for the day and enjoy a barbeque and libations on the base lodge deck. The early bird gets the worm is very on message when it comes to spring skiing and snowboarding. While conditions may be firm and fast for the first 30 minutes of the day there’s a transition period that can last an hour or more, and you will get to enjoy some of the best conditions of the entire season.
During that period the snow surfaces will become soft and buttery and delightful to make turns in and any icy patches or hard pack become easy to carve. Take stock of your endurance and fatigue because once the surfaces yield to heavy granular and corn snow conditions, your legs will get rubbery very quickly and your skis or board can easily sink into piles of sand like and sticky snow and potentially cause serious leg twisting injuries. Your goal should always be to finish satisfied and with a smile!
I skied at Mohawk last week on one of those perfect spring skiing days where it just dipped below freezing the night before and temps rose to the mid-50s by about noon. The skies were slightly overcast, which was a good thing and there was no wind whatsoever. Mohawk’s operations team did a terrific job of building deep manmade snow bases during this tough season and there were 21 slopes available and three triple chairs spinning, two of them to the summit. There was a decent turnout for a midweek day, but not enough to create any wait on a lift or to chew up the softening snow and make it even heavier.
It was definitely a top-three-of-the-season day for me as I got in about 15 runs by 12:30 after a 10:30 a.m. start (Mohawk opens at 10:00 a.m. on midweek days) and I had one hour of the best snow conditions you can ever encounter, as good as any packed powder day in mid-winter. I absolutely love Mohawk for its scenic setting, fall-line terrain and the overall great job the management does with snowmaking and grooming. I also get to ski there using my Indy Pass, the best season pass bargain in the industry.
I headed over to Windham for a few late session turns on Sunday, when temperatures soared into the 50s under bright blue skies. Not surprisingly, conditions were very heavy so I skied very carefully and on easier slopes. The slopes were pretty much empty by the late afternoon and I managed to get in a good workout, trying to maintain my form in the thick surface snow. With the days of the season dwindling, I was taking advantage of a short window to do a little classic spring skiing.
Spring has sprung on the slopes, and happy skiing and riding!
You can contact me at asneubert@aol.com or you can visit my Instagram page at asneubert
