by Albert Neubert
The worst thaw in eastern skiing history finally ended this past weekend but not without leaving a lot of casualties in its wake. Southerly ski areas dropped like flies with the meltdown last week. Temperatures rose into the low 70s for several days and it only cooled down to the mid-sixties over the weekend and there were no freezing nights in between so melting was a round the clock affair.
Mohawk, in Cornwall Connecticut, decided to close just before the weekend and in spite of having enough snow to continue. Their decision was mainly because nobody was going to come out in the May-like weather which means very heavy snow under bright sun. Montage, in Scranton, was forced to close even though they wanted to stay open. Shawnee, near Stroudsburg in Pennsylvania and Camelback, near Tannersville, Pennsylvania, called it quits on Sunday. Elk Mountain, in Northeast Pennsylvania, closed on Saturday. Butternut, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, closed on Sunday.
Plattekill, in Roxbury, New York, on the far western side of the Catskills was devastated by the warm spell and was forced to close on Sunday. Plattekill’s owners always leave open the possibility of reopening if there’s a change in weather, like a big spring snowstorm, which they can get because of the location and high base elevation. Holiday Mountain, near Monticello, originally planned to close on Sunday but the frigid winter like temperatures that moved in this week had Mike Taylor, the new owner, change his mind. Taylor told me he was making snow this week and would open with two runs on Friday evening and stay open for the weekend. Taylor wants to make a statement that Holiday is back and better than ever and can outlast all local competitor ski areas.
Taylor said that he’s wasting no time to add to his infrastructure improvements for next season. He’s going to replace the Turkey Trot double chair with a modern quad chair, starting the project in April. He’s purchased 23 new fan guns and 85 snowmaking stick guns along with 23,000 feet of water pipe and a new and powerful water pump to add to the three he has now. He’s also looking to add another compressor to bolster the snowmaking capability.
I skied at Holiday on Saturday on a cooler day that still saw temperatures in the 60s in the Rondout Valley. It was a bluebird day and Holiday still had the Roman Candle expert run and Manny’s Run, an intermediate trail, open, along with the learning area. The triple chair and magic carpet were running to get you up the slopes. Coverage on all three slopes was still terrific, testimony to the hard work and determination that Taylor instilled into the failing resort. The new snowmaking equipment was a godsend in this unforgiving mild and wet winter. The slopes were also groomed perfectly showing how the area’s operations team climbed a steep learning curve and became experienced snow surface managers.
I took 15 straight runs, alternating between Manny’s and Roman Candle, before my legs started to get tired in the heavy snow. At this time of the year, the sun is so bright at mid-day that snow surfaces would soften up and become heavy even if the temperatures were below freezing. With temps in the low 50s, the flatter terrain became extremely heavy with wet granular snow.
Back in the base lodge, Becky Mitchell, the office manager, was getting the cafeteria and bar area ready for the St. Patrick’s Day celebration on Sunday. There were plans for a first-ever pond-skimming event on Sunday, as well. I saw the pond being readied next to the race-timing shed at the base of Roman Candle. Taylor told me on Monday that the pond skimming event was very well attended and enjoyed by all who came. He said that he looks forward to hosting more events next season.
The previous day, I went to Hunter, in the northern Catskills. That Friday temps were in the low 50s with some showers the previous night, and following two days in a row of 60 plus degree temperatures and bright sun baking the slopes. The lack of freezing temps the previous three days showed with areas being washed out and bases exposed to ice sheets. Still, there was plenty of snow and most trails had great coverage which is hard to believe after such a wicked thaw. Without a freeze, I expected soft and heavy snow right from the start but to my amazement, there were trails that were firm and fun because you could sink your edges into them and yet glide and pick up significant speed.
While I went with trepidations about the conditions, I was pleasantly surprised and wound up having a fun day on Hunter’s slopes. Not surprisingly, the weather and forecast heavily impacted turnout so I had the lifts and trails pretty much to myself. Hunter still has enough snow to make it to April, barring any crazy high temperatures or major rainstorms.
Of course it got cold and winter returned this week just after Mother Nature torched eastern skiing and snowboarding. The Catskills and a few holdouts in the Berkshires will offer skiing and riding for the next few weeks but if you want to keep your season going, head to Vermont, northern New York, New Hampshire and Maine where many of the mega resorts have still been getting heavy natural snowfalls.
There’s a snow stake on Mount Mansfield, Vermont’s highest peak and where Stowe is located and it’s maintained and measured every day throughout the winter, and it has run slightly above or slightly below the long-run average of snowfall totals. Places like Smuggler’s Notch, Bolton Valley, Stowe and Jay Peak, Vermont’s northernmost ski resorts, have received well over 200 inches of snow and it looks like what winter is supposed to look like even now.
Head north, and happy skiing and riding! You can contact me at asneubert@aol.com or you can visit my Instagram page @asneubert.
