by Albert Neubert
The brutal thaw at the end of February and through the first week of March was one for the record books. I asked many industry veterans, including ski area operators, if they ever experienced such an extended thaw as we just went through last week and every one of them emphatically said “No.” We went seven straight days without a freezing temperature even at the highest elevations and that included all of New England and the furthest reaches of Northern New York.
Ski conditions paid the price with numerous trail closures. It was very easy to tell which ski areas made the most snow in anticipation of surviving a sustained thaw. Those that didn’t are now closed or down to maybe one more weekend. Many ski areas south of Vermont have decided to suspend operations during the week to try to preserve whatever remaining snow they have on their terrain. Big Bear at Masthope, Pennsylvania, closed on Saturday and Mount Peter, in Warwick and the Victor Constant Ski Slopes at West Point, both in New York, closed on Sunday.
Skiers and snowboarders do a lot of damage to snow surfaces and then grooming machines will tear up the bases if the snow is too soft. Also, weekday turnouts drop precipitously during a more average winter but with this mild and wet weather, casual skiers and snowboarders can’t find the motivation to get out and make turns, especially when temperatures are in the 50s and 60s.
The Catskills are the one exception south of New England where daily skiing and riding continues. I took advantage of that by visiting the Windham Mountain Club, in the Northern Catskills on both Friday and Saturday last week. Windham’s bases have held up remarkably well during the thaws and rains and they still featured more than two thirds of their slopes and trails. On Friday, I was greeted by bluebird skis and temps that started out below freezing and then soared into the 50s. Three of the area’s four high speed chairs were…
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