It seems like lately the snow around here has been melting faster than the Vermont cheese fondue on a Lunch Box Cheesesteak. Ironically enough, Mother Nature has decided to play a fun joke on us with some mid April snowfall coming in today through tomorrow. Hey snow, where were you the last month and a half?
Alas, as you already likely know we’re down to skiing on just Snowball, Spring Fling, Stein’s Run, and Coffee Run. With the way we’ve been losing terrain over the two weeks: North Lynx then Gate House then Heaven’s Gate, it’s understandable to wonder how much longer current terrain will hold up.
A lot will depend on this snowstorm but we remain optimistic we’ll make it to our original plans of running daily through April 25th and reopening the following weekend. It seems unlikely that all trails will make it to that point though. The next trails to go will be Snowball and Spring Fling. It’s really the Snowball section that will eliminate the whole route. Snowball bakes in the sun most of the day while Spring Fling enjoys a lot more shade. When exactly will that happen? It’s unclear, but we’ll keep it open as long as possible.
That brings us to Stein’s: the old workhorse of our spring skiing operations. There’s still a ton of snow on that trail, and Coffee Run, it’s runout, is in decent shape too. For a cool behind the scenes look, take a gander at the snow depth readings our groomer took when we last smoothed it on April 9th. Yes, some more snow has melted since then, but we’re also hopeful that we’ll recover some of that with a little extra snow today and tonight.
That’s pretty darn good given the warm weather we’ve dealt with. Look at that spot with 12 feet still! You can probably ski that patch a la Mad River Glen style well into May. You’ll notice the problem areas starting to form on skiers left (the red and yellow), and a little bit at the top. That skiers left side is right under our snow guns, which blow out onto the trail. Those problem areas are also the most exposed to the sun.
But as you can see the trail remains in good shape. We’ll see what this storm and future weather holds, but we haven’t changed our operating plans as of yet. Keep an eye on our snow report for any operational changes we end up making. Otherwise, we hope to hold on through next weekend, and reopen for May 1st and 2nd!