At last some snow! No it’s not the the three plus feet that some of our comrades received further south, but we’re happy with what we can get. A few days ago we weren’t forecasted for anything, so 6″ is a welcome surprise. I was lucky enough to snag one of the first runs down a freshly opened Spillsville, and it was worth every turn. Though this isn’t enough snow for us to open any other natural terrain at this point, it will go a long way towards building up a much needed base for when the next storm hits (potentially as early as next week).
Aside from the surprise snowfall, these cold temps have let us move forward with our next phase of terrain openings thanks to the hard work of our snowmakers. Friday sees Mt. Ellen’s opening day with terrain off of Green Mountain Express, North Ridge Express, and Summit. We’ll be spinning GMX starting at 8:00 AM. The early skier gets the pow.
And as of right now, we’re expecting to be able to open First Time and the Welcome Mat for beginners this weekend. We also hope to open up Gate House, though any terrain over there will likely remain ungroomed through the weekend, as we let the snow piles drain out before smoothing them over. It’s likely you could expect additional beginner terrain opening up next week when we get groomers working off of that lift.
Finally, I just wanted to touch quickly on our webcam plans. Many of you have inquired about why we decided to remove our lift line webcams. The answer is multifold. First of all, we are currently in the process of upgrading our webcam offerings, and I hope to have more information to share with you soon on what new locations you can be expecting. We have heard a lot of you asking for more scenic cams, and that’s something we’re currently working through right now. Second, with the way that our new health policies have shifted how lift lines work, we didn’t think that our webcams as previously setup were going to do an accurate job of showing wait-times in our lines. Lifts are loading at a lower capacity per state guidelines and guests are more spread out in those lines. So looking at a line on a webcam and judging it how we might have normally probably isn’t giving you an accurate indicator of wait-times or crowds. We felt looking at alternative locations would give a better depiction of mountain conditions.
It’s an exciting time. We’re approaching the holidays and more terrain is opening up. It’s starting to feel like a real ski season! We look forward to welcoming you up here, and I’d remind you to make sure you’re familiar with all of our Winter Operations protocols before you arrive.
Happy skiing!