Cold snap made for a windfall of snowfall
By
Kevin Byrne, AccuWeather senior editor
Published Nov 26, 2019 7:00 AM EDT
A skier in action at Hunter Mountain in Hunter, New York. (Peak Resorts)
Avid skiers and snowboarders in the Northeast will be giving thanks this Thanksgiving for the frigid start to November.
Many ski resorts in the East set the Thanksgiving holiday weekend as a targeted opening date for the new season, but this year a number of resorts were able to open as much as two weeks ahead of the holiday thanks to a ruthless cold snap that gripped the eastern two-thirds of the nation earlier this month.
The unusually cold start to November allowed skiers and snowboarders to hit the slopes several weeks ahead of time in Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania, including at Big Boulder, a resort situated in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains, which had its third-earliest opening ever on Nov. 15.
Now well into its second week of skiing and riding, Pat Morgan, freestyle terrain director at Big Boulder told AccuWeather that the initial turnout was “phenomenal.”
With Turkey Day upcoming, there's an opportunity to sustain a successful start, rather than kick off a new season.
“Thanksgiving weekend, although typically a benchmark for opening the season here, is certainly crucial to early season success," Morgan said. "With so many schools and universities off school both Friday and Monday this year, we expect a great turnout.”
Big Boulder Ski Resort in Lake Harmony, Pennsylvania. (Peak Resorts)
For some parts of the Northeast, mid-November openings are not uncommon. In fact, some resort operators have opened as early as late October in the past. In Vermont, popular spots such as Bromley Mountain Resort, Killington Ski Resort and Mount Snow have been welcoming winter sports enthusiasts for the past several weeks.
Jamie Storrs, senior director of communications for Mount Snow, which opened Nov. 13, told AccuWeather that is a typical opening date.
"Once we see snowmaking temperatures, we jump right on
it and get as many trails open as possible in the run-up to Thanksgiving,"
Storrs said.
Thanksgiving is typically the first big opportunity for skiers and snowboarders to dust off their equipment and make their initial runs through the powder.
"There's a ton of pent up demand to ski and ride early
in the season and more and more families seem to be opting to spend
Thanksgiving in the mountains," Storrs said.
Ever since the installation of a $30 million snowmaking system two years ago, Storrs said the mountain will open as soon as Mother Nature allows.
"Once we get those favorable temperatures, our
snowmakers hit it and hit it hard and produce a massive amount of snow in order
to get more trails open faster than anywhere else in the East."
In western New York, Holiday Valley Resort, located in the town of Ellicottville, opened on Saturday, Nov. 23, about a week earlier than planned. Holiday Valley president Dennis Eshbaugh said the previous week's cold air proved valuable for snowmaking.
"We’ve let that snow cure and now we’re grooming it out
to make a nice smooth skiing surface. This allows us to open a week ahead of
schedule for a preview weekend," he said in a press release.
Across the Empire State, Hunter Mountain is in the midst of
its earliest start to a season in five years.
A snowgun in action earlier this month at Hunter Mountain in upstate New York. (Peak Resorts)
Thanks to a combination of cold temperatures and a savvy snowmaking team, the slopes at Hunter, about a two-and-a-half-hour drive north of New York City, have a thick base of 24-36 inches of snow, which should protect against varying weather patterns in the coming weeks, according to Jen Roe, marketing manager at Hunter Mountain.
“Thanksgiving weekend is more of a pass holder weekend, the Friday after Thanksgiving is considerably the busiest day of the weekend," said Roe. "We do see non-pass holders and generally people who are super stoked to get their early turns in."
Shannon Dunfey-Ball, marketing and communications manager for Ski New Hampshire, a private ski area trade association that represents 31 alpine and cross country ski resort members, told AccuWeather many skiers start their ski season on Thanksgiving weekend.
"Thanksgiving weekend and the first few weeks of December are typically the target opening dates for New England ski areas," she said in an email.
Thanksgiving may be a popular early season milemarker in the long winter ski season, but the biggest turnouts typically occur after winter has officially begun. The days around Christmas, New Year's and Presidents Day weekend are all busy on the slopes.
"Presidents Day weekend and other mid [to] late-winter weekends tend to have greater impact for ski areas due to the fact that ski season is well underway in mid-February," Dunfey-Ball said.
A number of ski resorts, including Blue Mountain Resort in Palmerton, Pennsylvania, started their snow guns as soon as the cold weather hit their areas. Some places opened as early as Nov.16!
At Wildcat Mountain in Jackson, New Hampshire, open since Nov.15, the weekend brings mainly pass holders and die-hards unless conditions are good enough to get a larger crowd excited to ski or snowboard, according to Jack Fagone, marketing director at Wildcat.
Still, there are added benefits to skiing right after a major holiday, particularly when a substantial amount of feasting is involved.
"It's a great way to burn off the extra calories from Thanksgiving dinner!" said Fagone.
Download the free AccuWeather app to check the forecast in your area. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo
News / Business
Cold snap made for a windfall of snowfall
By Kevin Byrne, AccuWeather senior editor
Published Nov 26, 2019 7:00 AM EDT
A skier in action at Hunter Mountain in Hunter, New York. (Peak Resorts)
Avid skiers and snowboarders in the Northeast will be giving thanks this Thanksgiving for the frigid start to November.
Many ski resorts in the East set the Thanksgiving holiday weekend as a targeted opening date for the new season, but this year a number of resorts were able to open as much as two weeks ahead of the holiday thanks to a ruthless cold snap that gripped the eastern two-thirds of the nation earlier this month.
The unusually cold start to November allowed skiers and snowboarders to hit the slopes several weeks ahead of time in Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania, including at Big Boulder, a resort situated in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains, which had its third-earliest opening ever on Nov. 15.
Now well into its second week of skiing and riding, Pat Morgan, freestyle terrain director at Big Boulder told AccuWeather that the initial turnout was “phenomenal.”
With Turkey Day upcoming, there's an opportunity to sustain a successful start, rather than kick off a new season.
“Thanksgiving weekend, although typically a benchmark for opening the season here, is certainly crucial to early season success," Morgan said. "With so many schools and universities off school both Friday and Monday this year, we expect a great turnout.”
Big Boulder Ski Resort in Lake Harmony, Pennsylvania. (Peak Resorts)
For some parts of the Northeast, mid-November openings are not uncommon. In fact, some resort operators have opened as early as late October in the past. In Vermont, popular spots such as Bromley Mountain Resort, Killington Ski Resort and Mount Snow have been welcoming winter sports enthusiasts for the past several weeks.
Jamie Storrs, senior director of communications for Mount Snow, which opened Nov. 13, told AccuWeather that is a typical opening date.
"Once we see snowmaking temperatures, we jump right on it and get as many trails open as possible in the run-up to Thanksgiving," Storrs said.
Thanksgiving is typically the first big opportunity for skiers and snowboarders to dust off their equipment and make their initial runs through the powder.
"There's a ton of pent up demand to ski and ride early in the season and more and more families seem to be opting to spend Thanksgiving in the mountains," Storrs said.
Ever since the installation of a $30 million snowmaking system two years ago, Storrs said the mountain will open as soon as Mother Nature allows.
"Once we get those favorable temperatures, our snowmakers hit it and hit it hard and produce a massive amount of snow in order to get more trails open faster than anywhere else in the East."
In western New York, Holiday Valley Resort, located in the town of Ellicottville, opened on Saturday, Nov. 23, about a week earlier than planned. Holiday Valley president Dennis Eshbaugh said the previous week's cold air proved valuable for snowmaking.
"We’ve let that snow cure and now we’re grooming it out to make a nice smooth skiing surface. This allows us to open a week ahead of schedule for a preview weekend," he said in a press release.
Across the Empire State, Hunter Mountain is in the midst of its earliest start to a season in five years.
A snowgun in action earlier this month at Hunter Mountain in upstate New York. (Peak Resorts)
Thanks to a combination of cold temperatures and a savvy snowmaking team, the slopes at Hunter, about a two-and-a-half-hour drive north of New York City, have a thick base of 24-36 inches of snow, which should protect against varying weather patterns in the coming weeks, according to Jen Roe, marketing manager at Hunter Mountain.
“Thanksgiving weekend is more of a pass holder weekend, the Friday after Thanksgiving is considerably the busiest day of the weekend," said Roe. "We do see non-pass holders and generally people who are super stoked to get their early turns in."
Related:
Shannon Dunfey-Ball, marketing and communications manager for Ski New Hampshire, a private ski area trade association that represents 31 alpine and cross country ski resort members, told AccuWeather many skiers start their ski season on Thanksgiving weekend.
"Thanksgiving weekend and the first few weeks of December are typically the target opening dates for New England ski areas," she said in an email.
Thanksgiving may be a popular early season milemarker in the long winter ski season, but the biggest turnouts typically occur after winter has officially begun. The days around Christmas, New Year's and Presidents Day weekend are all busy on the slopes.
"Presidents Day weekend and other mid [to] late-winter weekends tend to have greater impact for ski areas due to the fact that ski season is well underway in mid-February," Dunfey-Ball said.
A number of ski resorts, including Blue Mountain Resort in Palmerton, Pennsylvania, started their snow guns as soon as the cold weather hit their areas. Some places opened as early as Nov.16!
At Wildcat Mountain in Jackson, New Hampshire, open since Nov.15, the weekend brings mainly pass holders and die-hards unless conditions are good enough to get a larger crowd excited to ski or snowboard, according to Jack Fagone, marketing director at Wildcat.
Still, there are added benefits to skiing right after a major holiday, particularly when a substantial amount of feasting is involved.
"It's a great way to burn off the extra calories from Thanksgiving dinner!" said Fagone.
Download the free AccuWeather app to check the forecast in your area. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo