MENDON, Vt. (WCAX) – The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend is typically one of the busiest ski weekends for our region, a season that got off to a strong start with early snowfall but has struggled in recent weeks.
The unexpected snow squalls across the region along with temperatures cold enough to make snow came just in time for the busy MLK holiday.
It was the ideal kind of day for holiday skiing. Fresh snowfall, blue skies, and plenty of trails to make turns. “Oh, it is lovely. Oh my god, it’s perfect. Last year it was freezing cold,” said Patricia Dorling of Connecticut, whose family made a little history. It was the little three-year-old’s first time on skis.
However, the season to date hasn’t been all smiles. Snow has been hard to come by after a few back-to-back November storms. “We were actually concerned that we would not have enough snow or it will be way to cold for our little one. But we decided to take the risk anyway,” Dorling said.
“Obviously, it’s all been manmade previous to this,” said Kurt Broderson of Middlebury.
Pico had the guns blasting on Monday. The mountain has doubled its snow-making capacity this year. “They sort of have taken a beating with rain but they do a good job recovering and they’ve been making snow,” Broderson said.
Industry experts say it’s also been a turbulent year for snowmaking, with temperatures often not cold enough. That tends to hit smaller mountains the hardest. But the guns were firing Monday at Whaleback and Storrs Hill in Lebanon and experts say temps look ideal for the foreseeable future.
“Weather and our seasons are always a roller coaster ride said Maxwell Elles at the First Stop Ski Shop. Elles’s family has owned the ski shop down the road from Killington for more than 40 years. He says the past weekend was the busiest of the season so far. “I’m looking forward to the months of February and March which historically are our best snowfall.”
One business owner at Killington told us that the poorer conditions actually drive people into local restaurants, which is good for their bottom line. But anyone connected to the industry will tell you, that they are praying for snow and it appears, Tuesday, there is some in the forecast.