Stowe Mountain Resort planned to open Friday, Nov. 19, but with temperatures hovering just above freezing, it wasn’t quite cold enough for snowmaking.
Nearly a week later, the resort — along with Okemo and Mount Snow, also operated by Vail Resorts — will open Friday, a week later than planned.
“Mother Nature just didn’t cooperate temperature-wise,” said Adam White, communications manager at Mount Snow.
At Mount Snow, located in West Dover, only advanced terrain will be open Friday, as the resort has had limited time to prepare beginner and intermediate slopes because of the weather. But White expects some beginner terrain will open as soon as Saturday.
“We had a tight window to get ready for this opening day,” White said. “Saturday we will be able to hit the ground running with beginner terrain.”
Other ski areas have spread out their opening days over the next couple of weeks. For instance, Jay Peak also opens Friday, but its partner ski area, Burke Mountain, does not plan to open until Dec. 11, and Mad River Glen, which relies almost entirely on natural snow, plans to open Dec. 12.
Elsewhere, Killington and Sugarbush have already opened.
Killington is preparing to host the Women’s World Cup races this weekend and has been making snow nonstop to prepare.
“It’s been kind of a warm, tough year, but we have a strong snowmaking system, and we have plenty up here,” said Mike Solimano, president and general manager of Killington Resort. He said snowmaking began at the end of October, in line with Killington’s goal to be the first Vermont resort to open every winter.
To prepare the racecourse for the Women’s World Cup, Killington used 17 million gallons of water to create 5 feet of packed snow, ensuring that the athletes won’t hit rocks, roots or other obstacles while skiing at high speeds.
Solimano said the resort has now moved on to making snow on all its other trails, so people who want to ski themselves, rather than watch the best women racers in the world, can use the mountain.
Resorts throughout Vermont are hosting opening-day events to celebrate the start of the season, including free breakfast sandwiches at Mount Snow and a live DJ at Stowe Mountain Resort.
“There’s a lot of excitement and pent-up anticipation for skiing this time of year, and it’s super exciting when we can get the mountain open and get the ski season started,” Vail Resorts’ Northeast Communications Director Jeff Wise said at Stowe Mountain Resort.
This month’s delay in starting the ski season has Vermont resorts thinking about the future and what climate change may bring.
“Climate change is a big concern for the entire industry,” White said. “However, we’ve had to deal with the fickle New England weather forever, so we have really exceptional snowmaking abilities.”
Killington has also taken steps to maintain its reputation as the first Vermont ski area to open every winter.
“We’ve been investing in energy-efficient snow guns so we can make more snow in shorter amounts of time,” Solimano said.
But cold temperatures are what matter most in opening up a resort, White said.
“You can have the greatest snowmaking technology in the world, but if the weather isn’t cold enough for the snow to stick, it doesn’t matter,” he said.
