Saturday again proved to be one of those special days on the mountain. Cool morning temperatures mixed with warm, sunny afternoons are making for some incredible spring skiing. It truly has been an incredible month of March and there are some quality days left.
Snow depths and coverage remain perfect! Normally we are dealing with covering bare spots that begin to appear as the sun beats down on the mountain and the melt begins. Not so far this year. There is not a spot to be found anywhere.
This is the main reason that we had to extend the season one more weekend and will be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday March 29th, 30th and 31st.
We have received some negative feedback regarding our decision to end night skiing as we normally do following the March Break. There are two main reason why this is done. The first has to do with visitation. December through February night skiing draws up to 500 people and is very popular. For whatever reason as soon as we hit March those numbers drop significantly. This March we have not had more than 50 people for any Friday or Saturday night.
The second reason for not normally offering night skiing this time of year is that daytime conditions do not bode well for nighttime skiing and riding. Temperature fluctuations and melting snow make it difficult for nighttime grooming and sloppy conditions. The warm afternoons and melting snow leave ruts and bumps that freeze as the temperature begin to drop. If groomers do not get on those areas at the right time (often 5:00 or 6:00pm) it can make for some really ugly grooming for the next day. Skiing on those same areas during freezing can also make for some dangerous skiing. In fact these conditions often lead to our largest instances of injury.
Conditions are not normal that's for sure. That's why we will make decisions like we did Saturday, extending the day to 5:30pm as the Mountain remained firm and everyone was having so much fun. Let's hope that keeps up.
Let's take advantage of what can only be called the best conditions in years!!!!
