New England’s ski season is already underway
"We hope it's a trend, not an outlier."
After enduring through a historically bad season, New England ski areas are greeting the first signs of winter with excitement.
On Saturday, multiple mountains in the region received the first snow of the 2016-2017 season. It was a refreshing change from earlier in 2016, when snow-starved resorts fought to stay open. And the unexpected gift is helping speed up the news that New England skiers and snowboarders have been waiting to see: the start of the season.
Killington Ski Resort, located in Vermont, announced on Sunday that it would open on Tuesday. The news came on the heels of 5.5 inches of natural snowfall and was accompanied by a video homage to a scene in the movie Apocalypse Now:
“We’re definitely pleased with what we’ve gotten so far,” said Killington communications manager Michael Joseph.
And in regards to the natural snow, Joseph’s response represented a touch of leftover weariness from the disappointment of last season.
“We hope it’s a trend, not an outlier,” Joseph said, noting that Killington technically opened at an earlier date last season, but was starved of significant natural snow until late December.
Joseph confirmed that the single storm total of 5.5 inches on October 22 was actually one of the ski areas’ largest one-day totals in all of 2016. This included the winter months of January, February and March. The 2015-2016 season delivered only 81 inches of snow, well below the average of 250.
Killington will open with two trails initially, adding to that in the coming weeks barring any weather setbacks.
“The plan by Thanksgiving is to have top to bottom [skiing],” Joseph explained. Killington is simultaneously preparing to host the Audi FIS Ski World Cup on November 26-27 (Thanksgiving weekend). U.S. Olympic medalists Julia Mancuso, Mikaela Shiffrin and Lindsey Vonn are all expected to compete in the event, which will be women’s giant slalom and slalom.
While Killington is the first eastern resort to open, others are not far behind.
Whiteface Mountain in New York state fired up snow guns earlier on Tuesday:
It’s show time. Snowmaking at Whiteface is on. #SkiTheFACE #ispyny #winteriscoming #WhitefaceMountain #LakePlacid pic.twitter.com/xO4jNpZXa0
— Whiteface Mountain (@SkiWhiteface) October 25, 2016
And despite not being open yet, skiers and riders have already cut turns at Jay Peak:
https://vimeo.com/188600415
Stratton Mountain, which was a picture of fall only a week ago, celebrated the first snow:
Still coming down 🌨 #stratton #letswinter pic.twitter.com/qqqEBNGwFi
— Stratton Mountain (@StrattonResort) October 23, 2016
And as a ski area that relies almost exclusively on natural snow, Mad River Glen welcomed its first skiers:
https://twitter.com/MadRiverGlen/status/790322519521787904
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