Ski Resorts
East Coast Forecast: Late November/Early December Openings?
So I just realized Mont Tremblant says they’re planning to open in five days. I find this curious, as I can tell you there’s very little snow east of, say, Manitoba. In fact, temperatures have been relatively warm. And when I look at Tremblant’s webcams, the resort seems as green as spring. So what the plan to open in a few days is beyond me.
Then I headed over to Holiday Valley, which still plans to open at the end of November. Aside from a couple of ‘lake effect’ storms (Western New York gets dumped on with snow continually), the resort pointed out that temperatures are supposed to drop, allowing them to make snow. Checking out the long-term forecast for the Toronto area, I then realized temperatures are supposed to hover around freezing. So there’s no snow in the forecast, but it might get cold enough for a lot of the resorts in this area to open by the end of the month. I sure as hell hope so. I need some turns.
EDIT: Horseshoe Resort, always one of the first to open in Ontario, also plans to open next weekend.
EDIT 2: In the comments, Tom posts a nice overview of what’s going on in Canada:
“Alberta is coming along slowly. Louise and Norquay are open with one lift and one run each. Sunshine is better with 4 lifts going. Nakiska is stll watering their flowers. In-town COP (Canada Olympic Park) has started a “make it snow” campaign hoping that magic will make the weather turn. They make all their snow but it hasn’t been cold enough to start.”
Thanks, Tom!
Discussion
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Alberta is coming along slowly. Louise and Norquay are open with one lift and one run each. Sunshine is better with 4 lifts going. Nakiska is stll watering their flowers. In-town COP (Canada Olympic Park) has started a “make it snow” campaign hoping that magic will make the weather turn. They make all their snow but it hasn’t been cold enough to start.
The Inland NW has it looking like fall with little puddles of snow on the ground on mountain tops. Slightly depressing right now but I know there will be much more white stuff in the future.
They have the cold weather on their side and are blowing 8000 gallons per minute on the mountain. Somehow Tremblant always manages to pull it off.
If you go to the tremblant.ca website you can see their snowmaking in actio on the live webcams. It’s winter there …
I’ve been disappointed with the weather so far lately!
Baker usually gets tons of snow and opens early… so far, it’s still looking like the end of November and they barely have a dusting.
Whistler is still slated for Nov 27 opening day, but I’m guessing it’s just going to be mostly glacier open, and not much new snow.
The wait seems so long. Time to break out the rock board in 2 weeks or so.
Woo Hoo! Big Snow!
Wow, 28″ of snow and it’s still coming. What a great way to start winter! This certainly opens the possibility of an early opening, but we’ll know more later today or tomorrow.
The issue is that the ground is very warm and wet underneath and that lovely 28″ packs down to about 6-8″ with a very soggy bottom. Why do we pack it at all? The snow is so heavy, especially near the ground, that if you point your skis straight down the hill you don’t move!
Plans are to pack a few slopes so that the incoming cold weather can chill down the ground (the thick snow insulates the ground and keeps it from freezing). We’ll see what it all looks like on Tuesday and make a decision then. Keep checking back for updates and keep your fingers crossed!.
Damn. Holiday Valley is getting SMOKED!
I still have a few weeks to wait as I’m 2 hours from NYC. The local hills are predicting late November/early December openings. I’d bet mid-December. We have dustings here and there and frigid temps though. Looks like I’m driving north to find some snow.