This may turn out to be the best weekend we have had since early in March though there is a little r@!n for some on Friday and more than a little on Monday. Corn is on the menu and we'll even have some blue skies during the ski day in most parts on Saturday. Temps will be a bit chilly for this time of year outside of Friday but most should soften during the morning except at some higher elevations in the most northern areas. Definitely pack the grill and cooler, but maybe save the bikinis and Speedos for another weekend.
I got a chance to drive up to visit Erik Mogensen at Black Mountain this week and he took me on a tour of his snowmaking as they lit their system up for a 60 hour run from top to bottom. One thing I learned about Erik is that he absolutely loves running a ski area; it's been a lifelong dream of his, and he also loves making snow. He's going to make snow every time the temps get low enough and he's serious about trying to beat Killington, but he's going to need some help from Mother Nature to do that. May is a foregone conclusion though for Black Mountain, and Camelback is looking like they may be able to make it also. Jay also made made some snow which will later be farmed into piles for their Solstice Sessions which happen in late June.
Three resorts made snow this week, Camelback, PA, Black Mountain, NH, and Jay Peak, VT
Well have 26 ski areas operating in the Northeast and then another 8 tracked ski areas in Quebec (there are more than that which aren't tracked). Here's a list of everyone with the trail counts provided by SnoCountry. Note that some have shifted their hours later to take advantage of the daytime warming to help loosen up the slopes. This will also be the last weekend for probably up to of these ski areas but there are quite a few with very healthy trail counts still.
Open Thursday 04/09 — 28 resorts
| State | Resort | Trails |
|---|---|---|
| ME | Saddleback Mountain | 32/68 |
| ME | Sugarloaf | 97/176 |
| ME | Sunday River | 62/139 |
| NH | Bretton Woods | 13/103 |
| NH | Cannon Mountain | 27/98 |
| NH | Loon Mountain | 32/73 |
| NH | Waterville Valley | 53/62 |
| NY | Gore Mountain | 42/108 |
| NY | West Mountain | 12/33 |
| NY | Whiteface Mountain | 53/96 |
| PA | Camelback Mountain | 5/39 |
| VT | Bolton Valley | 11/71 |
| VT | Jay Peak | 68/81 |
| VT | Killington | 70/155 |
| VT | Mount Snow | 6/86 |
| VT | Okemo Mountain | 47/122 |
| VT | Smugglers' Notch | 18/78 |
| VT | Stowe Mountain | 54/128 |
| VT | Stratton Mountain | 30/99 |
| VT | Sugarbush | 32/111 |
| QC | Bromont | 27/141 |
| QC | Le Massif de Charlevoix | 29/55 |
| QC | Mont Orford | 17/61 |
| QC | Mont Sainte Anne | 59/71 |
| QC | Mont Sutton | 29/60 |
| QC | Owl's Head | 14/52 |
| QC | Saint-Sauveur | 19/40 |
| QC | Tremblant | 76/102 |
Reopening Friday — 6 Resorts
| State | Resort | Reopen | Trails |
|---|---|---|---|
| MA | Wachusett Mountain | 04/10 | -/27 |
| NH | Black Mountain | 04/10 | -/68 |
| NH | Tenney Mountain | 04/10 | -/53 |
| NH | Wildcat Mountain | 04/10 | -/48 |
| NY | Belleayre Mountain | 04/10 | -/62 |
| VT | Burke Mountain | 04/10 | -/55 |
Here's a look at the 3-hour precipitation intensity from the GFS covering Friday through Monday to set up the forecast.
I'm going to cover the weekend in just one Extended Weekend Forecast covering the precipitation, the temperatures, and the wind hold threats through Monday.
