Whistler, B.C.
Evidently, Santa wanted to leave something special for Whistler Blackcomb on his recent visit. Beginning Christmas day and continuing through to the 26th, Whistler Blackcomb received 106 centimetres (41 inches) of new snow, and 141 centimetres (55 inches) in the days after that.

Skiers and snowboarders expected a break between fronts on Thursday and Friday, but more snow fell. As of 6:00 a.m. Thursday, the settled base on Whistler Blackcomb was currently 200 cm (78 inches). All lifts and valley ski-outs to Blackcomb Base, Whistler Village and Creekside Base are open.

Lake Tahoe
South Shore businesses and law enforcement agencies used heavy traffic and booked hotels as indicators the New Year's Eve celebration at Stateline would host the usual 50,000 people despite wet weather. It's good news since hotels lost about many reservations last weekend due to a storm that dropped about 2 feet of snow and closed Highway 50 at the summit. While snow deterred some people, it hasn't scared one segment of the population.

"Our European market is back," a spokesman said. "They stay longer than the Bay Area people. It's been great for us. It's a classic winter at Tahoe, but it's a double-edged sword: weather tells people we'll have great ski conditions, but it also tells them it's hard to get here."

New England
As New Englanders grumbled about digging their cars and driveways out from mounds of snow, at least one group of people had reason to enjoy the fallout from recent storms in Charlemont, Mass.

After a nearly snowless winter last year, skiers, snowboarders and resort operators are reveling in the powdery good fortune dumped on them by the Christmas nor'easter. "I spent the first four hours of the day moving the snow around with my tractor," said Steve Bushway as he prepared to take to the slopes of the Berkshire East Ski Resort. "Now I'm going to have fun in it."

About 18 inches of snow blanketed Berkshire East's 44 trails, and all but two were open. "Last year was a disaster," said Roy Schaefer, the resort's general manager. "This year is just the opposite. We're getting the best of both worlds now - cold weather and snow."

Jiminy Peak
At Jiminy Peak Ski Resort in Hancock, business has doubled compared to the same time last year, said Sally Johnstone, director of sales and marketing. "The really passionate skiers were pulling in here with their four-wheel drives at 8 a.m." In Vermont, some were concerned about how good conditions would be after last weekend's unseasonable rain. But a Christmas storm changed the landscape.

"The whole state looks great," said William Stenger, president of Jay Peak near the Canadian border and president of the Vermont Ski Areas Association. "I think the majority of the mountains in the state are over 90 percent open, if not 100 percent," he said. "It's probably the most and the best we've had at this time in 10 to 12 years."

Rhode Island
Rhode Island's only ski area, which received just an inch of white along with sleet and rain, wasn't as lucky. However, Pati de Wardener, general manager of Yawgoo Valley in Exeter, said nighttime temperatures should be cold enough to keep making snow. "The machine-made snow lasts so much longer than the natural snow," she said. "We'd just as soon have the machine-made snow."

Although ski areas make their own snow when Mother Nature isn't helping out, many of the resort operators say there's nothing like a big, natural storm to bring people to the mountains. "Anytime there's snow in their back yard, like people in Boston and Rhode Island, it helped to get them to the slopes," said Stacy Lopes, spokeswoman for New Hampshire's Loon Mountain and Waterville Valley.

Laurel higlands
The numbers tell the story of the first month of the 2002-2003 ski season. Since Thanksgiving, 49 inches of snow has fallen in the Laurel Highlands, including a 10-inch snowfall that arrived Christmas Eve and lingered until Christmas night. Also since Thanksgiving, overnight temperatures in the Laurel Highlands have been consistently below freezing. That helped to retain the natural snow and enabled snowmakers to add another foot or two of machine-made snow. As a result, snow sports enthusiasts are enjoying some of the best early season conditions in years.

Seven Springs
"We've got every slope and trail open and we're making snow like crazy," said Dick Barron, director of slope operations and the ski patrol at Seven Springs. "We had the biggest Christmas Day turnout in my 32 years here, maybe as many as 4,000 skiers and snowboarders. We were parking cars in the upper parking lot. It was the best Christmas in the 70-year history of the resort. Great conditions, great turnout."

Wisp and Blue Knob
Blue Knob, Hidden Valley, Laurel Mountain, Mystic Mountain, Snowshoe and Wisp also welcomed enthusiastic skiers and snowboarders on Christmas day, many of whom had new equipment or clothing to show off. Wisp, the western Maryland resort that overlooks Deep Creek Lake, has received 39 inches of natural snow since Thanksgiving and its snowmaking crew made more than 2 feet more.

Free skiing - literally!
Laurel Mountain demonstrated the Christmas spirit early when it offered free lift tickets during a special "sneak preview" on Dec. 13, the evening before it officially opened for the season. "We had 618 skiers and snowboarders show up," said Jim Darr, operations manager. Snowshoe spokesman Joe Stevens said the east-central West Virginia resort received 15 inches of snow on Christmas, an amount that brought its season total to 67 inches, 57 inches more than it had at this time last year.

Cross country heaven
For the first time in years, cross country skiers were able to make tracks virtually anywhere in the Laurel Highlands, including sections of the Great Allegheny Passage, the multi-purpose rail-trail that runs for 100 uninterrupted miles from near McKeesport to Meyersdale.

Steamboat
On December 19-22, some of the most famous freeskiers gathered in Steamboat to battle for the title as a winner in four different events; Superpipe, Big Air and two Mogul Events (which include a table top kicker and slide rails). Two of the competitors, Tanner Hall and CR Johnson, put up a real show during the first two events; CR Johnson was to be seen as a winner in the Big Air after what first runner up Hall called a "1260 corked out crazy grab thing".

Tanner Hall collected a check for his effort in the Superpipe earlier that day, reaching unbelievable heights and a clear victory, six points before the first runner up....CR Johnson! The two friends Hall and Johnson shared the prizechecks for the first and second places in the two first events, and Mr Evan Raps finished third in both the Big Air and the Superpipe. The three of them travel together and are kind of a team when they go out on the road, according to Johnson. "Evan and Tanner help me a lot," Johnson says. "Evan is great with the mental aspect of things and Tanner is always there to help me with the skiing."

As we all know all too well, snow conditions can change quickly. Take advantage of them now!

[Sources: Post-gazette.com, Telegraph online, Tahoe Daily Tribune]
[Photos provided by Heavenly and Mammoth resorts]

Mail this page to a friend
What do you think? Tell us in the Chat Room