New England – current state of conditions & outlook

The Ski Guru progress report for New England.

Let us be honest, there is still a long way to go before we are calling in sick and snorkeling our way down the slopes. Nonetheless, the situation has taken a considerable u-turn in the past two weeks. Intermittent, and in certain locations substantial, lake affect snows have given the mountains a good starting point. Couple with a mass of cold air that has allowed the major players in the snowmaking game to crack up the compressors and we have new terrain opening at a break neck pace.

Base depths are growing with less than a week to go before winter officially arrives in 2009. The locals who do not fear core shots to their bases have been packing out the lines. We are one good snowstorm away from top-notch skiing and riding conditions.

The current scenario heading into the holiday period reminds me of mid Dec 2003. Back then New England snow lovers were jubilant because two major winter weather systems blanketed the mountains with feet of fresh powder. I also recall the blast of warm water that we got shortly thereafter, right before Christmas Day which ruined the fluff and more than a few vacations. Not looking for that kind of repeat performance this year…

Here is a quick breakdown of the current leaders in New England.

• Most new snow - 3" @ Jay Peak
• Most open trails - 62 @ Okemo
• Most open acres - 290 @ Bretton Woods
• Deepest base depth - 45" @ Jiminy Peak
• Most spinning lifts - a handfull tied at seven


For all the latest conditions check out SnoCountry. There should be a lot of additional areas opening soon! Also of note, Killington is projecting over 65 trials this weekend, with terrain opening on Needles Eye and Bear Mountian. For the scope from the resort (deals, news, events, etc) check out this LINK.


More Good News = Two major snow events are creeping into the forecast for both this weekend and Christmas. Keep the fingers crossed. With a base in place the next big storm is going to put most areas in the 90% or better range for open terrain. Check out the report on AccuWeather.


Think Snow!