Patrick's Eastern Closing Thread

Sugarloaf had 100 inches (58% of average) of natural snow this season, not much better than the infamous 2015-16 season with 96.5 inches.
 
Many options this weekend. Clearly the most since I’ve been keeping track.

Skiing Mothers - Eastern Closing Thread 2022 - Part 6
madpatski.wordpress.com

Skiing Mothers’ – Eastern Closing Thread 2022 – Part 6

LIST OF 5 SKI AREAS TENTATIVELY STILL OPEN THIS WEEKEND Loch Lomond ON – May 8 (weekend only) Miller QC – May 8, maybe more (tentative – weekend only) Jay Peak VT – May 15 (weekend only…
madpatski.wordpress.com madpatski.wordpress.com
 
EMSC said:
I saw some pics of this years Killington "glacier" and back in early April it was quite impressive. At least as tall as the chairlift.
Click to expand...
Definitely bigger than I've seen it the last 10 years. Up to the chair list is somewhat "normal" but this year it is insane. Above the lift, most of the way and bigg(er) piles on the "thin" spots.
 
Here's OpenSnow's summary of the New England ski season. It includes the natural snow depth at the Mansfield Stake:
165058282972f835224470f784cf178ce4edff3f0e.png


When I did my last progress report April 9 there was certainly no sign that the eastern spring season would extend more than usual. Jay and Stowe had modestly above average April snowfall at 32.5 and 31 inches (and the biggest storm was April 18-19), but Sugarloaf reported only 4 inches.

I believe post pandemic that some areas are pushing their 2022 spring seasons beyond recent practice. I recall reading during a cold but dry spell in late March that Killington was blowing snow to the max, rare for that time of year. While OpenSnow lamented weak New England snowfall this season, it did say that snowmaking opportunities were frequent.

The perhaps temporary trend of extending spring occurred in the West too. Vail and Heavenly were open to April 24, Kirkwood to May 1 and Winter Park is open to May 22. All of these places had well below average snowfall so the later closing dates clearly are management/marketing decisions.
 
Last edited:
Tony Crocker said:
I believe post pandemic that some areas are pushing their 2022 spring seasons beyond recent practice. I recall reading during a cold but dry spell in late March that Killington was blowing snow to the max, rare for that time of year. While OpenSnow lamented weak New England snowfall this season, it did say that snowmaking opportunities were frequent.
Click to expand...
Late snowmaking has happened at a few places south of the border, but snowmaking in Quebec is generally over by February 1st. When skiing at MSS this past weekend, you could definitely see many snow covered runs from ski areas that have been closed for 3 weeks.

As I mentioned before, Eastern skiing isn’t as relient on natural snowfall plus the cold spring and fewer thaw cycles have helped this spring greatly. Since I’ve been keeping back in 2006, I’ve never seen more than 2 ski areas open on Mothers’ day weekend. This year we have 5 and 3 have already mentioned the plan of continuing operating for next weekend.
 
I like checking in on Mad River Glen to get a more honest report on East Coast condition. Many days like this….President’s Week looked like a disaster.

ABDFE0B1-A014-4D8E-89F5-33955DAC270A.jpeg
 
I am late to this conversation, however my experience when I was at Tremblant the weekend of April 9 was a deep natural snow base. Natural snow base on that weekend on the upper mountain was easily 3-4 feet, however natural snow depth was much less at the base. Glades coverage was certainly the best I have ever seem there. Webcams continue to show a well covered mountain almost a month aftet closing. Seems snow north of Montreal was well above normal while south, much less.
 
Skieric said:
Seems snow north of Montreal was well above normal while south, much less.
Click to expand...
That seems evident in view of what terrain was open when I did my last review April 9, and has been confirmed by above average snowfall at Le Massif and the big numbers from Le Valinouet.
Patrick said:
the cold spring and fewer thaw cycles have helped this spring greatly
Click to expand...
Yes, as noted in that Mansfield Stake chart. Normally its snowpack melts out precipitously during the second half of April, but this year it's average in late April after being way below average since early December.

ChrisC's picture and the Mansfield Stake chart through most of the season support my view that this season overall in New England was quite poor. The Vermont history chart score for 2021-22 is still 26, exceeding only the bad 2012 and horrible 2016 seasons since 2000. I don't have a lot of historical info from eastern Canada, but my gut feeling is that the large divergence vs. New England this season is quite unusual.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top