SAM Magazine—Cambridge, Vt., Dec. 3, 2021—Most open ski areas are reporting strong attendance and positive visitor feedback over the Thanksgiving holiday, with loosened outdoor Covid protocols restoring a cautious sense of normalcy to the mountains. Heading into this weekend, cold temps and new snow are allowing more resorts to start turning lifts and laying down snow in earnest. Eastern resorts are opening in droves, expanding the drive market, while Midwestern and Western resorts are anticipating a weather change for the better in the coming days.

EAST

This Thanksgiving, Killington, Vt., hosted its fifth Audi FIS Ski Women’s World Cup. The event sold out both days, bringing 20,000 spectators and 300 volunteers to the resort over the weekend. A regional storm dropped 19 inches of fresh on Killington starting Friday and continuing into Saturday morning. The resulting high winds and low visibility led to the cancelation of Saturday’s giant slalom after just nine racers. The day’s live entertainment continued as planned. On Sunday, the slalom race ran as scheduled, with hometown favorite Mikaela Shiffrin nabbing her fifth consecutive HomeLight Cup win.

To the north, Jay Peak, Vt., hosted its own event Nov. 26—Day for the Devoted, a season kick-off for passholders and 1,000 day guests with free lift tickets, hot dogs, and on-snow clinics. Thanks to favorable snowmaking weather, Jay opened with beginner terrain off the Taxi Quad as well as expert terrain under the Jet Triple. While day traffic has been quiet in the intervening days, GM Steve Wright said Jay saw a spike in visitation Thursday, Dec. 2, that he expects to carry through to the weekend. Jay also anticipates welcoming its first Canadian guests back to the resort this weekend after a year-and-a-half of border closures. 

Elsewhere in Vermont, Smugglers’ Notch opened to the public on Dec. 2 and reports strong opening day ticket sales. Neighbor Stowe dropped ropes Nov. 19, while Mad River Glen has fired up its snow guns in hopes of beginning operations Dec. 11. 

In New Hampshire, Loon and Bretton Woods are both already spinning lifts, with resorts like Cannon, Ragged, Sunapee, Wildcat, and Waterville Valley looking to open for this weekend, Dec. 4-5. 

In Maine, Sunday River is open with 20 trails and three lifts, while Sugarloaf is turning two lifts serving 14 trails. 

Meanwhile, some Southeastern resorts took advantage of their favorably high base elevations this month, making enough snow to start bumping chairs. Cataloochee, N.C., opened Nov. 10 with four trails and two lifts, and Beech Mountain, N.C., kicked off its operations Nov. 26. 

MIDWEST

Cold weather and some recent snowfalls have allowed several ski areas to open in Wisconsin. Granite Peak opened ahead of the holiday weekend on Nov. 24, with two lifts and six trails. Tyrol Basin opened Nov. 30 with a weekend-only schedule, currently offering four open trails. Alpine Valley Resort is 100 percent open and running a full daily schedule. Wilmot will start spinning lifts today, Dec. 3, for night skiing. 

Lutsen Mountains, Minn., started weekend operations Nov. 13, and plans to begin a daily schedule Dec. 10. Wild Mountain, Minn., dropped ropes on its early-season terrain park Nov. 15, and is now offering four open trails served by two lifts and two rope tows. Afton Alps, Minn., opened Nov. 24 after pushing back its original Nov. 19 opening date due to warm temps.

In Michigan, several key players weren’t open for the holiday weekend, but are eyeing openings today and tomorrow. Boyne Mountain and Boyne Highlands opened today, Dec. 3, for season passholders, despite a warm front. Both will open to the general public tomorrow, Dec. 4. Nub’s Nob will open with three runs from Dec. 3 to Dec. 5, with plans to close midweek for snowmaking. Caberfae Peaks, which had pushed back its Thanksgiving weekend opening to Dec. 4, pushed back its opening again to next weekend because of warm weather and limited terrain. Although the ski area noted the forecast looks promising for around-the-clock snowmaking.

WEST

An early-season atmospheric river dropped feet of snow in the Sierra, allowing for resorts like Palisades Tahoe, Boreal, and Mammoth in California to open early, but unfavorably warm temperatures since then have delayed several Western resort openings. Sugar Bowl, Calif., had to defer its original Nov. 26 opening date due to mild, dry conditions. A shift in the weather pattern is expected in the coming week, and in anticipation, the ski area has been making snow in earnest whenever temps have allowed. 

The turnaround early next week may also give other Tahoe resorts like Heavenly and Northstar the boost they need to welcome skiers and riders to their slopes. Both ski areas were slated to open Nov. 19 but were forced to postpone. Initially, the ski areas were eyeing Thanksgiving for a new opening day, but the continued warm front has caused further delays. 

Grand Targhee, Wyo., delayed its Nov. 19 opening, but welcomed eight inches of fresh snow when it opened on Nov. 24, with two chairs and a 30-inch base depth. Neighboring Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Wyo., opened a day later, on Thanksgiving, with four lifts. The aerial tram is still operating for sightseeing only; ski and snowboard equipment is not allowed at this time. 

Purgatory, Colo., went back and forth on its opening day. While uncertainty with the weather had initially led Purgatory to push its opening day from Saturday, Nov. 20, to Sunday, Nov. 21, cooler temps allowed the ski area’s snowmaking crew to get things back on track for Nov. 20.

Schweitzer, Idaho, also faced challenges to its snowmaking efforts, but ultimately kicked off operations on Nov. 26. “Weather certainly can be nerve wracking this time of year,” said Tom Chasse, Schweitzer CEO and president. “We felt really, really good about the early snow we had the first couple weeks of November, and then we had a warming trend, melting all of Mother Nature’s efforts. Luckily for all of us, the temps have dropped, we’ve picked up some natural snowfall, and we’re making snow on Midway, giving us the chance to get out there and wake up our leg muscles.” 

Terrain at Schweitzer is still limited, resulting in weekend traffic being limited to passholders and lodging guests only until Dec. 17 at the latest, when more terrain is anticipated to open. 

CANADA

Several resorts in western Canada are operating with limited terrain. Big White, B.C., opened Nov. 26 with three lifts and seven runs. Big White senior vice president Michael J. Ballingall noted that despite the wet, rainy weather patterns, opening day reflected positive sentiment from consumers. 

Recently, a winter storm impacting travel and conditions at Banff Sunshine Village, Alberta, which opened Nov. 11, forced the resort to temporarily shut down operations on Thursday, Dec. 2. Lift ops resumed today, Dec. 3, with 10 lifts and 20 trails open. The resort only picked up a few inches of new snow, but avalanche danger along the access road was high due to wind loading. 

Ontario resorts still await cold temps and natural snow but many are hoping to open soon. To the east in Quebec, weather once again has not been ideal. That hasn’t stopped resorts like Tremblant and Sommet Saint-Sauveur. A concentrated snowmaking effort allowed Tremblant to open as scheduled Nov. 25. Snowmaking at Sommet Saint-Sauveur allowed the ski area to drop ropes a week earlier, on Friday, Nov. 19. 

Note: This report is derived from published reports and news releases, as well as information on snow report aggregators, such as snocountry.com. We apologize for any errors. Also, this report makes no attempt to include all open or soon-to-open areas, as there are too many to mention.