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Closing Dates for New England Mountains - 2015

mlctvt

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Some people!
Last week at Mount Snow on the lift I heard two different people saying "well this is it , season's almost over" . The second time I heard this I said "why do you say that? look at the snow!". He said well tomorrow is MARCH. I said yup March is historically the largest snow month for southern VT. He said he and most of his friends are done with winter and skiing by March, they're thinking about spring., yadda yadda yadda
WTF! If you live in the northeast don't you know that spring doesn't really arrive until late May or June anyway so you might as well ski well into at least April. Killington will probably be open till June this year!
 

VTKilarney

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March is the snowiest month in southern VT???? Not according to the stats I've seen.
 

benski

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I'm curious why mountains don't try to end the myth that ski season ends so early. I was skiing in the woods at the bush after people started being shocked there was still snow.


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steamboat1

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March is the snowiest month in southern VT???? Not according to the stats I've seen.
MONTHLY SNOWFALL AVERAGE

November29 inches
December33 inches
January52 inches
February55 inches
March57 inches
April24 inches
(Measured at the 4,000-foot level below the summit of Killington Peak)

Sure seems to be the snowiest month according to K stats.
 

VTKilarney

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Ahh... I was looking at stats for southern Vermont, not a much higher peak in central Vermont.


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steamboat1

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Ahh... I was looking at stats for southern Vermont, not a much higher peak in central Vermont.


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I'm pretty sure the same holds true for all VT. ski areas north of K (March is historically the snowiest month). Don't know about southern VT. All I know is since March 1 this year NYC has received more snow than any ski area in VT. I was in VT. all week & we didn't get much. Plenty of fresh snow in NYC when I got home last night.
 

mlctvt

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March is the snowiest month in southern VT???? Not according to the stats I've seen.

The last few years it hasn't but historically March has the most snow. I think I saw that Mount Snow averages 48" in March.
 

drjeff

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The last few years it hasn't but historically March has the most snow. I think I saw that Mount Snow averages 48" in March.

I'll GLADLY take another 40" or so (they had about 9" this week) on top of what's on the ground at Mount Snow now! My walkway snowbanks from the parking lot into my place are less than a foot away from becoming contiguous with the snow on the roof now, and that has never happened in the almost 8yrs I've owned up here!!

There's a bunch of snow in So VT now!!
 

deadheadskier

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I heard it last week on a ride up the gondola, but needless to say, don't believe anything you hear on a lift. They are closing on the 19th.

That's fairly average unless they've been pushing it further in recent years. I haven't skied Stowe in April in many years and typically don't pay attention to their close dates unless I casually notice it here on the forums like in your post. In my 7 years as a pass holder there, (last year being 04-05) third weekend in April was the norm. Even the record 2000-2001 winter they closed the third weekend in April.

IMO, they should stay open until first weekend in May. They ALWAYS have the snow to and charging what they do; it's the right thing to do by their pass holders. Even if it's just weekends only after the 3rd weekend in April.
 

joshua segal

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Jan 31, 2014
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skikabbalah.com
Some people!
Last week at Mount Snow on the lift I heard two different people saying "well this is it , season's almost over" . The second time I heard this I said "why do you say that? look at the snow!". He said well tomorrow is MARCH. I said yup March is historically the largest snow month for southern VT. He said he and most of his friends are done with winter and skiing by March, they're thinking about spring., yadda yadda yadda
WTF! If you live in the northeast don't you know that spring doesn't really arrive until late May or June anyway so you might as well ski well into at least April. Killington will probably be open till June this year!
In 50 years of skiing, a few things haven't changed:
1. The skiing industry makes its margins off a base of retail customers who show up routinely between Christmas and March 1.
2. Season pass holders and truly fanatic skiers, whose money is already in the till are the ones who ski after April 1.
3. Snowmaking has pushed back the start of the profitability of skiing to Thanksgiving. Nothing has worked to get guests out late season. Areas have been closing with 100% open terrain for decades. Only a few, such as Killington, have figured out how to market the late season product (and even they forgot until Mike Solimano took over).
4. While the late season product can be wonderful, it can also be awful. As such, most resorts stop marketing vacation packages. I've seen crowds at Killington on bluebird days in May, but I've also seen late season days when the Superstar quad is spinning for a half dozen skiers, all of whom are season pass holders.
5. So while there is a lot of great skiing after March 1 - even April 1 - yeah, even May 1; the bookkeeping as to whether the season was financially successful or not is over with the first weekend in March.
 

bigbog

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Feb 17, 2004
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Think Boyne will probably put the annual screws to SL & SR, but once into mid-April they really could do the Thur-Sun schema and push the lift season quite a ways....
 
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The Sneak

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Sep 21, 2006
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I am really hoping to ski into May this year. Last yr my season ended at SR with their final wknd. It's a long offseason and spring skiing rules.


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Smellytele

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Jan 30, 2006
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Right where I want to be
They already announced they'd be open an extra week this year. Didn't hear anything about a canned food drive though.

Bonus Days
The winter season is going so well that we don't want it to end. That's right, we are re-opening for a three day weekend. Join us Friday, April 3 through Sunday April 5 for the final lift-served Pico runs of the season and our closing festivities!
 
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