Another year, another start to the Closing Thread prior to the first weekend in April.
The Global pandemic continued into the 2020-21 season; after abruptly ending the Northern Hemisphere season last season and severely affecting the following Southern Hemisphere Winter, this season has been far from easy. International borders closed into the US-Canada border which has been closed for now over one year. Travel restrictions across the continent and various provincial and state requirements.
Various measures were set by local authorities across North America which included physical distancing, mask requirements, limited limited ticket sales, no indoor facilities or cafeteria. Ski school and ski races and programs canceled or suspended. The ski season had it’s share of various lockdowns and curfews, some like Quebec didn’t stop skiing operations while Ontario measures shutdown every ski areas across Ontario. Canada’s two biggest provinces had different approach dealing with the pandemic; the Quebec ski association seems to have the Quebec’s government ear or maybe that Quebec Premier Legault is a skier and Ontario’s Ford isn’t.
The season has had some positives and negatives: although the East generally didn’t get much snow, there hasn’t been very little thaw episodes. Conditions in my part of the World were great once snowmaking had covered the trails. Troubles started as we approached the end of March, record breaking temperatures with a few torrential downpours recked havoc on the snowpack.
Some would say that the situation bleak as the third wave of the pandemic is here and Ontario is heading into a new province-wide lockdown tomorrow. A few ski areas across Canada have had to closed due to Covid again. That being said, the overnight freezing in back in the North, some places even got a powder day on April Fools. Hills that rely on Natural snow were hard hit by the recent thaw/rain prior to reaching April. especially in Eastern Quebec, which is unprecedented.
Without taking into account as the travel restrictions and look strictly at the state of affairs at the various ski areas across the East, the situation is bad, but not as bad as the Spring of the Big Thaw, 2012, when roughly 29 ski areas spun their lifts in April. Of course, we are far from the great Spring of 2019 which had 137 ski areas still open. Killington and St-Sauveur would even offer us a few liftserved ski days into June. But at least, we are still skiing somewhere in the East unlike last Spring.
Snowdepth: 2012, 2019, 2021 and average comparison
Source: Mount Mansfield Summit Station
Numbers from previous seasons: Total / Eastern US
2021 : 89 / 40
2020: 1* / 0
2019: 137 / 61
2018: 158 / 78
2017 : 153 / 70
2016 : 76 / 19
2015^: 82 / 38 (2nd weekend of April)
2014^: : 89 / 35 (2nd weekend of April)
2013 : 107 / 48
2012 : 29 / 11
((*
LIST OF 88 89 SKI AREAS TENTATIVELY OFFERING SKIING INTO APRIL
QUEBEC : 31 32 ***
Western 16
Vidéo – April 3 (Saturday only)
Chanteclerc – April 4 (weekend only)
Blanc – April 4
Gabriel – April 4
Morin Heights – April 4
Olympia – April 4
Habitant – April 5
Owl’s Head – April 5
Vallée Bleue – April 5
Bromont – April 11 (tentative – after Easter Monday, weekend only)
Orford – April 11 (tentative – after Easter Monday, weekend only)
Montcalm – April 11 (weekend only + Easter Friday/Monday)
Avila – April 11 (weekend only + Easter Friday/Monday)
Tremblant – April 18
Sutton – April 18 / TBD (tentative)
St-Sauveur – May 2 (daily until April 25)
Centre and East – 15 16
Adstock – April 4 (weekend only)
Gallix – April 4
Gleason – April 4
Grand Fonds – April 4
Édouard – April 5
Le Relais – April 5
Stoneham – April 5
Vallée du Parc – April 5 Miller – April 5 or more (this Sunday, maybe more) ***
Ti-Basse – April 11 (tentative – Friday-Sunday only)
St-Mathieu – April 11 (weekend only + Easter Friday/Monday)
Le Massif – April 11
Ste-Anne – April 11
Comi – April 11 or more TBD (Wednesday-Sunday plus Easter Monday)
Val d’Irène – April 18 (Friday-Sunday only and Easter Monday)
Massif du Sud – April 25 (tentative Friday-Monday until April 18 then weekend only)
ONTARIO : 11 * Ontario Lockdown update
Osler Bluff – NA
Baldy – April 2
Hockley – April 2
Loch Lomond – April 2
Boler – April 2 3 (tentative) *
Caledon – April 2 4 *
Calabogie Peaks – April 2 4 *
Hidden Valley – April 2 4 *
Craigleith – April 2 4 *
Devil’s Glen – April 2 18 (closed next Tuesday-Friday) *
Blue – April 2 18 (tentative due to new Covid lockdown) – Spinning lift until midnight when the lockdown takes effect at 12:01am. *
NEW BRUNSWICK : 1
Crabbe – April 5 11 (Wednesday-Sunday plus Easter Monday only) **
NOVA SCOTIA: 2
Martlock – April 1 5 **
Tuonela – TBD
NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR : 3
White Hills – April 3
Marble – April 4
Smokey – April 11 (Wednesday-Sunday only)
NEW YORK : 13
Titus – NA – pause ***
Kissing Bridge – April 10 only (Rope Tow special event)
Song – April 3 (tentative Saturday only) ***
Plattekill – April 3 (Saturday only)
Royal – April 3 (Saturday only)
Woods Valley – April 3
Bristol – April 4 (tentative) ***
Belleayre – April 6 4 ***
Windham – April 4
West Mountain – April 11 (Friday-Sunday only)
Gore – April 11
Hunter – April 11
Whiteface – April 11
Greek Peak – April 7 TBD (daily until April 4) ****
Holimont – April TBD
VERMONT : 11
Bolton – April 4
Burke – April 4
Pico – April 4
Okemo – April 4
Smugglers – April 11 (tentative)
Stratton – April 11
Snow – April 18
Stowe – April 18
Jay – May 1 (tentative – daily until April 25)
Sugarbush – TBD
Killington – TBD (tentative)
NEW HAMPSHIRE : 9
Attitash – April 4
Gunstock – April 4
Ragged – April 4
Sunapee – April 11
Bretton Woods – April 11
Cannon – April 11
Loon – April 11
Waterville – April 11
Wildcat – April 18
MAINE : 4
Shawnee Peak – April 4 (Sunday – members only)
Saddleback – April 11
Sunday River – April 24
Sugarloaf – TBD
MASSACHUSETTS : 1
Wachusett – April 4
PENNSYLVANIA : 1
Seven Springs – April 3
NEW JERSEY : 1
American Dream (if you want to include indoor skiing)
EDIT: April 2, 2:22pm: Some ski resorts were waiting and see if the new 28-day Ontario Lockdown was going to apply to them. It does, every ski hill in Ontario is shutting down today.
** April 3, 12:05am: Update for the Maritimes. Ski Matlock’s last day was on April 1st. Crabbe’s last day will be Monday April 5th.
*** April 3, 11:45pm: A few tentative confirmed opening, one extension by 2 extra days and one confirmation that Titus was done for the season.
**** April 6, 7:30pm: Closing day confirmation for tomorrow at Greek Peak. All other updates will be posted in next post.
Looks like the Ontario “lockdown” forbids ski areas from being open, so all areas in the province are shut down as of midnight tonight (Apr 2). Today was the last day to ski in the province at the few places still open.
Yes thank you. I edited my original post at 2;20ish once the news dropped.