DCSki Today

Latest Stories

Newsroom →
The Economics of Making Winter: Does Snowmaking Pay Off?

The Economics of Making Winter: Does Snowmaking Pay Off?

Poley Mountain, a small Canadian ski area with much in common with Mid-Atlantic resorts, is investing C$2.5 million to expand its snowmaking capacity. The resort's careful financial planning raises a broader question: Do major snowmaking investments pay off? DCSki examines academic research on snowmaking economics, including studies that reach differing conclusions about the effects on skier visits, revenue, and profitability.
Road Trips "R" Us

Road Trips “R” Us

Jim Kenney recounts the beautiful, crazy, scary, lucky, and tasty moments gathered during decades of ski road trips across North America.
Mountain Weather

Mid-Atlantic Skiers' Forecast

Updated 24 minutes ago

The Mid-Atlantic remains firmly in a warm, dry pattern, with no natural snow or mixed precipitation in the forecast. Friday brings sunshine and highs in the upper 60s to mid-70s for lower-elevation areas, followed by another mostly dry weekend and highs generally in the 50s and 60s. Areas near Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia will be especially mild, including Massanutten, Liberty Mountain, and Bear Creek.

The best overnight cooling arrives in the Poconos, where Jack Frost could drop to the upper 20s Saturday night, with nearby Big Boulder, Camelback, and Shawnee Mountain also reaching the lower 30s. That may offer a limited potential snowmaking window, but warm afternoons will dominate. The higher West Virginia mountains are not much colder this round: Snowshoe, Timberline, and Canaan Valley Resort stay mainly in the 40s overnight, with some wind and clouds but no meaningful wintry weather.

Weather Fact of the Day
Snowmaking guns do not simply spray water into cold air -- they create artificial “nuclei,” tiny ice particles that help nearby droplets freeze. Some systems use compressed air, while others use specialized nucleator nozzles; the more effective those seed crystals are, the more water can freeze before reaching the slope, improving production without merely increasing water pressure.
DCSki regional outlook based on National Weather Service forecasts for Mid-Atlantic ski areas.
Around the Ski World

Elsewhere on the Web

Fresh ski and snowboard stories from around the web, selected daily for DCSki readers.

Updated 21 hours ago
POWDER Oct 28

Winter 26/27 Opening Dates for 21 Vermont Ski Resorts

Vermont resorts have released a broad slate of tentative opening targets for the coming season, led by Killington’s early-November ambitions and several mountains targeting Thanksgiving week. Dates remain weather-dependent, but the calendar offers an early planning guide for Northeast skiers.

Read at POWDER
Links open external websites. Story summaries are generated from publicly available reporting and are refreshed once daily.
DCSki Spotlight

Explore DCSki Resorts

Discover ski areas across the Mid-Atlantic through DCSki's detailed resort profiles.

Explore all resorts →
Sugar Mountain
Banner Elk, North Carolina

Sugar Mountain

Located near Banner Elk in the Blue Ridge Mountains of northwestern North Carolina, Sugar Mountain Resort offers 1,200 feet of vertical drop, making it one of the largest ski areas in the…
Liberty Mountain Resort
Carroll Valley, Pennsylvania

Liberty Mountain Resort

Liberty Mountain Resort is located in Carroll Valley, Pennsylvania, just off Rt. 15 over the Maryland border. Liberty is only 60 miles from the Baltimore and D.C. beltways, making it one of…
Ski Sawmill Family Resort
Morris, Pennsylvania

Ski Sawmill Family Resort

Located in north-central PA, Ski Sawmill is far from commercialized; the small ski area is unpretentious and offers economically-priced lift ticket prices. Expert skiers might quickly tire…
Beech Mountain
Beech Mountain, North Carolina

Beech Mountain

At an elevation of 5,506 feet, Beech Mountain is the highest ski resort in eastern North America. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of northwestern North Carolina, the resort offers 95…
Explore DCSki

DCSki by the Numbers

Catch Up

More from DCSki

Browse all stories →
0.03 seconds