Saturday, snowed all day. Prediction was for drizzle early then chance of late rain later in the day, SNOW SNOW SNOW instead in the PA hills.

This week, prediction was for warmer temps mid week last week, so far this year they have been off by the warmth. Predictions for 50's yield 55 or 58! Now this week, it appears things shifted back toward the 'cold' side of the forecast.

Can it be, will it be? Possibly, WINTER YET?!?

Snow is in the forecast tomorrow , 1-2 inches, and Friday and Saturday 'some' snow. NO rain.....NO rain!??! ZERO rain this week? It cant be!

check the long range for the roundtop area. winter lasts about 4 days then back to rain and warmth.

3-5 should be easy for the valley tomorrow, possibly a bit more this weekend with some actual cold!! still a chance to save a bit of the season and build a base that will last until the Snowy Luau!!

Too little, too late. After Prez wknd, it's all over and resorts could care less if they remain open or not. They certainly won't be spending big money on massive snow making efforts now. Just enough touch up for the holiday then let the chips fall where they may.

Matt is right, after Prez weekend the resorts are done with snow making, too little return on investment. Hope for mother nature or plan a trip where there's snow. Don't commit to Tahoe like I did.

Totally agree especially for Snowtime areas. Places that have a real commitment to the customer like Springs will push for a very long spring season while Libery,Roundtop, Whitetail count down to when they can shut their doors.

In defense of Snowtime, I remember going to one of their ski areas in March and it being totally empty. Much of their customer base don't go skiing in March, even if there is snow.

lack of imagination. would you pay 50 bucks to ride limited terrain in frozen granular. freestylers come out in marginal conditions so lower rates and have a few runs and all the freestyle features open.

As the season goes on, the percentage of season pass skiers on the slope steadily increases, and the percent of day ticket skiers drops. The resort already has the money of the season pass holders so they are not taking in much new money. The accountants watch this carefully and at a certain point they tell management to shut down. I have heard quite a bit of grumbling about this from friends living at major resorts in the north and west. In the good old days, places like Killington stayed open as long as possible for bragging rights. Not today. A few, like Snowbird, Arapahoe Basin and Mammoth still do.

yep denis. today its all about money and not customer experience (expect for a few places).

While I agree it is about the almighty dollar, I must acknowledge that the new CEO of Snowshoe appears to have a fresh approach to customer service, training, making snow, and inovative ideas about multiple "good deals" to get folks to his resort. I must admit that this is refreshing.
According to unofficial folks I have spoken with at the Shoe, including employees, they actually are having a pretty good season, with folks calling from other mid-A resorts and making reservations to come immediately.
Time will tell...but it sure is refreshing!
The Colonel

I've been a SnowTime passholder for many years, Wt is my local, and I always say they are data driven, not skier driven. Every decision they make is to increase margins, not add to skier enjoyment.

They want shiny white for Prez weekend, after that they won't spend any more than they have to.

there is a place called White Grass that is only about customer experience

I know that place.

Denis and Finsout, you are right. You know, they front-load the books by requiring owners to pay for season passes in APRIL for the following years' season. So I'd agree, not much additional revenue from now on. And Closing Day is rather fluid depending on business (not conditions).
The new GM has some great ideas, but unfortunately, can't write any checks Intrawest won't cash! One of the best, and lowcost was bringing back the Inn shuttle.

If you guys check into the information regarding snow making and how the resorts are billed for their power consumption you will find the answers to your snow making and skiing questions. Resorts are charged a flat fee for electricity until the end of February and then they get hit for the actual costs in March. Amazing how most resorts start shutting down in March. You wont see Snowtime blow snow after leap day. Trust me on this. They will close as soon as the weather forecast is calling for warm temps and they will let that ice melt right down the hill until it is brown.

In response to the person saying that the closing date is fluid, I believe that is wrong. Most of the seasonal help is told that by mid March expect to be finished with the season. For the past 3 years where we have had great snow availability Snowtime has shut down all of their resorts at the same time with plenty of snow to be pushed around to ski in.

I find it funny how in February the resorts allow skiers and boarders to ride on conditions that are pretty downright horrible while making out like it is great conditions. Every once in awhile you will see them report that there are thin cover areas and to be careful. That doesn't stop them from charging full price with mush on the slopes. Obviously they have to make their money and hold out for better days of snow making or snow. It just seems funny to me that they shut down when conditions in mid March the last few years have been better than what they are letting us ride on right now during this horrible season. Seems like an excuse to me. If that excuse doesn't turn you off, the next one will. They say there just isn't enough people who come out and ski end of season to make it worth opening the resort for so they shut down. I have seen the hills packed during this crap. I am pretty sure this season skiers will want to push it as far as they can to get the money out of their season pass money. Unfortunately they do not care about that as it is in the best interest of the resort to close and pocket the change.

Sorry to be such a downer, but Snowtime did not do a very good job getting the hills covered at the beginning of the season for me to see a change in the CEO's management style to make me think any better of them. Not when Bryce was open with harder conditions to blow in.

We know.

Data Driven decisions,
not Skier Driven

Ok Camp. Tell that to TheRusty who loves to drink the Snowtime Kool Aid. Did you know he is a high level instructor? Did you also know that he just loves Whitetail? lol. Ask him. He will certainly tell you all about it.

I'm agreeing with you Jamie. I don't know Rusty (that I know of), and I don't know if you're saying he'd agree or disagree.

I both love, and hate Wt. As mentioned many posts ago, Snowtime are good for what they are (sans real estate), and they do make skiing available in MASH. That adds much happiness to my life. Wt in particular of the 3, makes skiing into the blandest common denominator. And, you may see me there tomorrow.

agree with you 1000% Jamie. This season is going to break the mold on the 'nobody comes out in the spring' idea. in addition, there are tons of people (mostly park rats) who wold LOVE to keep riding as long as possible so why not scale back and only keep the parks open? that creative thinking which snowtime seems to lack.

HaHa. Wasn't being hateful. I hate how words in writing can make you sound much meaner. My bad. I know you were agreeing with me. I remember back in 2010 we were both going round and round with TheRusty who always talks up Snowtime. Sear his name and you will see his posts to us both under Re: Snowtime Closes March 14th. It's a good laugh especially after how we have been treated as pass-holders this season. You'll appreciate it.

There ya go. Perfect example of what I've been calling Data Driven, not Skier Driven Park rats are so enthused, they might not even need the lifts running.

Jamie, i will go back to that thread.

Hey give WT some credit, at least the kept the access road open all season.

Reading that proves I haven't learned much in 2 years. Still complaining about the same shitz on the internetz. I even wanted to grab a paragraph and start it up again.

We'll see if I can stay out of the same arguments at the end of this season....

This is a great idea. Why not make piles of snow and extend things a bit for the park riders.

Credit Due:
Whitetail turned on the guns today around 3:30

Update--Snowtime definitely has it's share of koolaid drinkers, I know some people who have told me that when things get heated on Facebook or other media, the mgmt asks certain employees to login and post in defense of the mts.

I am happy to report that Roundtop did make an effort at snowmaking yesterday. They had guns going all day but there were some suspicious gaps. There was zero new snow on Barrets trail and lower minuteman had no guns going. Ramrod was blowing top to bottom and was excellent. Lower minuteman was particularly telling since as the bread and butter slope, when that closes, they are done (unless they do the park idea). the cynical side of me says that they are purposefully leaving lower minuteman thin (and its thin)so they can pull the plug early.

We went to Liberty yesterday, and they had quite a few guns going on the front and the backsides, although a couple of the trails were closed. It was a cold and windy day, especially since we got there early. My kids (age 5&8) could barely make it down the front side because the wind was blowing so hard it stopped their momentum. We stuck it out and had a fun day, with more stops inside the lodge than an average day. The lifts were not as crowded as a typical weekend day for Liberty.