The ski season has been sluggish so far this year. Ski resorts across Pennsylvania have seized a few stretches of cold weather to make snow but then have watched warm weather days decimate snowy terrain.
That’s all likely about to change.
If the impending winter storm about to grip the mid-Atlantic this weekend delivers on the historic amounts of snow forecasted, skiing in Pennsylvania could turn overnight from anemic to epic.
The National Weather Service is calling for as much as 18 inches in parts of Pennsylvania. That level of snow fall — especially if powdery — is poised to revive snow-starved ski resorts.
Veteran ski experts like Donna Himes, a spokeswoman for Blue Knob, a popular Altoona-area ski resort, like to exercise a little restraint, though.
“Right now it’s groomed, packed powder,” she said. “We really don’t have anything loose on the top, and it’s not quite enough to do any tree skiing in the woods yet. So we’re hoping we get significant snowfall so people can come up and ski.”
The snowfall, in fact, is forecast to be continuous, which means resorts can’t groom trails as much, but the ski action is non-stop.
“If it snows that much, they’re going to get to ski some good powder,” Himes said.
A destination for skiers as far south as Virginia and west of Pittsburgh, Blue Knob management has seen the anticipation for epic skiing light up on social media in the past few days.
“It has been non-stop,” Himes said. “What’s going to be open? Is the whole mountain going to be open? Are we going to be able to ski this slope or that one? I appreciate everybody’s enthusiasm. It’s awesome. But it’s kind of like you have to sort of take the stance of, well, let’s wait until it’s on the ground before, we tell people we’re going to do any particular. But you know, if we can, we’ll definitely open it up.”
Pennsylvania is home to several well-known ski resorts, including Seven Springs in the west, Ski Roundtop, Ski Liberty, Whitetail in the central region and Camelback and Blue Mountain, in the Poconos, to name a few. The latter boasts the biggest vertical drop in the state.
Most have limped through what Himes called a “weird” season so far this winter but now are hoping for big numbers from the coming storm.
“We did get six inches this past Wednesday and that helped a bunch and some really cold weather,” Himes said.
That will allow Blue Knob to open new terrain this weekend, but what happens after Saturday night (when the brunt of the storm is expected to arrive), Himes prefers to “wait and see.”
“Hopefully, depending on how much there is, we can open more terrain,” she said. “Obviously, a lot of the slopes don’t have any base on them, so it’s got to be a pretty significant snowfall in order to really open up a lot of terrain.”
A sizable snowfall will allow the resort to open up terrain not in service at the moment because they don’t have snow-making capabilities, such as tree trails.
“With a big snowfall, we’re able to open all that up for tree skiing,” Himes said. “And some of the slopes that aren’t served by snowmaking. We can open them as well.”
Pennsylvania ski resorts have largely in recent years dealt with recurring cycles of warm and cold conditions; with warm, rainy stretches being the most detrimental for ski resorts.
“We really haven’t had that this year, just a couple of times,” Himes said. “And not to any great lengths, but there’s been some years in the past where we’ve had warm temperatures and rain every day. And that’s not good at all.”
Freezing rain, she said, tends to make a crust on top of snow and can hold the base as long as cold conditions prevail.
Even if the snowstorm delivers a wallop in terms of snow, that’s still not a guarantee for the remainder of the season.
“It’s amazing how quickly snow can melt,” Himes said. “Even a significant snowfall, if you have days upon days of really warm weather, it makes a big difference.
Himes said in recent years, she has seen winter temperatures reach into the 50s, even the 60s.
“Obviously, if we can stay around freezing or a little more, we can hold it longer,” she said.
Another consideration for ski resorts with regards to this weekend’s snowstorm are the bone-chilling temperatures forecast to accompany the winter precipitation.
AccuWeather forecasts a low of 6 degrees tonight, 12 degrees Saturday, and 14 degrees Sunday (with a high of 18). On Monday, the low temperature falls to -3 and increases to just 4 degrees on Tuesday.
Himes isn’t as concerned with the temperatures as she is with the winds.
“I don’t know if it’s too cold to ski, but riding the lift can be very challenging. The chairs swing back and forth. You don’t want them to swing into a tower. So we’ve actually had more problems with extreme wind this year than we have with super cold temperatures,” she said. “It’s also very challenging for our outdoor employees too. Our lift operators who have to be out in it.”
Himes said the ski resort has only ever closed a few times as a result of extreme cold.
“It has to be really, really extreme to where it can be dangerous to be outside,” she said.
Himes said the resort is prepared to provide overnight accommodation for any staff members who can’t get home and back to work the next day.
“As long as we have lift operators and employees, there’ll be people here to ski. I guarantee,” Himes said.