N.E. resorts know how to make it snow

The wild mood Mother Nature threw at us this past weekend was a huge challenge to skiers and resort owners. Driving rain on Friday into Saturday, then a plunge in the temps that firmed it all up would look to most as an impossible challenge.

But not in New England. Resorts have spent the past decade and more beefing up their ability to turn things around quickly, finding ways to hit the reset button and just keep a great winter going. This past week was a huge challenge, resort folks agree, but one New England resorts stepped up and took on.

One of the strongest turnarounds came at Mount Snow where, in November, the final touches were put on a threeyear, multi-million dollar snow-making system designed to cover trails quickly and well. Jesse Boyd, an executive with Peak Resorts (owners of Mount Snow), said their recovery from those rough few days serves as proof that their investment was worthwhile.

“We ran (the snow-making system) for 52 hours over the past days,” he said. “And we rain 385 snow guns.”

The result? Just days — hours even — after the windswept rain and fog sucked snow up into the atmosphere and what was left froze up, Mount Snow had resurfaced all primary and secondary trails.

How? Their new system, first, stores more water (120 million gallons now), so they can pump more. Where in the past they were limited to running about 50 guns at a time, which demanded they pick and choose which trails to resurface at which time, they can now run hundreds more, getting to all the trails quickly.

The system worked well and fast, and Boyd should know. He was out blowing snow with the snow-making team all weekend.

“We are kind of an ‘all hands on deck’ company,” he said, “and there certainly was a need to be out there.”

That, he said, might add to the successful resurfacing.

“I think it’s a morale booster,” he said. “It shows everyone else that this really is important.”

While not all resorts have the snow-making power of Mount Snow, almost all have upgraded their systems in recent years and now have an easier time making things right again. So while early this week, skiers and riders might see dips in trail totals, they should be back up to great totals for this coming weekend.

New England resorts are good that way, Boyd said. Perhaps even better than those out west. Why? “We rely less on natural snow out here,” he said. “Plus, we have better water sources.”

Boyd feels good about the turn-around, but is also happy for something else: There’s snow in the forecast.

“I’m really glad to see that,” he said.

So as resorts work their power to resurface, nature will pitch in, and the season that has been excellent so far will keep on keeping on. Nature can be moody, but resorts like Mount Snow and many others know just how to turn that mood around.