Ski areas across the region are struggling to open terrain this year because of miserly natural snowfall and mild temperatures that have limited opportunities to manufacture the white stuff. Most resorts will be up and running for the crucial Christmas week, but the number of trails open is well below normal. In Vermont, only about 17 percent of the state’s 1,200 ski trails were reported skiable yesterday, compared with 45 percent this time last year. In New Hampshire, just over 20 percent of the slopes have enough snow to ski on, compared with almost 50 percent last year.
Average temperatures have been 5 to 6 degrees above normal this month, according to AccuWeather, and snowfall amounts are down by more than a foot in some parts of ski country. Snow showers could bring a few more inches to the mountains during the weekend and again next week - and colder temperatures should boost snow making - but the major storm needed to build a base is not in the offing.
“I don’t see anything on the horizon right now,’’ said AccuWeather meteorologist Paul Walker.
Despite the low percentage of snow-covered slopes, ski area operators stress that December is often hit or miss, and resorts that have not opened yet are working to do so by next week, one of the three busiest time periods of the winter season.
Some resorts are reporting below-average skier visits and lodging reservations, but larger ones with massive snow-making capabilities, such as Killington in Vermont, which opened Oct. 29 and as of yesterday had 32 of 140 trails open, say business is ahead of last year.
“We’ve been really fortunate to be one of the only resorts to be open every day,’’ said Sarah Thorson, a Killington spokeswoman.
Shawnee Peak in Bridgton, Maine, for example, had to close one day earlier this week because of poor road conditions caused by freezing rain. Attitash Mountain Resort in Bartlett, N.H., opened for a few days after a 15-inch snowfall at Thanksgiving, but then closed until Dec. 13.
