Despite the lack of natural snow on regional mountains and temperatures reaching into the 70s in recent days, ski resorts remain optimistic about their prospects for a financially sound year.
But warm weather may hurt the regional ski resorts this year as poor conditions have only allowed Killington and Okemo, two of Vermont's largest resorts, to open so far.
Because of high altitude and snowmaking capability Killington was able to open eight out of 162 trails and Okemo was able to open three out of 83 trails.
An Okemo representative said weather conditions will dictate when the remaining trails will open.
Although Okemo, located in Ludlow, Vt., has the ability to cover 95 percent of its terrain with artificial snow, current weather conditions have made it impossible to operate the snowmaking equipment.
"We made snow two nights ago but we won't be able to make any more in the following days," the representative said.
Smaller mountains in the area such as Pico, Whaleback and Ascutney, which are at lower altitudes, have not been able to open any trails.
"It's definitely too warm to make snow," a Pico representative said. "We will tentatively open the day before Thanksgiving."
Whaleback has delayed its opening until the middle of December and Ascutney is planning to open on Dec. 2.
The Dartmouth Skiway, located in Lyme N.H., has made several improvements for the 1994-95 season but also remains closed.
Although warm weather can be detrimental to the ski resorts' profits, the resorts remain optimistic about the year's financial outlook.
"We sold about 1,000 lift tickets during the first day of our season which is about the same as last year," said Pam Cruickshank, the Okemo marketing manager.
"Financially the weather should have no bearing and we'll make up for the slow start in the long run," she added.
However, Ken Bourier, Killington ski resort marketing director was not as optimistic, "If things remain the way they are until Christmas, we could be facing some financial trouble," he said.
