The new snow of the past week -- a welcome sight to skiers and winter-lovers alike -- came as a relief for the Dartmouth Skiway, which had already nearly exhausted its own snowmaking capabilities.
Due to the lack of precipitation over the past few months, the pond supplying water to the Skiway's snowmaking system has all but dried up.
"New Hampshire is currently undergoing drought conditions, and water is more difficult to come by this year than others," said Skiway Director Doug Holler.
He explained that the pond is typically replenished by spring water and the gradual melting of snow cover, but this year, the flow of new water has been reduced to barely a trickle.
"The refill rate is extremely slow," Holler said, noting that only three of the Skiway's trails were open before last week's storm.
The lack of water has been exacerbated by the unseasonably warm temperatures prevalent in New England over the past two months.
Locations from New York City to Burlington, Vt. witnessed one of their warmest Decembers on record according to the National Weather Service, with the result that any snowmaking was nearly impossible until the latter half of the month.
At the Skiway, the customary opening date was delayed by a week to Dec. 21, while other New Hampshire ski areas, such as Cannon Mountain and Bretton Woods, also experienced varying degrees of difficulty coping with the warm conditions.
Director of Public Relations at Bretton Woods Bonnie MacPherson said that mild temperatures had hindered snowmaking during the early weeks of the season.
"We had snowmaking crews that would be here on standby just watching the thermometer," she said. "We took advantage of every opportunity we had to make snow."
"We usually open around Thanksgiving, but didn't open until December 14 this year," said Nat Putnam, guest services supervisor for Cannon.
Although he explained that warm weather had been responsible for the delayed opening, skiers have apparently not been deterred: Cannon has seen nearly as many visitors this year as came during last year's record-breaking season.
Fortunately for skiers, the 14 inches of snow that fell last Sunday and into Monday provided a reprieve from the relatively snow-free conditions of the first few weeks of the season. The snow "gave us the ability to open a great deal of new terrain," Holler said, though "fourteen inches tends to pack down to about two and a half inches."
In an average season, snowmaking is an essential component of any mountain's successful operation, providing a deep base of man-made snow in the case that the weather is not forthcoming.
"We try to build up a three-foot base," Holler said of the Skiway's snowmaking, which covers approximately half of the 20-plus trails. "Most ski areas can't rely on Mother Nature, so you just make as much as you can for as long as you can."
The closing date for the Skiway typically falls in late March, though Holler said the date could potentially be weeks earlier, depending on whether the pond eventually refills and on the variability of the weather.
"We don't want to have to close down early," Holler said. "Right now, we're just waiting on water, and hopefully we'll get some good natural cover for a really good season."
