In contrast to last year's record turnout, drought conditions coupled with a mild winter resulted in fewer people hitting the slopes at the Dartmouth Skiway this season.
Though the exact figures are not yet available, this year's attendance is not likely to match last year's high of 56,500 skiers, according to Debbie Marsh, an assistant director at the Skiway.
"Last year was a record year and also a record natural snow," Marsh said. "This year, we've had to deal with different conditions."
Unlike last year, this winter brought mild conditions, bad news for any ski area, because a warmer winter usually translates into less snow.
Keeping the trails buried in snow is so essential to drawing skiers out to the slopes that in such situations, the Skiway turns to alternative methods of snow production, including man-made snow.
But because of this year's drought conditions, the Skiway's snowmaking system operated for less than half of the typical season's 500 hours, Marsh said.
While the light snowfall didn't completely eliminate the skiing season, it did limit skiing options. Even though the Skiway's two chair lifts service a total of 30 trails, many of these were closed for extended periods of time as snowmaking resources were concentrated on keeping central trails open.
"When I went to the Skiway in January, there wasn't all that much snow, but the trails that were open were well enough covered so you wouldn't scrape yourself on a sharp surface like rocks or anything like that," said Joe Hanlon '05, a member of the Dartmouth Ski Patrol.
"For optimum skiing conditions, though, you would want about two feet of dry, light, fluffy powder covering the ground," Hanlon said.
Despite the fact that snow was in short supply this winter, the Skiway did well largely due to season passes purchased by avid skiers at the season's outset, according to Marsh.
With April approaching, the Skiway has begun to decrease its hours of operation, remaining open only for the weekends.
"Interest in skiing usually wanes in the spring," Marsh said. "Likewise, many of our employees are seasonally employed and move on to other jobs. Ultimately, I think this was just a fluke year, and we held up pretty well under those conditions."