Snowy Season Could Bring Business to Mount Southington

Unpredictable weather is a trademark in New England, and a pattern of warm winters in the recent past has made business tough for seasonal recreation spots like Mount Southington Ski Area.

But an early burst of cool air and predictions of a snowy winter leave these businesses hopeful that they can remain profitable during the 2010-11 season.

Ed Beckley, president and general manager of Mount Southington, acknowledged struggles to overcome a lack of snow in recent winters, but said the mountain got off to a better start when it was able to open slopes on Dec. 11, eight days earlier than in 2009.

After the early start, the season kick-off for Mount Southington was short-lived when torrential rain -- the National Weather Service reported 3.5 inches  around the mountain last week -- washed away the snow that had been made. 

"This year we got an early start, but [ were forced to close temporarily] because we're making snow on those trails that we were using before," Beckley said. "The recent rain melted quite a bit of it so we're currently trying to bolster those trails so that we can go through another warm spell if we had to."

By last weekend, nine of 14 trails and five of seven lifts were back in operation.

A pattern of warmer winters, increased business costs and other challenges has made business difficult in recent years for ski areas throughout the state. Powder Ridge in Middlefield has closed, and the ski area's Web site said it will not open this year as owners look to sell the property. That leaves only Mount Southington, Ski Sundown in New Hartford and Mohawk Mountain in Cornwall as full-time ski areas for public use.

Ski Sundown also closed temporarily  because of  rain after an early start, but Marketing Director Allison Ray said like Beckley, her staff is thinking positive.

"Ski Sundown has full snowmaking capabilities, so they don't generally have too much of a problem, but of course if you make snow and it's too warm the snow will melt," Ray said. "That's probably the only issue, but we're doing OK."

Snowmaking is a necessity for Connecticut ski areas as they have found themselves battling the unexpectedly warm weather or rainfall more often than their competitors in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Producing snow comes at a very high price, both Ray and Beckley said.

"Snowmaking is very expensive," Beckley said. "But if it wasn't for snowmaking, we would not be here."

Beckley estimated that snowmaking costs roughly $1,000 per hour and when nature doesn't cooperate, the costs rise to "some very high figures," he said.

"If you're making snow around the clock for 24 hours, you'll have about $24,000 of cost just for the snowmaking alone," Beckley said. "So far we have accumulated about 100 hours of snowmaking. When it rains, it's very significant, but right now the forecast that's coming up in the future looks promising."

Although Southington has only seen a dusting of snow so far this season, the outlook shows snowy months ahead according to Gary Lessor, assistant director at the Western Connecticut State University Weather Center.

"Our forecast for the winter season is for a colder and snowier than normal winter. We're predicting roughly 10 percent more snow than normal for Connecticut ski areas," Lessor said. "It looks like it should be a very promising ski season in southern New England."

And that forecast has bolstered spirits at all three Connecticut ski areas. Beckley said an increase in snow paired with the hard-hit economy could actually benefit smaller state ski areas like his during the 2010-11 season.

Beckley said Mount Southington had a good season in 2009-10 despite a late start and heard from many visitors that they were not willing to spend the money necessary to travel two states over to go skiing. With the economy still struggling, he expects even more people to ski local this year.

"We're hoping and we're thinking that people are going to come and have a great time and we have a few things going for us that we feel have helped us in this crunch," Beckley said. "Last year we thought that people didn't travel further up north as much to go skiing because of the cost. It almost doesn't make sense to go up for one day."

"I think people took advantage of the smaller areas like the Connecticut areas by just doing day trips," Beckley said. "Those are the kinds of moves people are making in order to economize and keep active in their sport."

Trish Morrissey, director of marketing and sales for Mohawk Mountain in Cornwall, said the ski area is  eager about the upcoming season, especially after making it through the recent rainfall without being forced to close like Mount Southington and Ski Sundown did.

"We're up and running, we're open and we have great conditions," Morrissey said. "We have two brand-new lifts that we installed over the summer and we cut a new trail so we're anticipating a fantastic season. People just need to come on out and see what it's all about."