November 19, 2008 E-MAIL PRINT

Diehards rule early season slopes

by Marty Basch/

Skiers and snowboarders were out Oct. 31 at Sunday River. (photo: Sunday River)

Skiers and snowboarders were out Oct. 31 at Sunday River. (photo: Sunday River)

Chomping to get out those boards?

Opening days are coming, but hundreds of diehards have already been skiing and riding.

Why?

"Bragging rights," says former Syracuse University ski team racer Cara Rudio, who recently moved to North Conway, N.H., from Wyoming. She didn't waste any time getting to the trails, hitting Sunday River on opening day: October 31.

"I knew the conditions would be less than ideal, but as a recent transplant from out West, I had to take advantage of the opportunity to beat my Wyoming friends to the trails. It worked. They were jealous."

An estimated 700 skiers and riders made first tracks on a few trails at the River Halloween. About 300 of them either purchased the $25 lift tickets that day or rode for free if wearing costumes. The rest were all season pass holders.

Diehards are a special breed. Take a look at the masses at Sunday River. Halloween was a Friday. Don't those people work?

Some "called in sick to make it out on opening day," said River spokesman Nick Lambert.

"The fact that we were able to do it on Halloween again this year gave them even more incentive to make it," he said.

About 1,000 rabid skiers and riders also made it to opening day at Killington Nov. 1 in central Vermont. Were they having a good time? Yes. But also in the mix were some serious schussers, including "a number of young athletes carving turns as they prepare for the upcoming race season," said Big K spokesman Tom Horrocks.

It's all about Mother Nature and snow guns. Ribbons of man-made snow make a carpet for sliding surrounded by the November brown of the woods. Skiers and snowboarders have mostly hung up their road and mountain bikes, and live to see high elevation natural snow on Mount Mansfield and Mount Washington. Those who see the snow, hike to it as backcountry diehards live too. It’s not just a spring Tuckerman thing.

When temperatures permit, the snow guns are being turned on across New England. While skiers and riders dream about pow, snowmaking crews are out under the moonlight unfurling miles of hoses which will carry the snow from compressor to slopes.

And when all else fails, think back to 2005 and Wildcat Mountain. Some four feet of snow fell at the Pinkham Notch ski area giving the mountain a late October opening. There are still people out there with those '05 tickets on office walls and hanging from ski jackets. It’s the sign of the diehard.

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