Welcome to Winter, Part II: The season we deserve

Snow was piling up at Magic Mountain the morning of March 14. (Magic Mountain Photo)

A quick preview of the next two weeks of welcome winter weather swung through New Hampshire’s Mount Washington Valley toward the end of February school break. A few inches of snow had fallen, and my kids and I ventured over to King Pine Ski Area for a few hours of playing around in the powder. 

On one of our first runs, my wide-eyed daughter stopped to tell me she had found some snow that nobody had skied through yet. Now, I know it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact moment one finds nirvana and purpose, but I’m pretty sure she found some semblance of both in that moment of fresh tracks. Ten years old, and she’s already set on the right course to discover the Meaning of Life. We’re very proud. 

At that point in the 2022-23 skiing and riding season, her discovery at King Pine was a rarity in New England. Rain and temperatures in the 40s is how the vital school vacation week started. Lifts didn’t go on wind hold, they went on lightning hold. There was plenty of slush on the trails, conditions more likened to mid-April than for one of the most financially important stretches in the region’s ski industry. “This winter has been terrible,” Russell Vasquez of New Jersey told Vermont’s WCAX-TV. 

Patience, Russell. 

The shift — or “Winter, Part II” as some have chosen to call it — has been a steady stream of winter storms that finally have started frequenting the mountains of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. New England went from a sub-average to an average snow season within a few days. By the end of the month, most every ski area and resort on the map was 100 percent open, promising elite conditions into the spring. 

It is my favorite time of the year for skiing, not just thanks to the forgiving conditions and the pleasures of skiing in a T-shirt, but because of the palpable appreciation we all have for the waning days. This might be your last turn of the season. With that comes a pull to respect each move we make on the snow. 

Last season, during what was considered another weak winter, Vermont saw 3.8 million skier visits that translated into about $900 million in economic impact. Thus, a weak snow season, in combination with the challenges of global warming, can start to cause some long-term financial problems for our region. When markets with higher populations in the southern half of the region (Boston, Providence, Hartford) go through a winter with no snow and temperatures often hovering into the 50s, well, you can understand where Les Otten got that idea to dump a truck load of snow on Boston Common back in the day. 

It has been difficult to remember what winter looks like at points this season. I never managed to replenish the rock salt at my home in southeastern Mass. I think the snow shovel is in the shed somewhere. Haven’t needed either. 

Until recently, it wasn’t much different in the hills this year. Snowmaking kept ski areas afloat, and there was plenty of opportunity for sliding on snow. But we were lacking that natural snow that takes our passions to another level. 

This is part of being a skier, of course, thirsting for ideal conditions, and restless until we find them. 

For some of us, a perfect spring day means making the trek to Tuckerman. For others, it might mean lathering on the SPF for a few runs before spending the afternoon on the deck of the base lodge with a cold drink, soaking in the sun. 

Or, just finding that tiny patch of untracked snow and having a moment. 

Spring is here, and with it some of the best skiing we have been able to find all winter. Whether you’ve already taken your last run for the season, or plan on it being sometime in June, we’d like to thank you for spending a few minutes here and there with us each month. It’s a joy to share in this devotion to winter sports.