New Hampshire’s ski areas are taking advantage of the arrival of cold weather after a warm start to winter by blasting snow-making machines as the alpine season heads into high gear.

Many alpine areas are opening this week in preparation for the Christmas-to-New Year season, generally their busiest time of the year.

Mt. Sunapee opened Wednesday, Pats Peak in Henniker will open to season pass holders on Friday and to everybody on Saturday, while Crotched Mountain in Francestown, Ragged Mountain in Danbury and Gunstock in Gilford will all open Friday.

In Manchester, McIntyre Ski Area plans to open next Friday, Dec. 13. In Plymouth, Tenney Mountain is “temporarily closed to prepare for the 2024/25 ski season” and will not open until Saturday, Dec. 21. Granite Gorge in Keene and Whaleback in Enfield have not announced opening days.

Further north, most alpine areas such as Loon, Cannon and Waterville Valley opened in the past week.

As always the case at the start of the season, most areas have not opened all runs or lifts yet, although more are added daily. They also may not have all services going yet: Pats Peak, for example, won’t start night skiing until Dec. 26.

While snow-making is mandatory for alpine ski areas to survive with today’s shrunken winters, some natural snow may fall throughout the region Wednesday night into Thursday.

A winter weather advisory is in effect from 7 p.m. Wednesday to noon Thursday, according to the National Weather Service Gray.

Snow is predicted to fall after 9 p.m. with accumulation between two and four inches, the service’s website says. 

Snow will continue into Thursday, set for before 10 a.m. Accumulation is predicted at less than one inch.