Published: 3/23/2023 1:21:35 PM
There might be plenty of snow on the ground in parts of New Hampshire but as we near the end of a whiplash winter – blizzard one week, shorts weather the next – ski areas are starting to close up for the season.
Sunday will be the last day of skiing at Pats Peak in Henniker. The mountain usually closes at the start of April even if the trails are still white because people’s attention turns to warm-weather pastimes and they put their snowboards away for the season. This is also the time when the dreaded “backyard effect” hits hard: People don’t have snow in their back yard anymore, so they don’t realize there is still snow up north.
Sunday is also the projected last day for Crotched Mountain in Francestown.
This has been an erratic season for snowfall, particularly in the northern half of the state, with record warmth in January and February making it difficult for mountains to maintain whatever base they were able to create from snowmaking machines and natural snowfall. The region was hit with a couple of major snowstorms, including two weeks ago, but the steady, regular run of snow that makes for a stellar ski season was lacking.
Ragged Mountain in Danbury, Gunstock in Gilford and Attitash in Bartlett are scheduled to shut the following weekend, April 2, with the state’s bigger mountains following suit. As currently announced, no New Hampshire ski area plans to be open after the weekend of April 16.
Killington in Vermont is often the latest closing area in New England. It stayed open into June last year but is unlikely to do so again. Large Maine resorts like Sunday River and Sugarloaf, which often received less snow than more southern locations in storms this winter, have announced no plans to stay open even into May.