Dropped in to Okemo yesterday morning with my daughter, Elise, and her boyfriend, Andrew, to start our week on the best footing possible. Elise is moving to Oregon, so we wanted a day slope side together before that happens at weeks end.
The crowds were thin to non-existent, even getting onto the bubble chair at the main resort area.
We saw a mix of weather, ranging from snow flurries early, to a brief spate of hail ticking and clicking on our goggles. Then, an even briefer shower of light rain. The sun even made a very wary, and very short, appearance.
Conditions were really good on the trails open. As always, Okemo laid out the corduroy in style. With the temperatures nosing above the freezing mark, the stripes softened as the day progressed. Everyone was enjoying the “hero” snow.
Trails did get scraped off quickly, allowing much “glacier ice” to show through, despite the slim number of people on the slopes. Skiing along the sides of the trails was quite pleasurable though as there was ample snow to cut turns.
It’s hard to say what the future is for the remainder of this New England ski season. The forecast is for above freezing temperatures for most all of the coming week, making it unlikely that snow making will occur on any grand scale. There is still fairly good coverage, but it can only be recycled so many times amid warming temperatures.
My advice is to get out there now, hit it hard and enjoy some soft turns while you can.
Elise certainly enjoyed it. Being only her second time on skis, she was connecting turns down the mountain in both style and grace, despite a mid-mountain crisis on a steep pitch I probably shouldn’t have taken her on. She’s already talking about my coming out to ski Mount Hood and Mount Bachelor, so I’d say our day on the slopes was pretty successful. Thanks Okemo!
AlanD