THUNDER BAY — Gloomy weather could not stop skiers from carving the slopes this weekend.
Earlier this week, Environment Canada forecasted a mix of snow and rain for the region.
These poor snow conditions have led to the closure of some local ski centres, but others have remained open.
Jason Gerry, the general manager of Loch Lomond Ski Area, explained that the last two days of rain affected skiers’ morale more than anything.
While they did have a short stretch of mild weather over the last four or five days, he said, prior to it, they had ’a really great window of snowmaking.’
This window, he described, lasted from December’s first week until about the 23rd, allowing them to make all the snow normally made in a year.
“It’s actually been really great for us because the snowmaking was complete and then we had some nice warm weather and skier traffic has been really good for us so far this season,” said Gerry.
Instead of being -25⁰C, the area sometimes sees over the Christmas break, he said it’s hovering around 0⁰C, making it ’a lot more comfortable.’
Gerry said they are also on a positive trend of skiers so far this year.
“Last year was a pretty tough year for us because we actually didn’t really have any real snow until into January. So, we were lucky earlier this month when we had about 16 inches — I think we got of natural snow — and then it was followed up by some great snowmaking weather,” said Gerry.
As a result, he explained the ski area was able to open all of its terrain before Christmas, including all North, Giant and Birch courses, as well as some of the runs around the back, which normally open later in the year because ‘they need natural snow to get going.’
Isla Freeburn was training with her ski team on the Pines — practising slalom, a downhill race between shorter gates with shorter turns and faster down the Pine. She said she has been on the ski team for almost five years and has spent a lot of time at Loch Lomond.
She agreed that the warm weather does worry her.
“A little bit because, of course, you want snow as long as we can, so we want to preserve it,” said Freeburn.
Freeburn said her team will have a mealy in Sault Ste. Marie in two weeks, followed by a race at Loch Lomond and a final race for provincials in Ottawa.
However, it doesn’t take much to keep the snow surface running and skiing great with the amount of snow, the rainwater getting absorbed and its modern grooming equipment, including Prinoth machines, added Gerry.
“Some are fitted with winches so that we’re able to actually move snow uphill really efficiently, as well as grooming on steeper terrain so it allows us to be more consistent and more able to manage snow volumes and place it where we need it so that we continue to keep all of the ski slopes covered and like consistent thicknesses around the ski area,” said Gerry.
The ski area has also reinvested in modern snowmaking equipment over recent years, with many purchased this summer.
“The newest pieces that we have, have weather stations fully built into them. They’re fully automated, so they allow you to make snow in marginal temperatures and conditions. They’ll turn themselves on and off. They’ll rotate with winds and weather patterns,” said Gerry.
He explained that the equipment has made their capacity to make snow much better by harnessing technology, so it’s always optimized.
Gerry said they see that there is real value and benefit in continuing to reinvest in this equipment.
“As we look at our winters changing a little bit and having some of this more cyclical, freeze-thaw cycles, we’re looking at continuing to invest in that machinery in order to manage that and keep the conditions running great,” said Gerry.
