Skiing & Boarding: Early season (nearly) sure things

Last year two New England ski areas opened in October on natural snow. Later, thanks to cold weather in November, a dozen or so resorts reported record-breaking Thanksgiving weekend crowds.

Then December hit ... and we all had to suffer though a long stretch of fog and heavy, warm rain. As is typical, New England weather last year was predictably unpredictable.

Anywhere else in the snow sports world, roller coaster weather would be an unmitigated disaster. The fabled resorts in the western U.S. and Canada depend entirely on natural snow for all but a few of their least interesting slopes. The same can be said for most resorts in Europe.

But here in New England snowmaking and grooming have improved by tremendous leaps over the past couple of decades.

This is the only place in the world where you can have truly great skiing and riding – complete with long trails and varied terrain for sliders of all ability levels – entirely on man-made snow.

All we need is a little cold weather.

Over the last decade or so, I’ve come to rely on a handful of snow sports areas to consistently deliver better-than-expected snow despite the weather woes of early season.

These areas are the big guns of the snowmaking and grooming world. They have the snowmaking equipment they need, the water resources (even in dry years, which this year most certainly isn’t), the manpower, and the will it takes to lay down lots of snow to attract early-season skiers and riders.

Here are my personal top-picks for early season snow. All of them offer early-season discounts on tickets once they open in November. These discounts will often hold until just before Christmas.

Maine

In Maine, Sunday River (207-824-3000; www.sundayriver.com ) in Newry, is the hands-down winner. In my experience, nobody else even comes close. This is the area that really put snowmaking in the foreground — the first to define the “if you cover it, they will come” school of resort management.

They start off on Barker and Spruce Peaks, which means from the first gun they offer top-to-bottom for intermediates and experts as well as some pretty good getting-started terrain.

New Hampshire

In New Hampshire, Bretton Woods (603-278-3333; www.brettonwoods.com ) in Bretton Woods has been the top-gun for quite awhile, blowing and grooming immaculate snow even in the early season on their mostly gentle, intermediate and beginner-friendly terrain.

But lately, they’ve had some very serious competition from some unlikely rivals.

When the State of New Hampshire leased Mount Sunapee (603-763-2356; www.mtsunapee.com ) in Newbury to some folks from across the river in Vermont, nobody realized how much that would change the snowscape. Sunapee now has seemingly infinite capacity to blow and groom snow. They usually offer a nice mix of terrain, though they don’t usually get their separate beginner terrain open right away.

The stealth candidate for great early season snow in New Hampshire is tiny Crotched Mountain ( 603-588-3668; www.crotchedmountain.com ) in Bennington, now in its third year of operation since re-opening. When Peak Resorts decided to invest in Crotched, they installed a snowmaking system that can cover the entire area in only a couple of nights. They’ve got terrific terrain for novices and intermediates and plenty of snow after the first cold night of the season.

Vermont

Vermont has three areas that, in my experience, consistently produce outstanding snow early in the season. Killington (800-621-6867; www.killington.com ) in Killington, Vermont is usually the first in New England to open (they were second this year). Like their sister resort Sunday River, they’ve built an unimpeachable reputation for delivering deep and white while other resorts are still green.

Stratton Mountain Resort (1-800-787-2886; www.stratton.com ), in Stratton, is another sure bet. If they are open, you know the snow is going to be as good as it can possibly be. I’ve never been disappointed in the snow at Stratton.

Okemo Mountain Resort, (1-800-786-5366; www.okemo.com ) in Ludlow, is the latest addition to my list of “Sure Bets.” I’d never skied there in the early season before last year. What a revelation! This year it was my choice for my first turns of the year

I don’t want to imply that these are the only areas that do a good job of blowing and grooming snow. It’s just that these areas have invested extra in their infrastructure to be able to get up and running fast, whatever the weather has thrown at them. And they’ve proven over time that they deliver the goods.