Syracuse.com - Some CNY ski slopes stretching their seasons into April

[HuntingNY-News]

Song Mountain and Greek Peak are still open.

Mike Quirk, right, and 5 year year old son Nathan Quirk skiing at Song Mountain earlier this season. Dick Blume | [email protected]  

Syracuse—This year's seemingly never-ending Central New York winter may be seen as an annoyance to many, but two local ski slopes are taking advantage of the opportunity to end their seasons on a high note.

Out of the four alpine ski mountains in the greater Syracuse area—Toggenburg, Labrador, Song and Greek Peak—only Song Mountain and Greek Peak Mountain Resort have stayed open into April.

Song Mountain president Peter Harris said this season has been a good one, and said the mountain has stayed open past its usually closing time of late March because its been cold enough to make snow.

"I don't think the snowfall in Syracuse this year is breaking any records," Harris said. "But it's been a pretty stable temperature below freezing, and we've had enough consistent snow to keep the conditions in great shape."

Ski slopes don't actually need any natural snow on the ground to open on any given day—it just needs to be cold enough for man-made snow to stick. Right now, 18 out of 24 trails at Song are open, and there's a snow base of six to 40 inches, Harris said.

Nate Messick, 13, left, and Ben Deskins, 14, both of Watertown, ride the chair lift while skiing at Song Mountain earlier this year.

John Berry | [email protected]

 

Song is open every day this week for spring break, and will be open this coming weekend, Harris said. "After that, we will go weekend by weekend, based on the snow remaining and what the weather's like," Harris said.

Since Harris started working at Song in 2000, the latest the mountain has been open was April 15. Could he break that record this year? "The chances we'll be open two weekends from now is probably 90 percent, and after that, 50 percent. So it's very likely," Harris said.

For those into cross country skiing, the Osceola Tug Hill Cross Country Ski Center in Osceola always stays open until the April 15, regardless of the amount of snow in Syracuse, said owner Hugh Quinn.

The Tug Hill Plateau, which is an hour's drive north of Syracuse, gets even more lake effect snow than the city— "We've got two, two and a half feet of snow here," he said. "We usually last a little longer than the ski slopes."

Greek Peak Mountain Resort in Cortland usually closes in the first week of April, said general manager Wes Kryger, but this year they'll stay open until at least this weekend.

"We actually missed a couple of weeks in December," Kryger said, mentioning warm temperatures that caused the resort to delay opening until just before Christmas. "So we've been making it up this March and April."

The conditions are actually better now than they were at the beginning of the season, Kryger said, but business could still be down because "now people are ready to start playing golf," he said.

Harris said he hopes that this year's snowy spring break will bring people out to the slopes for one last run.

"We're still going strong here in April," Harris said. "It's really a nice holiday week to get out and go skiing again."

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog