After months of waiting through unseasonably warm and dry weather, the big dump that fell Tuesday is going to make life a lot better for skiers, snowboarders, snowshoers and skaters anxious to get active again outdoors.
Hart Ski Hill general manager Jess Koppe stuck a gauge into the fresh snow at the base of the Hart hill on Winslow Road last Friday morning and it measured nine inches (23 centimetres).
“It definitely makes us a lot more comfortable about our season,” said Koppe on Tuesday. “We were making snow and limping through it. We are on Day 9 today. We’ve been making show fairly steady for the past 10 days.”
Now in its 55th season, the Hart hill opened Dec.16 and that lasted just five days before rain wiped out the ski runs. It reopened Jan. 6 and has been open ever since, thanks to the snow guns. Koppe said there’s finally enough snow at higher elevations to open the upper half of the trails
The Hart is open 3-9 p.m. (weekdays) and 9 a.m-4 p.m. (weekends). Starting this coming Monday, it will open 9 a.m.-9 p.m. on weekdays. The limiting factor is the bone-chilling cold that’s now descended on Prince George. If it’s colder than -25 C, the Hart hill won’t be open.
Purden Mountain Ski Resort is still closed but the new snow will certainly shorten the time frame before opening day.
Murray Ridge Ski Hill near Fort St. James, Powder King near Mackenzie and Troll Ski Resort near Quesnel, will also likely have to close temporarily this week due to the cold.
For cross-country skiers, all the trails at Otway Nordic Centre are open and the groomers continue to pack down the fresh snow and snowmaking will continue.
“We will have a bit of cold weather coming in so we might not be fully open (at the day lodge for ski rentals),” said Caledonia Nordic Ski Club spokesperson Chloe Bialuski.
“As far as skiing conditions we don’t have any tracks set as it's still pretty fresh snow and we need a bit more for that. People have skied the lower main trails so if you are going classic there are going to be some tracks where people have skied.”
The Caledonia club is hosting the Odlum Brown BC Cup No 2 and NorAm No. 1 biathlon races next weekend (Jan 16-18) so the new snow came just in time. The Otway trails will also be the site of Teck BC Cup cross-country races Jan. 26-28 as well as the Prince George Iceman, Feb. 11.
One of the Iceman venues, the Exhibition Park Ice Oval, has yet to open for the season. But with it getting colder, volunteers have been busy flooding the 400-metre oval four times per day, whenever possible, and there is a base built up.
“With snow today we may get one more flood in but with cold temperatures we can't flood below -20 C or we risk cracking the ice,” said Prince George Ice Oval Society president Kathy Lewis. “So we may be stalled on ice making until Sunday or so. We need a few more days of good icemaking weather before we can open. Hopefully sometime late next week.”
