Glenwood, N.Y. (WBEN) - While many people might be enjoying the warmer weather the region has experienced this winter, it has certainly put a damper on those looking to get a chance to enjoy any winter activities in the colder weather.
The warmer temperatures and the lack of snowfall has particularly hit ski country hard, with places like the Boston Hills experiencing less than ideal conditions to hit the slopes for an afternoon or evening of skiing and snowboarding.
At Kissing Bridge in Glenwood, it has been one of the worst years for skiing and snowboarding in recent memory. This was brought to light in a recent Facebook post by Kissing Bridge President Richard Fanelli, where he describes the 2022-23 winter season as being "a very challenging season."
Despite Buffalo and a number of other areas seeing more than 100 inches of snow thanks to two separate snow storms to strike the region, the folks at Kissing Bridge have only seen snowfall totals of 33.9 inches for the month of November, 26.8 inches in December, 17.3 inches in January, and through the first 14 days of February, the resort has only seen 8.3 inches of snow.
Not only is that significantly below average, Fanelli says they have only had 1-2 periods per-week where the temperatures have allowed for marginal opportunities to make snow on the slopes.
"We at Kissing Bridge are as unhappy with both the conditions and the slope count as our guests, however, it is very difficult to do much with this weather (as its presently 62 degrees outside). The snowmaking process requires 28 degrees or colder and humidity below 80%," wrote Fanelli on Wednesday.
When it comes to the overall assessment of this quiet winter season, race program director Andy Minier says "quiet" may be a bit of an understatement.
"The heavy snows itself really didn't reach that deeply into ski countries, so we weren't able to really reap the benefits of any of that," said Minier. "What we need more than anything is a little help from Mother Nature, in precipitation and actual snowfall, and mostly we need some consistent cold temperatures. This winter has been hit-and-miss with only small snowmaking windows, other than one or two days of cold, consistent temperatures. It's just been here-and-there, and it makes it really hard to get ahead of the game. It's two steps forward and one steps back quite often, as we struggle to get more terrain open."
In his years of working at Kissing Bridge, Minier says the 2022-23 season has been the worst in recent memory when it comes to the weather.
"I think there's probably been worse seasons. We have improved snowmaking over the years with this weather continuing more-and-more often, and there'll be some major investments into increasing that snow making capability," he said. "I think in the past, we've probably seen worse conditions, but I know that we haven't seen worst weather in anyone's memory."
Despite this year's conditions providing for fewer hills to be open and rougher terrain to ski and snowboard on, Minier is thankful for the people's support and understanding of their situation.
"They realize when there's no snow at their house and it's 60 degrees, as it was a couple of days ago, it's really difficult to keep this business rolling. Certainly there's disappointment," Minier said. "Skiers are very passionate about the sport, as am I, and it's a little bit more difficult to maintain that cheerfulness as we continue to under ups-and-downs in the temperature."
While weather conditions may not be as good as anyone would like them to be in Glenwood at this time of year, there has been a bit of a swing in the right direction to allow for snow to be made on the hills.
"There's snow guns running right now, we're fortifying the areas we have, we're hoping to get some more terrain open shortly, and look forward to a really good weekend," Minier said. "Then we've got a little warming and then a little cool again. It just kind of rolls on, as it has through this season, but we're ready to make snow right through the end so that we can give our customers the longest season that we're available to provide for them today."
Despite the inconsistencies with the weather and temperatures fluctuating between freezing at night and melting during the day, Minier believes the current conditions will be enough to help Kissing Bridge be able to remain open and active throughout the ski season.
"Looking at temperatures ahead, we have temperatures below freezing the majority of the evenings throughout the rest of the month. What that will provide is some stability in the snow," he explained. "If it creeps up into the low 40s even in the daytime, that's not going to really hurt us, as long as it drops below freezing in the evening. So I think we can sustain. By no means will this, in anyone's mind, go down as a great season, but I think we'll be able to push forward into a reasonable timeframe before we're forced to close."
In the remaining weeks of the 2022-23 ski and snowboard season, all Minier is hoping for is Mother Nature to continue to give them enough at the resort to continue allowing for periods of great and fun times on the slopes for all who make the trek to Glenwood.
"This weekend looks great. I think we look for those days that are going to be great," Minier said. "Last weekend itself, I hosted, with my team, a junior ski race. We had about 100 racers there, and the conditions were excellent. It was a great day, people had a lot of fun. So I think we need to find those gems in an otherwise bleak season. There are plenty of great days that we have had. You just have to really get out there and enjoy the days when the weather is working in our favor."