Patrick's Eastern Closing Tracking

Oh Mother – Eastern Closing 2025 – Week 6
Last chair or is it? Eastern Closing 2025 – Week 7

Killington closed May 10, earliest since the era Killington abdicated its late closings (2006-2012). Patrick suggests that since the rebuilding of Superstar's lift has relocated the late season to its former home on Killington Peak, the lack of a mid-station has contributed to the premature closing. I would disagree, since for early season a cat walk has been built from the top of Canyon and North Ridge to the top of the gondola for downloading, and surely it could be utilized in late season also. Patrick also mentions a steady diet of rain in May, which I'm sure is the real reason. Jay also closed last weekend. Patrick thinks St. Sauveur will be open for the upcoming Canadian holiday weekend.

This season is exhibit A of how difficult it can be to sustain eastern skiing in the spring, which often features lots of rain and little snow. Overall this was the snowiest Northeast season since 2017. On Easter weekend I think Jay was was well over half open and Killington was close. So yes I'm surprised by last weekend being the end.

It would be helpful if Patrick mentioned in these posts the areas that have the most terrain open. I track this through my last progress report, typically the second weekend of April. We were on our spring ski road trip the last two weekends of April and I paid little attention to what was happening in the East then.
 
Tony Crocker said:
Patrick suggests that since the rebuilding of Superstar's lift has relocated the late season to its former home on Killington Peak, the lack of a mid-station has contributed to the premature closing. I would disagree, since for early season a cat walk has been built from the top of Canyon and North Ridge to the top of the gondola for downloading, and surely it could be utilized in late season also.
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I think that by the time they chose to replace Superstar lift they didn't have the normal timeline to blow enough extra 'glacier' snow on North ridge as well. So probably a combination of factors.
 
I think lift replacements are on no way spur of the moment decisions. They are scheduled months in advance with the manufacturers. We knew about chair 1 at Mammoth during the 2023-24 season and furthermore that the old chair 1 would be dismantled a month before that ski season was over.

So yes the extra snow stockpiling could have been done (and maybe was) on Canyon and North Ridge. But if it’s going rain every day for a couple of weeks, not much you can do about that.
 
Tony Crocker said:
Since he's not bothering to post the links himself.
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It’s been a challenging spring time wise.
Tony Crocker said:
Patrick suggests that since the rebuilding of Superstar's lift has relocated the late season to its former home on Killington Peak, the lack of a mid-station has contributed to the premature closing. I would disagree, since for early season a cat walk has been built from the top of Canyon and North Ridge to the top of the gondola for downloading, and surely it could be utilized in late season also.
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Yes, but how much effort and ressources to stretch out for maybe 1-2 weekends more when you are not the only game in town.
Tony Crocker said:
Patrick also mentions a steady diet of rain in May, (…) Jay also closed last weekend. Patrick thinks St. Sauveur will be open for the upcoming Canadian holiday weekend.
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Sunny and hot midweek (high 70s and low 80s) then rain forecast all 4 days. T storms warning starting this morning today they shutdown at the lift 9pm (we’re open 9am to 10pm for May Madness today). Tomorrow is rain 90% and 50% for Monday. Heard from a friend that skied this evening that there is still a good amount of snow left.
EMSC said:
I think that by the time they chose to replace Superstar lift they didn't have the normal timeline to blow enough extra 'glacier' snow on North ridge as well. So probably a combination of factors.
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This has been planned long ago, but North Ridge terrain doesn’t have the same appeal. Superstar replacement timeline is also messing with the World Cup for Nov 2025. K decided to skip hosting for one year.
 
Patrick said:
North Ridge terrain doesn’t have the same appeal.
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I would assume Canyon would be the primary late season lift. Is its unloading area not close to the boardwalk between the gondola and North Ridge?
Patrick said:
Yes, but how much effort and resources to stretch out for maybe 1-2 weekends more when you are not the only game in town.
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After first weekend in May, Killington generally is the only game in town for eastern US. Is the boardwalk not a permanent installation? Is it temporary for early season? Aside from that, it seems you're blowing the same snow on Canyon that would normally be done on Superstar.
 
Just got to the hill.
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Black Mountain made it to May 5, and it is one of the worst New England mountains for late-season skiing: south-facing, low altitude (1100'-2350'), and odd lift layout. If Killington, Jay, or Sunday River wanted to ski in May, they could - if Black Mountain did.

They offer traditional NE skiing, but all other nearby resorts do it better. However, it was nice publicity for the new owner and business model transition.

Black Mountain in Jackson, New Hampshire is now owned by Indy Pass and Entabeni Systems. The Fichera family, who owned and operated the ski area for 30 years, previously owned Black Mountain. Indy Pass and Entabeni Systems purchased Black Mountain in October 2024. The new ownership plans to transition Black Mountain to a co-op model, where anyone can purchase shares and become part of the mountain's future. Erik Mogensen is the director of Indy Pass and CEO of Entabeni Systems.

However, the last thing I would do is buy shares in a mountain like this, and likely the supporting lift ticket purchases. You are almost three hours from the city of Boston. Gunstock provides perhaps a closer, authentic experience at 1.5 hours, or Ragged Mountain at 1.5 hours. In the North Conway Valley, Cranmore is a historic closer mountain run by the excellent Fairbanks Group (Jiminy, Bromely).

And the Vail Resorts offering in New Hampshire is very strong:
Crotched Mountain: A smaller, family-friendly resort with diverse terrain.
Mount Sunapee: Operated by Vail Resorts, offering a range of skiing and snowboarding options.
Attitash: Part of Vail Resorts, known for its diverse terrain and challenging runs.
Wildcat Mountain: A popular resort with steep, challenging terrain, often favored by experienced skiers.



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