With no cold or snow in the forecast, hopes for Edmonton's ski season are going downhill

Ski hills in Edmonton are struggling to provide skiers with the snowy conditions that were blanketing their slopes this time last year. 

Warmer temperatures have disrupted snowmaking work that had gotten underway at places like Rabbit Hill Snow Resort and Snow Valley. Now staff are waiting patiently for the temperature to drop. 

"Where the heck is the snow?" said Marlin Van Zandt, the operations manager at Snow Valley Ski Club. 

In the last week of October, Van Zandt and his team of snowmakers pumped three million gallons of water in order to be up and running in time for the ski season. 

"Then Mother Nature quit playing the game and we've just been sitting here watching," he said. 

Without snow, the ski hill doesn't need to bring in instructors for lessons or crews to operate the resort for recreation skiers, said Van Zandt. 

The warm temperatures also mean snowmakers aren't working either. 

The situation is similar at Rabbit Hill Ski Resort, where general manager Derek Look said his snowmakers are raring to work.

Look said snowmaking operations need the temperature to consistently remain at -5C. 

Like Snow Valley, Rabbit Hill also relies on its snowmaking operations to get its slopes ready for the winter. 

"Edmonton doesn't typically get a lot of snow and we don't want to wait until January before we can open," said Look. "We make a lot of our snow to control when we can open for the most part."

But Justin Shelley, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said he doesn't see any cold temperatures or snowfalls in the immediate forecast as mild and dry conditions continue.

"In the short term, we're expecting temperatures to peak about five degrees or so above normal for the next week or so," Shelley said.

Last year, Edmonton saw snowfall as early as Oct. 23, and then again in the first week of November. 

"We had six out of the first eight days in November 2022 with snowfall for a combined total of 25 centimetres," said Shelley. 

The weather comes down to the El Niño pattern, which is a natural and cyclical warming in the Pacific Ocean that warms the atmosphere and raises the global temperature. 

Shelley said the last time El Niño was strong in Edmonton was in the 2015-2016 winter season. And while this year's winter could break those records, Shelley said he wouldn't rule out the potential for a snowy winter just yet. 

Van Zandt said he is hoping for temperatures to drop. 

"If you have any connections with Mother Nature, tell her to hurry up."