Snow, cold weather excite Manitoba ski hill operators

The winter storm battering Manitoba may have drivers grumbling, but it's the exact opposite reaction for those who operate ski hills.

"We're excited, of course," said Bernice Later, manager with Holiday Mountain Resort in southern Manitoba. "We've kind of been on standby for a few weeks now." 

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Later said about 25 centimetres of snow fell at their site, located near La Rivière, Man., on Monday and Tuesday. The fresh snowfall kicked opening operations at the ski hill into high gear.

"We're going to be game on [Wednesday] morning at eight o'clock," Later said on Tuesday, adding that crews would start preparing as soon as the shoveling was finished. 

Later said she hopes to have the hill open for skiers and snowboarders on Dec. 17. 

A fresh dumping of snow and forecast cold temperatures means that date, which is the usual opening weekend for the hill, will be in reach, even though crews are behind in snow making.  

"We generally do about 800 hours of snow making and we haven't started yet," Later said. "You can make twice as much snow at –20 C as you can at –10 C. So the forecast is exactly what we need it to be."

"We're ready to get to work."

Over at Asessippi Ski Area and Resort, near Russell, Man., the hope is to have the hill open on Dec. 9. As of Tuesday afternoon, about 10 centimetres had fallen at the hill and it was still snowing, according to Blue Moffatt, who is on Asessippi's Marketing and Sales team. 

Parts of Manitoba are expected to get up to 30 centimetres of snow by the time it tapers off Wednesday. Following the snow, temperatures are expected to plummet. 

"It's always a hard push at this time of year but things are looking pretty good," Moffatt said. "We're ramping up to be open this weekend."

Crews at the hill are already out making snow in the hopes of opening on time. There can be a sense of panic among staff if the weather doesn't cooperate by this time of year, she said.

"There have been challenging years," Moffat said. "Mother nature doesn't always cooperate."