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Epic Ski Conditions Across New England For President's Day Weekend

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Those who embrace winter with snowboard or ski pole in hand have reason to celebrate this February. A parade of winter storms has buried much of the New England landscape just in time for the busy holiday weekend and school vacation week. If that weren't enough, a long stretch of comfortable and sunny weather is setting up shop across our corner of the country! You couldn't ask for much more if you're looking to get out in the powder. And in some parts of the region, we've even closed in on record territory.

2017-ski-snow-and-trails

In case you didn't know, the average height of an adult moose is about 6 feet, or 72 inches. So it would be fair to say that Maine has picked up a moose-load of snow this month. The current depth is over the head of many moose and/or people right now, with a whopping 79" in Andover, ME. That's good enough for the 2nd deepest snow depth on record in the state, according to the National Weather Service in Gray, ME (top spot is Farmington, ME with 84" in the epic winter of 1969). The Pine Tree State just had a blitz not unlike the one which struck the Boston area in 2015. Storm after storm has buried Mainers from 'The County' to the Mid-Coast. Thankfully, the onslaught is over. There *is* such a thing as too much snow, and we're testing that limit.

Sunday River and Sugarloaf are both reporting over 5 feet of snow since the start of the month. "This is hands-down the best February in terms of natural snowfall that Sunday River has seen in over a decade," Darcy Lambert, Director of Communications for Sunday River Resort, says. And southern Maine isn't really behind.

New Hampshire isn't lagging. All resorts and ski areas have seen considerable snow in February, with parts of the Mount Washington Valley also over 4 feet of snow for the month. (Below is the weekly update for several spots to check out this weekend or next week.)

Can't complain in Vermont, either. The snow depth at 'the stake' atop Mount Mansfield is now at 90". Up in the Northeast Kingdom, Jay  Peak has picked up 50" of snow in the past 7 days alone. Even across southern Vermont, Mount Snow has seen about 4 feet of snow this month. You can't miss!

snowstake

And if you're not feeling a road trip, no worries. Wachusett received about 3 feet of snow in the past 10 days, and Nashoba has picked up about the same. So staying local won't mean giving up on quality snow. There's plenty in our own backyards, and most of the storms we've had in the past couple of weeks have featured mainly fluffy snowfall across those interior locations.

It's hard to remember a better time for skiing across New England in recent memory. Last year was a complete bust with barely any snowfall and extremely mild temperatures. Many areas had to shut down it was so bad. The year before, we got slammed in southeastern New England. But most of those big storms all missed interior New England. All they got was a bunch of frigid cold, even too cold to be outside in at times. And it seemed like every harsh blast came on a weekend. It has definitely been years since the snow has been this widespread and conditions this good, so take advantage and get out there!

ridge

As a final cherry on top, the weather pattern is getting quiet just in time to make the pilgrimage to your favorite mountain. A strong ridge of high pressure is building across the middle of the country, keeping all the storminess out west. What we get is a mainly dry and comfortable stretch right on through next week. While temperatures will start running above average, it's not going to be a blowtorch here in New England. Most of the mountains will see highs in the 30s and 40s over the next week, with some brief 50s possible in Massachusetts/Connecticut. So real comfortable air and definitely not warm enough to nuke all the fresh snow.

Attitash - 100% open with 68 trails (56 groomed), 7 lifts operating, 251 acres of packed powder skiing. Base depths: 24"-48". 14" of new snow in the past 24 hours, 34" of new snow in the past 7 days. 110" of snowfall for the season.

Black Mountain - 36 trails, 3 lifts operating, 130 acres of machine groomed skiing. Base depths approx: 12"-30". 13" of new snow in the past 24 hours,  36" of new snow in the past 5 days. 82" of snowfall for the season.

Bretton Woods - 100% open with 65 trails/35 glades, 8 lifts, 464 acres of skiable terrain. Base depths: 22"-46". 8" to 10" of new snow in the past 48 hours and 27" to 34" in the past 5 days; Snowfall in season to date: 158".

Cranmore - 51 machine trails, 4 lifts, 165 acres of skiable terrain. Base depths: 20"-38". 6" of new snowfall in the past 24 hours, 12" of new snow in the past 48 hours.  Mountain Adventure Park and Tubing Park open this weekend and throughout Feb Vacation Weeks, starting on Friday at 11am and daily there'll be s'mores, C-more and music in the square plus live entertainment in Zip's Pub all week long too, starting on Sunday, Feb 19th.

King Pine is 100% open and skiing and riding on 17 trails (90% groomed), 5 lifts, 50  acres skiable terrain. Base depths: 27" – 48". 9" of snowfall in the past24 hours, 35" in the past5 days.  98" snowfall to date this season.  Tubing park, skating rink, sleigh rides (by reservation) open this weekend.

Shawnee Peak - 36 trails (29 groomed), 4 lifts operating, 2 terrain parks open. Base depths: 32"-46". 12" of new snow in the past 48 hours, 32" in the past 4 days.

Wildcat is 100% open with 48 trails (23 groomed), 3 lifts, 225 skiable acres. Base depth: 30"-60". 16" of new snowfall in the past 24 hours and 41" in the past 7 days, 181" of snowfall for the season to date.  On Saturday, Feb.18th, stand by at 5:30 for the annual Torchlight Parade and there's a Kids Après Ski Party with crafts treats and movies from 3:30-5:00pm too.

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