Solid ski season emerges from mild winter

With a late start to winter, the ski season had to wait until the snow was ready and heading in Buffalo's direction.

Although it wasn't exactly perfect weather for skiing when UB's ski club Schussmeisters started on Dec. 1, group members said the late show for snow hasn't hindered their season in any way.

"I don't think it's a problem. A lot of kids don't go before finals and the only thing it affects is the locals," said Jeff Licciardi, chairman of Schussmeisters. "The only other thing is, it's been cold."

When the bone-chilling weather finally took a time-out this week, Schussmeisters members reacted accordingly.

"We've sold out every bus this week," Licciardi said. "That means people are going."

Mark Halter, president of Kissing Bridge Ski Resort in Glenwood, said despite the chilly temperatures and delayed start to the season, weekends like this past one make it all worthwhile.

"We definitely have snow on our slopes," Halter said. "What helps even more is that they got snow in all of the major metropolitan areas. It triggers phenomenal results when our customers have snow in their backyards."

Although this weekend proved to be beneficial for local ski resorts, Halter said the lack of snow and cold temperatures really put a damper on the beginning of the season.

"I've been in this business for 30 years and I've seen worse years than this," Halter said. "I'd say this would be in the bottom 50 percent of the worst winters in Western New York, but not quite at the dead bottom."

Halter said on a scale from zero to 100, he'd rate this season about a 40.

"We had a late season start, but a pretty good boost from the front end of the holiday period, from Christmas through New Years," he said. "Then there was about a 10 to 12-day turn for the worse, with the rainy and warm weather."

Although the colder the better is a prime motto for ski resort officials, skiers and snowboarders can have a tough time adjusting to the less than favorable temperatures. Halter, however, said as long as the customer dresses properly, cold weather shouldn't be that much of a burden.

"As long as you're prepared, it shouldn't be that bad," he said. "You've got to dress for it. I mean, ski masks are not just used for robbing banks. They're there for a reason."

Along with skiing, snowboarding is another popular winter sport that has UB students packing the Schussmeisters buses. But even with the chilly temperatures and lack of snow at the beginning of the season, sophomore Rob Mercutio didn't hold back from hitting the slopes.

"I've went five times, and the conditions weren't that bad," said Mercutio, a head bus captain for Schussmeisters, who started snowboarding five years ago and has been hooked ever since. "I mean, it's definitely been cold, but for the amount of snow, it's been good. It's picking up now too, and they've started making snow 24/7."

For ski slopes, warm temperatures could single-handedly be the worst factor in making the conditions less than perfect when snowmaking is in progress, according to Halter.

"As long as we have cold temperatures, we can do the whole thing ourselves," he said. "When we got the deep cold in the beginning of January, we had very efficient snowmaking, because more gallons of water could be put through my machine and we were making snow fast."

With Sunday's picture perfect winter weather, though, Halter said Kissing Bridge was in for just as much of a weekend treat as the customers.

"Dry roads, sunshine, good temperatures, and no football game," he said. "Life doesn't get much better in my business."