Around two thirds of US resorts have closed but it’s still snowing hard out West and a number have decided to extend their seasons.
None longer than Squaw Valley (pic below taken there yesterday by Tom Zikas of Amie Engerbretson) who are now talking about staying open all Summer and Autumn beyond their current advertised closing date of July 4th and just continue on in to winter 17-18 non-stop. They have the second deepest base in the world at 6.6m (22 feet) behind fellow California resort Mammoth (pic top, video below) to the south, which has over 8m and will also be open to at least July 4th. Both ski areas came under the ownership of a financial conglomerate including Aspen last week.
North of the border only a handful of ski areas remain open after mass closures the previous two weekends. However still-open Marmot Basin, Lake Louise, Sunshine and Whistler have good base depths and will be open in to May, or indeed July in Whistler’s case (albeit with a brief 10 day or so closure in late May between the end of ‘winter’ and start of ‘summer’ skiing.
Hop, skip, and jump. #Mammothstories GoPro
Posted by Mammoth Mountain on Saturday, 15 April 2017
A few ski areas remain open on the US East Coast too including Killington.