MLK Weekend Outlook: New snow in B.C., Pacific Northwest, Northeast

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16 January 2015

Push to The Latest: No

SAM Magazine—Mount Washington, B.C., Jan. 16, 2015—Mount Washington—the Canadian one, not the New Hampshire one—was today's new-snow winner with 11 inches as ski areas across North America prepare for the Martin Luther King Holiday, one of the busiest periods of the season.

Snow also blanketed ski areas in the Pacific Northwest, including Washington, where Crystal Mountain received 10 inches, and seven to eight inches fell at the Summit at Snoqualmie, Mt. Baker, and Mt. Spokane.

Powder King, B.C., got eight inches, as did Mt. Bachelor, Ore. With the new snow, about eight of 37 Northwest ski areas listed on SnoCountry.com will be at, or very near, 100 percent open for the weekend.

In the Northeast, New York's Titus Mountain received eight inches, and six inches fell on Quebec's Mont Olympia and Mont Avila.

About 30 ski areas in the Rocky Mountain region are fully open, while a high-pressure system continues to linger over California, delivering warmer than average temperatures at higher elevations. Just four of 30 ski areas in the Southwest are at or near 100 percent open, according to SnoCountry.com snow reports.

About 45 of 130 ski areas in the Northeast and 35 of 74 Canadian ski areas are fully open. Meanwhile, 50 of 84 ski areas in the Midwest, and 12 of 17 ski areas in the Southeast are at or near 100 percent open, according to reports at SnoCountry.com.

“MLK weekend is becoming increasingly important, and it's relatively more important to smaller, regional ski areas as opposed to larger destination resorts,” said David Belin, director at RRC Associates. “A shorter holiday period like MLK weekend tends to benefit ski areas in the Midwest and Southeast because these regions have ski areas that are closer to population bases, making an ideal visit for a three-day ski weekend.”

In Park City, skiers and riders will have more pillows to sleep on thanks to the rescheduling of the Sundance Film Festival to Feb. 1. The city was reportedly losing $4.2 million in revenue when the holiday weekend and the festival overlapped. In 2013, officials from Park City and Sundance came to an agreement to avoid the date conflict.