Even in an industry used to weather extremes, the first half of the 2013-14 season tried the souls of ski area operators everywhere.

Here is a mid-winter snapshot of how areas were adapting.

Too Dry, Too Wet, Just Right
“I don’t know if adapting is the right word,” says John McColly, marketing director at Mountain High, Calif., which had received 19 inches of snow through Jan. 31. “We’re keeping the conditions the best we can.”

Many smaller areas in California and Oregon could not open at all. Those with the most snowmaking—and water—were the winners, relatively speaking.

Even the winners were licking their wounds. “We don’t receive a lot of natural snow in southern California anyway,” says Chris Riddle, VP for marketing at Bear Mountain and Snow Summit, which had received less than a foot of natural snow between them. “But this is ­brutally abnormal.”

Thanks to investments in snowmaking and plenty of water from nearby Big Bear Lake, though, Bear and Snow Summit hit budget the second week of Christmas. Through January, visits were running about 12 percent behind last season, a so-so year. “We feel we’re the luckiest in California,” Riddle says.

To capitalize on their luck, snowmaking and water, Bear and Snow Summit offered any passholder from any other resort in the country half price admission. “We’ve even had people from Colorado coming,” Riddle says. Bear and Snow Summit also let its own passholders bring a friend for half price, and let the friend buy a learn-to package for $25, a $79 savings.

Further north, the weather was less dire. The snow drought in Washington and Oregon was “not as bad as the media has made out,” says John Gifford, president of the Pacific Northwest Ski Areas Association. Although some lower elevation resorts had not opened, Gifford said the snowpack at other resorts was 24 to 106 percent of normal.

Stevens Pass, Wash., in fact, had the fourth-deepest base in the country (86 inches at the top), says Nate Escalona, marketing manager. “Business is down a bit, but people are still coming,” he adds. To encourage more visitors, Stevens offered a $40 “buddy” ticket to passholders, and heavily promoted a rare two-week period of sun.

The weather even had an upside: Gifford says the blue skies brought out more beginners and culturally diverse skiers. “One positive out of this weather pattern is the sun, which got more people wanting to try skiing,” he says.

After 20 inches of rain in January, Alyeska would have been happy to see some of that sun. The resort had to shut down for a few days at the end of the month when the snowpack became too unstable. “If you had the proper raingear, the conditions were actually good for most of the month,” says Brian Burnett, mountain services manager.

Burnett notes Alyeska even had a few 2,500-skier days before the rains came and the area closed. To make up ground, Alyeska extended its January learn-to promo through February and had other promos planned.

Many resorts note that ongoing deals and promos already made them a good value, and were reluctant to add any extras to counter the negative weather effects. “Whether it’s a great snow year or not, we strive to offer good value, pricing, packaging. We haven’t felt the need to go above and beyond what we’ve put into place,” says Paul Raymore, spokesman at Homewood, Calif., near Tahoe. The area was only about 40 percent open at the end of January.

Too Cold? Bah!
The aversion to greater discounting was also common in the Midwest. “We already discount tickets from 10 to 2 on weekdays ($13) and Sunday nights after 7:30 p.m. ($10),” says Jessica Stone Wiltgen, marketing manager at Buck Hill, near Minneapolis. The area was closed for five days, and started late and closed early on several other days, because of the extreme cold. “We haven’t done any cold temperature discounts. We just close down.”

When the temperature did nudge above zero, Wiltgen says, “It gets nuts. As soon as it warms up, everybody’s clamoring to get outside. We’ve had several good days, including our two best ever over Christmas. It’s feast or famine. Very hard to staff.”

Wild Mountain, Minn., also shut down five days because of extreme cold through January—as low as minus 30, without the wind. “In some ways, shutting down helped us because we were just losing money,” says owner Amy Frischmon. “Nobody comes. One day, we sold two tickets and some hand warmers.”

But Frischmon worries that groups who canceled will not come back. “If they don’t re-schedule, I’m afraid they’ll find an indoor alternative, no weather issues,” she says. “Part of losing that business is what it means for the future.”

The irony is conditions are fantastic—more natural snow than usual, snow in people’s backyards. To encourage people to get out and on the hill, Wild put next year’s passes on sale February 1, and let purchasers add the rest of this season for just $50 more. “Our day rate is $43, so for an extra $7, they can add February and March,” Frischmon says. “If the weather doesn’t warm up, we may have some other promotions.”

Mark Tibbitts, general manager at Mt. Holly, Mich., which closed two days because of cold, says the season has been challenging. “The biggest challenge is trying to get the media to stop talking like they grew up in Florida,” he says. “Yes, it’s cold. But with proper attire, goggles, face mask, it’s still doable. It’s been a little overdone. It’s winter in Michigan.” With abundant natural snow, Tibbitts says business rebounded as temperatures rose.

“The season won’t go down quite yet as great, but it’s been a good year,” he adds. “Everything evens out. Last year we had extremes the other way. As a commuter area, we can respond quickly.”

Eternal Optimism
Evening out is a common theme. “Statistically, everything comes out even,” agrees Greg Sweetser, executive director at Ski Maine. “It’s been a normal January, just extremes both ways. Timing is everything.”

And the timing this year, for many resorts in the Northeast, was poor. Precipitation usually came when it warmed up, which meant rain. Then it got cold, which meant ice. Three natural snow areas in Maine had not opened by end of January. Two more in Vermont were forced to close a few days. Snowmaking was often the savior, but with energy prices soaring, areas were watching their bottom lines carefully, and making snow as smart as they could, and at off-peak hours whenever possible.

Still, most were still looking on the bright side. “We’re focusing on the positive, what snow we do have, deals already in place,” says Josh Arneson, marketing manager at Bolton, Vt., which was reduced to three trails at one point.

“Two or three inches of snow is getting positive play on Facebook,” notes Sweetser. “In years past, ski areas needed a foot to get people excited. Everybody’s finding the upside.”

And February started with a bang for much of ski country—the Northeast, Southeast, the Rockies—even California finally got some major storms.