Winter wonderland at last

Local ski season takes off after warm start

By: Heath D. Williams

Posted: 1/23/07

All Krista Flynt wanted to do was ski, which made the dreary, barren slopes of Toggenburg Mountain Winter Sports Center even more discouraging.

It was mid-January, a time when the skiing season is usually in full swing, especially in the cold winters of Central New York. Until recently, however, warm temperatures left skiers like Flynt, a sophomore magazine journalism and international relations major, feeling empty and craving their winter sports fix.

"A week ago, all of the slopes were green," said Flynt, a member of the Syracuse University Ski Team, which trains at Toggenburg. "It was so disheartening."

Although unseasonably warm temperatures kept local ski resorts like Toggenburg either closed or limited to weekend hours for most of December and January, recent cold temperatures and snowfall have hit the mountains and made skiers like Flynt hopeful for the coming months.

One of the worst

Cyndy Sisto, marketing and sales director at Toggenburg, which is located in Fabius, said things were definitely looking up after a dismal beginning of the season for the ski business.

"It was one of the worst I've ever seen," Sisto said. "And I've been working here since 1981, and I grew up here, so I've seen my fair share of winters."

As of Monday, Toggenburg had only six of its 24 trails open for skiing. Sisto added more trails would be opened this weekend and that crews were busy making snow all this week.

The month of December and the beginning of January were among the warmest the Central New York region had ever seen. The average high in December in Syracuse was 44 degrees, compared with an average of 32 degrees in December of 2005, according to the National Weather Service.

Syracuse also saw 53 inches of snow in December 2005, compared with 12.1 inches in 2006.

Greek Peak Mountain Resort in nearby Cortland also felt the effects of the warm early winter. Greek Peak opened for the first time this season on Dec. 9, but had to close on Jan. 7, due to poor conditions.

"When we were open, it wasn't optimal conditions at all," said Kevin Morrin, executive director of snow sports and sales at Greek Peak. "Our attendance in December was down 20 percent from last year. It just wasn't good out there."

Not only was the warm weather a problem financially for the resorts, the temperatures didn't bode well for avid skiers like Renee Storiale, president of the Syracuse Ski and Snowboard Club.

Storiale, a junior art education major, said there were no resorts open in her home state of Connecticut over Winter Break.

"I've worked at a ski shop the past five years," she said. "And this year, it was just so dead; no one was coming in, and (the manager) sent me home."

She said some of the customers that came in said they went to Vermont in search of slopes, but there was no snow there either.

In for the long haul

Morrin said the warm temperatures seem to be in the past, and the rest of winter should provide good skiing conditions.

"I think winter's going to be here for a while," he said. "The only thing we can bank on is what we can see two weeks out, and as of right now that looks very good."

Greek Peak doubled its number of open trails last weekend after the winter weather hit. The resort now has 12 of its 37 trails open for skiers and snowboarders.

"This weekend is going to be huge for us," Morrin said. "It's like a huge sigh of relief after what it's been like so far."

Morrin added that the Farmer's Almanac has so far been eerily accurate, calling for an unseasonably warm December and January, with a big snowstorm scheduled for the first weekend in February.

"But that's the Farmer's Almanac," he said. "It's like going to a psychic and asking what winter is going to be like. I hope it's right about that snowstorm, though."

Sisto shared Morrin's hope for a successful winter after the long delay.

"We anticipate a long season," Sisto said. "When you have a slow start, the season tends to go a lot longer. We've been open in April before. Barely anyone came. I guess they were all gardening."

The conditions since the cold temperatures and snow arrived last week have been good so far, according to Flynt.

"It's been great out there," she said. "A week ago you couldn't ski and now the slopes are great. We should be fine as long as it stays like this."

Students on the slopes

SU students have many options to get themselves off campus and skiing or boarding down the mountains.

Syracuse University Recreation Services offers a skiing and snowboarding program for students at Toggenburg Mountain.

A six-week-long package can be purchased from Recreation Services that includes lift tickets, transportation, weekly one-hour lessons and rentals for Friday and Saturday nights at Toggenburg. The program began last weekend.

Greek Peak and Toggenburg Mountain both offer discounted lift ticket prices to students. At Greek Peak, a valid college ID will receive $8 off full-day lift tickets and $4 off night tickets. Toggenburg offers students $10 lift tickets after 4 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and on Saturdays.

The Syracuse Ski and Snowboard Club, led by Storiale, will hold its first meeting this Friday night.

Storiale said the slow start to winter hindered the club's ability to set up meetings and skiing.

"It hurt us a lot, actually," she said. "We usually have meetings in October and November, but there wasn't any snow on the ground, so nobody really wanted to come."

The club will hold the meeting this Friday at 8 p.m. at Storiale's house, 905 Ackerman Ave. Storiale said the club welcomes beginning skiers and snowboarders as well as seasoned veterans to the winter sports.

"We're looking forward to a great year," Storiale said. "As long as it stays cold, we won't have a problem. That was the problem earlier in the year. It wasn't a lack of snow that was hurting us; it was the warm temperatures. As long as it's cold, they can make snow."