Winter rainout

Freezing rain and ice last weekend made for treacherous travel and deteriorating conditions at local alpine and Nordic ski areas.

By Monday, the weather was dry, but unseasonably warm. Bare ground could be seen in local woods and fields used by backcountry skiers, snowshoers and snowmobile enthusiasts.

The snow pack decreased further on Tuesday with the arrival of more rain and warm weather.

No major snowstorms are in the short-term forecast, according to the National Weather Service. At press time, there was a 30 percent chance of snow forecast for Friday and a 40 percent chance of snow for Friday evening and Saturday.

That’s bad news for winter sports enthusiasts and the local economy.

Fewer than 60 of Stowe Mountain Resort’s 115 trails were open over the weekend. The resort’s cross-country skiing center closed Tuesday because of the bad weather and poor conditions.

The resort is cranking up its snowmaking operations — when temperatures permit — to restore snow for the upcoming holiday weekend.

“We’re hoping for a busy Martin Luther King weekend and will be making snow as soon as possible,” said Jeff Wise, marketing and communications director at the resort, in an email. “Temperatures look good starting tonight (Tuesday). We’re better positioned than ever to recover from this cycle of weather.”

Officials at the resort point to the $8.1 million snowmaking upgrades it made last season. The upgrade earned the resort a “Best Backup Plan” award from Outside Magazine when it announced its 2014 Ski-Season Travel Awards earlier this month.

Trapp Family Lodge opened about 3 kilometers of its 100-kilometer cross-country trail network Monday. But Trapps was forced to shut down its entire trail network on Tuesday.

Just 2 kilometers of the 105-kilometer cross-country trail network at Craftsbury Touring Center were open Tuesday. The center, which receives heavy amounts of natural snow during a typical winter, is often able to remain open even when other cross-country centers in the area are closed.

“We’re going to try to expand, but given the forecast, we won’t be able to expand a whole lot,” said Lucas Schulz, a groomer and snowmaker at the Craftsbury center. Business is down compared to a typical January, Schultz said.

Slippery roads kept dispatchers at the Lamoille County Sheriff’s Department busy Saturday morning.

“It was a little crazy,” said dispatcher Heidi Patch. “We discovered that Stowe was the most troubled area in our county.”

The worst driving conditions in Stowe were along back roads and Stowe Hollow. There were no road closures in Lamoille County and no accident-related injuries.

Snowmobile standstill

The lack of snow cover brought business at Snowmobile Vermont to a halt. The snowmobile touring company has offices in Stowe, Okemo, Killington and Mt. Snow. Conditions at all four locations are dismal.

“We are operating on a minimal basis,” said John Lynds, general manager for the company. “Right now I’m shut down. We need Mother Nature to give us the white stuff.”

Snowmobile Vermont uses the VAST trails, which require 8 to 12 inches of snow before they can be groomed.

While there’s snow on trails at higher elevations, accessing them is impossible because rain and warm weather have broken down the snow base at the lower elevations.

“You can’t get from here to there,” Lynds said.

It’s a blow to the statewide snowmobile industry, which has suffered through several consecutive winters of below-average snowfall.

“It’s very frustrating in a sport where you only have three months to begin with,” Lynds said.

Snowmobiling is the second most popular winter recreation activity in Vermont after skiing. During a winter with optimal weather conditions, it can generate $585 million for Vermont’s economy, including money spent on lodging, meals, gas, food and tourist attractions, Lynds said.

Tourists who come to Stowe specifically for snowmobiling will be disappointed, he said.

“People come here to see a winter wonderland and they see ice and rocks and gravel,” Lynds said.

Ski events affected

The weather could affect this weekend’s popular Stowe Tour de Snow, voted a top-10 winter event by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce.

The event, which includes a 5K that can be done on skis, snowshoes or on foot, among many other outdoor activities, is set to kick off Sunday at a field along the Stowe Recreation Path.

The entire length of the path, usually covered by snow at this point, is either bare or covered by ice.

Event organizer Pascale Savard said the event will go on no matter what.

“We’ve considered many options, including postponing, but at this point we’ve decided to make the most with what we have,” Savard said.

Last year, about 150 people attended the event and many local hotels and inns promote it as a way for their guests to have fun.

Savard and other organizers have scrambled to come up with new activities that don’t require snow, such as broomball and basketball.

“We’re trying to turn the snow games into ice games,” she said.

Savard also organizes the Stowe Derby, an annual ski race from the Toll Road to Stowe village. She’s trying not to worry about how a continued snow drought might impact the event, which is six weeks away.

“At this point, we’re keeping our fingers crossed that Mother Nature will smile on us and bring us some snow by Feb. 23,” Savard said.

The competitive Tour de Trapp Nordic race is scheduled for Saturday at Trapps, but the weather may alter those plans.

The weather could also wreak havoc for Waterbury’s Winterfest celebration, which starts Friday. Nordic ski races scheduled for opening day of the nine-day event have already been postponed by a week.

Icy conditions also canceled the second day of the UVM Winter Carnival ski racing event at Stowe Mountain Resort last Saturday, as well as other alpine races around the region.

According to Wise, ski races at Stowe this coming weekend are expected to go on as scheduled.

Weather pattern

The alternating pattern of extreme cold and then rain is caused by a weather system called the Eastern Pacific Oscillation, said local meteorologist Roger Hill.

Arctic air builds up near the Alaskan part of the North Pole and then gets displaced southeastward into the Canadian prairies. It then makes a run into the Northeastern United States, Hill said.

Local temperatures should get colder later this week, and some snowfall is expected this weekend. An Alberta clipper system Sunday will bring another shot of arctic air, with good snowmaking conditions and lots of snow showers and squalls.

“I think skiers will get a second start to winter and building the snow pack beginning this weekend,” Hill said. “What we don’t know is exactly how long this will last. There’s some evidence of this continuing into the first part of February.”

Moving inside

While the bad weather has hurt outdoor sports, it’s helped boost business at the new Stowe Arena.

“Last week we had a lot of people coming to the public skating sessions and a lot of stick time,” said rink superintendent Tony Whitaker.

He described a public skating session Tuesday as “very busy.”

Local hotels and inns have been telling their guests about the new rink, which has spurred many visits, Whitaker said.

“It’s been great,” he said. “People are walking in just to see it and saying they haven’t skated in 20 years and want to start up again.”