Arapahoe Basin, Keystone, Killington, and Wild Mountain were beaten by a small Massachusetts ski area to be the first to open for outdoor lift-serviced operations in North America.
Yesterday, Ski Ward opened their magic carpet for skiing. With a $5 ticket, people were able to get some October skiing in. Tickets were limited due to the smaller size of the lift and slope. This was a part of their fall festival, which included a petting zoo, pony rides, kids crafts, pumpkin painting, summer tubing, and a bounce house.
Ski Ward sent us some photos and videos from Sunday, which you can check out below.
Here’s a description of the Latitude 90 & SMI L60, which is how Ski Ward was able to open in October:
“A real power trip. The L60’s production capacity is pretty eye-popping: 120 cubic meters (156 cubic yards) every 24 hours. That’s 2 x 30 tons of automatic snow production with a total water consumption of 42 L/min. (11 US/gal). This unit has two outlets that can each blow snow up to 100 m (328 ft). Fully automatic and remotely controlled.”
This is a pretty impressive showing from Ski Ward, especially considering that they had to deal with a lot of rain over the weekend.
Lift operations will be closed for a bit, but private lessons will begin on November 1st, with another public opening coming after that.
Image/Video Credits: Ski Ward