Ski and Snowboard News, Deals, and Events

Ski areas in the Bay State are coming off Christmas vacation in good shape for the rest of the winter.

The biggies like Wachusett Mountain Ski Area and Jiminy Peak, middle-sized areas like Berkshire East, and the smaller areas like Nashoba Valley Ski Area, [R2805, Ski Ward], Ski Bradford, and Blue Hills are all rolling.

Local areas appear to be enjoying a surge of business from skiers and riders still bent on hitting the slopes, but reluctant to travel as far as in past winters.

Early snow and cold were followed by a nasty ice storm and a brief period of warm wet weather in mid-December.

By Christmas Eve, most had recovered and were heading into the vacation with most terrain open.

Since then, winter has returned, trail cover has widened and deepened, and terrain park features have sprung up.

Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort was up to 71,000 skier visits by the end of Christmas vacation, up 4 percent. Jiminy's SKIWee and Explorer's Childrens Programs are up 21 percent from last year, and the GET Skiing and Burton Learn to Ride First Time lessons program is up 26 percent.

Brian Fairbank, Jiminy Peak president and CEO, said, "These numbers show us that snow sports enthusiasts are always going to make the commitment to ski and they value their time out on the mountain as well as the time spent with family and friends."