Mount Washington has experienced some of the warmest spring weather it has seen in years with temperatures soaring into the teens over the last week.
Winter jackets and pants have been exchanged for T-shirts and shorts, creating the perfect weather scenario for the season-ending Dummy Downhill and Slush Cup events.
“This is one of the best times of the year for our events calendar,” explains resort spokesperson Brent Curtain. “The Slush Cup and Dummy Downhill traditionally bring out huge, enthusiastic crowds. The Vancouver Island Loppet will celebrate the close of a great season at our Nordic Centre, plus we have our season passholder barbecues as well.”
The Thrifty Foods Dummy Downhill and Crush Slush Cup take place on Saturday, April 13 and Sunday, April 14, respectively. Both have been stalwart events on the mountain for years, bringing out huge crowds to cheer on participants while simultaneously celebrating the close of the winter season.
“A lot of kids watch these events from a young age and eventually they decide to participate – it's almost like a right of passage for the mountain!”
For registration and more event information, head to the events calendar online at mountwashington.ca.
And while sun-starved Islanders have been doing literal “hot laps” of the mountain over the last few weeks, mountain crews have been dealing with some intriguing snow farming challenges.
“We've seen a major warm-up over the last couple of weeks and the forecasts are calling for significant precipitation with heavy rains and warm weather continuing over the next few days,” explains Don Sharpe, director of Business Operations and Marketing. “As a result, we've made the decision to change our closing dates and make adjustments to our operating dates leading up to our final weekend of winter operations.”
Mount Washington will operate daily until Sunday, April 7 then close Monday, April 8 to Thursday, April 11. The mountain will reopen for its final weekend from Friday, April 12 to Sunday, April 14.
“We've had a good run of extended openings and additional days to ski and board over the last few years, but we're snow farmers at the end of the day. The weather has thrown us a curve ball so we've been forced to adjust our operating dates,” adds Sharpe.
And while the upper reaches of Mount Washington have been blessed with deep snowfall this season, the lower elevations are getting lean in April. The resort plans to farm snow from the upper and mid-mountain regions down to the lower mountain during next week's closure. This will ensure optimum riding conditions going into the final weekend.
To see the operating dates and what's open on the mountain for the remainder of the season, visit the mountain online at mountwashington.ca.
– Mount Washington Alpine Resort