Many of you have been asking what the scoop is on extended spring operations at Alpental. While April 25 is currently the last open day shown on our schedule, we will continue to evaluate our operating calendar each week. Decisions regarding operations beyond April 25 are typically not made until further into April, so please be patient - it is too early to make the call and too early to assume it won’t be open.

Weather plays a huge role in the success of spring weekend operations at Alpental. While we currently have a deep, healthy snowpack, a lot can change in a month. Especially if we have an extended run of warm and sunny days, or a large cycle of rain.

We’re also evaluating several different operating scenarios for mid-April and beyond in order to support weekend demand if it substantially increases compared to prior years.

At the start of the season night skiing is typically dependent on snow conditions and depth, the goal is to open nights once there’s enough coverage to reduce hazards that may be difficult to see at night. However, in the spring the reduction and close of night skiing is most often not related to snow depth. Night skiing traditionally comes to an end in mid-March due to a steep drop in night visitation and deteriorating, very firm conditions. In March we start to see longer, warmer days, yet we still get significant cooling when the sun begins to drop – creating thaw-freeze cycles that make for less than desirable night skiing conditions on most evenings. On top of less than ideal conditions, demand for night skiing steeply falls off more and more every week in March.

Summit West is now closed for the season. Visitation levels March 13-14 supported extending Summit West one more weekend compared to a normal year, but predictably, visitation dropped substantially March 20-21. Hence the reason not to extend further given resources needed at our other areas. Closing Summit West each March when we do is a business decision based on visitation levels dropping substantially, it is not related to snow depth or conditions.

In years past, midweek operations at Alpental have tapered down to two days (Thurs-Fri) after the third weekend in March. Then, the first week of April Alpental shifts to weekend only. This year we’re adding at least one more week of Thursday-Friday operations, possibly two.

We are doing the best we possibly can to provide operations that match demand and the feedback we are receiving from passholders. While we can’t just simply keep operating every lift and every area, this season we have added more operating days than ever before in order to keep up with what local skiers and snowboarders want.