Forget chocolate. This week, Mother Nature gave skiers and snowboarders a Valentine's gift they can enjoy all weekend long.
The monster snowfall that blanketed much of Central and Eastern Canada this week, halting traffic and prompting snow days for many, is giving ski hills a lift.
“It’s been a redemptive season for Mother Nature when it comes to ski hills in Ontario, for sure,” said Tara Lovell, public relations manager at Blue Mountain Resort.
Large snowfalls usually result in an influx of people visiting the hills, she said.
Toronto's Pearson International Airport had seen about 26 centimetres of snowfall by Thursday morning after a major winter storm swept across Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. Flights at major airports were delayed or cancelled, and transit agencies reduced service as homeowners shovelled snow from their driveways and front steps.
Yves Juneau, CEO of the Association des stations de ski du Québec (ASSQ), representing the ski resort industry in the province, called Thursday’s snow dump a gift.
“For us this is like a Valentine's Day gift for skiers and snowboard lovers because it’s really great marketing for us, it puts skiing in people's minds and ... it’s really a positive for marketing and the timing is really perfect.”
“It's just before the weekend, so it should be a busy weekend at ski centres across Quebec,” he said, adding the Family Day long weekend in Ontario should only add to the crowds.
The season total at Blue Mountain is more than 300 centimetres so far, said Lovell. That, plus capacity for snow-making on the majority of their acreage, means Blue Mountain is “very well set up to go right into a late spring when it comes to the ski season here,” she said.
Natalie Bennett, assistant general manager at Craigleith Ski Club near Collingwood, Ont., agreed this week's snowfall is a good omen for club members hoping for a longer-than-usual season.
"I've heard some comments already that people are hoping that maybe we actually get to ski Easter," she said.
"It's a big bonus all around."
Several facilities in the province plan on being open well into April after the abundant snowfall, Ontario Snow Resorts Association president Kevin Nichol said in an email.
This year, alpine ski areas were able to stop manufacturing snow quite early, he added.
“It is perfect to use snow-making to build a base and then let Mother Nature provide an excellent skiing surface. That is what many Ontario resorts are experiencing this season,” Nichol said.
Many ski hills rely on artificial snow-making to boost supply of the white stuff. The technology involves using machines to spray a mix of water and compressed air, which turns into snowflakes, and it’s not new; the Canadian ski industry has used it since the 1950s.
But it’s expected to become even more important as climate change upends the usual seasonal patterns.
Lovell said snow-making complements snowfall, helping keep the powder consistent for skiers. Because of Ontario’s lower elevation, she said ski hills in the province rely more on snow-making than those out west.
“The complement of snow-making with natural snow actually makes for a better ski experience,” she said.
It has already been a great season, Bennett said, and artificial snow is part of that.
"We certainly have been still making snow, but ... when you mix the two, you know, man-made snow and natural snow, and a good amount of natural snow, it really does create a different winter skiing experience," she said.
This winter got cold early on, helping increase snow-making capabilities, Lovell said.
But a dumping of snow like the one Ontario got this week doesn’t mean Blue Mountain employees are off the hook. Lovell said the resort has to “groom” the hills — for example, they need to make sure lift areas have the right slope.
After a large snowfall like this one, “it does mean that we have to navigate different depths of snow when it comes to grooming,” she said.
Thursday’s storm means all of Quebec’s hills will be operational this weekend, Juneau said. Some 16 hills still don’t have man-made snow operations and require Mother Nature to co-operate so they can open.
“With this storm, all 75 ski areas will be in operation,” Juneau said. “We will not be able to hope for better ski conditions than this weekend and the coming weeks.”
While 2024 was not actually a banner year snow-wise, Juneau said 2023 was the best season in the previous 16 years. Meanwhile, 2025 is looking like another solid year, with consistent snowfall since New Year’s Day and forecasts anticipating that hills will be open through Easter weekend.
For some parts of Central and Eastern Canada, including southern Ontario and southern Quebec, more snow is still expected heading into the weekend. For some, it's a long weekend too, with a holiday Monday in several provinces.
British Columbia’s ski resorts haven’t had major snowfalls in recent days but they are still enjoying the benefits of a big dump received at the start of the month.
Whistler Blackcomb, north of Vancouver, and Big White in the B.C. Interior both say snow conditions are “packed” heading into the weekend. Both are reporting below average snowfall this season, but it's an improvement on a dismal last season when many B.C. resorts were forced to close runs amid warm temperatures, rain and patchy snow.
— With files from Sidhartha Banerjee in Montreal
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 14, 2025.
Rosa Saba, The Canadian Press
