RELATED: New $6.5M lodge at Mad River Mountain almost complete after fire
“You really need the weather to cooperate for weekend business,” he said. “It’s a huge factor when people come out to ski and snowboard.”
Recent spring-like weather has meant some closings and delayed openings at the mountain.
“We’ll close because of heavy rain and thunderstorms and things like that typically,” he said, “but we’ve been operating pretty normal.”
The weather can impact businesses around the resort. too, Vertical Drop Ski Shop employee Matt Baringer said.
“Nobody wants to come up and spend the time and the money to come up and try to enjoy the slushy snow,” he said.
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The season started out well, he said, but it hasn’t snowed much recently.
“We’ve missed all the snow by about three degrees this year,” he said.
Traffic to the ski shop is dependent on Mad River Mountain, which is just down the road from the store.
“We’re pretty slow when they’re closed up,” he said. “Hopefully we can get some snow put down out there and turn some business around.”
Snow fell at the resort Thursday and workers should be able to make snow early Friday morning, Mihnovets said.
“We have a lot of work to be done to get this place back to February conditions,” he said.
Conditions should be good for this weekend’s WinterFest, which he called one of Mad River Mountain’s biggest events of the season. The event will feature a fireworks display and live music performances.
Mad River Mountain has also unveiled its new $6.5 million lodge this season after the old one burned down in a massive fire in 2015. The new lodge is double the size of the old one and can accommodate about 1,100 people, according to Mad River Mountain's website.
The new lodge means the resort has room to grow, Mihnovets said. Last year it used a temporary, pop-up building.
“It’s been a work in progress,” he said, “but by next year we’ll have this place fully dialed in.”
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