Snow Business: Mount Southington Has Been Above The Curve All Season

SOUTHINGTON, CT — With some legitimate cold weather finally in the forecast after weeks of who-knows-what to call the weather, local skiing and riding is certainly on the radar.

But through all the rain and warmth and teasing dustings that seem to melt away quicker than Frosty after his jaunt downtown, Mount Southington has remained above the curve. It has been fully open for weeks and has been leading the charge in Connecticut in terms of being open, being fully open, staying open, offering an extensive terrain park and offering and new terrain-based learning system.

Let's break it down:

The Snow

Yeah, yeah, it's machine made, but considering the warmth and rain, it's a credit to the snowmakers and the system at Mount Southington that anything is down on the trails, never mind base depths that have been hovering around 2 feet since the holidays. General manager Jay Dougherty said they crews took advantage of every cold night possible and have been moving and grooming the snow to keep it preserved. Alas, stellar snowmaking temperatures are forecast for the near-future. The mountain has been 100 percent open for weeks now and has to get better during the peak period of the season.

The Park

Mount Southington has had at least some elements in its park since before the holidays and a trip there last week showed off several boxes, rails and jumps at a variety of heights. Dougherty jokes that the mountain has to keep the younger crowd happy, but also seriously boasts about what the park crew has fashioned.

Terrain-Based Learning

All has not been the status quo at Mount Southington either. A new terrain-based learning system has been molded into the ski school areas and bunny hills to beef-up what is already a stellar program.

Terrain-based learning comes just as advertised — it prepares beginners for the turns, undulations, bumps and other conditions encountered as one progresses to different skill levels. The theory is to eliminate the intimidation and make it more confortable to progress quicker.

Specifically shaped snow features are designed to naturally control speed and body positions to make sliding on snow feel controlled and calculated.

Here are some of the features:

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Chris Dehnel is a Patch editor who has been writing about skiing and snowboarding since 1999. He is a past-president of the Eastern Ski Writers Association and board member of the North American Snowsports Journalists Association and has contributed to several books on snow sports. His Snow Business column appears periodically during the season.