Maritime ski hills are making adjustments to combat milder winters

Ski hills thankful for fresh snow After a year of delays, skiers in Cape Breton are hitting the slopes earlier than usual.

After bad weather delayed opening to many hills last year, skiers in the Maritimes are now hitting the slopes earlier than usual.

The weather and new snow making equipment has allowed Ski Ben Eoin in Cape Breton to open ahead of schedule.

“This is the earliest we’ve opened in the last 4 years, and we opened early because Mother Nature gave us a cold spell and we had a whole week to make snow,” said promotions coordinator, Cindy Bragg.

Last year Ski Ben Eoin didn’t open until the end of January - the latest in the hill’s history – but many operators are now investing in new snow making gear to combat milder winters.

“We as an industry try to test out new snow making machines and try new formulas. We have a fabulous group of snow makers, some of which has been with us for 25 years and they really know what they’re doing,” said Bragg.

The story is much the same in northern Cape Breton. Cape Smokey was able to open a month earlier this year.

“We expanded the snow making equipment quite significantly. We have snow making pipes going all the way to the top of the hill and we have electricity going half way up the hill, which is going to be a big improvement for next year,” said Martin Kejval, Cape Smokey general manager.

Cape Smokey has also added 11 new snow making machines.

Kejval says the investment is translating into more customers, with 80 per cent of skiers coming from off island.

“When we started in 2020 there was almost no restaurants open. Now there are six and there are about 600 beds in the area for accommodations, so it’s starting to become a small vibrant town,” said Kejval.

A place normally busy during the summer months, Kejval says Ingonish, N.S., is now being billed as a winter destination.

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