‘A fabulous season’: Spring snow has some N.S. ski hills staying open until after Easter

With the recent spring snow, some ski hills in the Maritimes will be open into Easter weekend.

On the slopes of Ski Ben Eoin, Ann Dunn is what you might call a “lifer.”

“Oh my gosh, for many years,” the longtime member and instructor at the Ben Eoin, N.S., ski hill said Wednesday when asked how long she has been there.

“Forty years, anyway.”

That means she can say with some authority that this winter has brought some of the best skiing conditions the Cape Breton ski facility has seen in recent memory.

“It’s been a fabulous season, one of the best we’ve had in many, many years,” Dunn said. “I say it’s our happy place and I know I’m not alone.”

“This is the latest we’ve been open in the last probably four years,” added Darcy MacDonald, business operations manager at Ski Ben Eoin.

MacDonald said Ski Ben Eoin closed in the middle of March in 2024-25, after being open for 64 days.

For this winter season, however, Wednesday marked Day 75.

Though the calendar says it’s spring, MacDonald said they still have a few days left to bring in some money for this season and build momentum for the next one.

“We were up about 10 per cent in our memberships, so we’ll put a big push on for our April early-bird sales and we’re going to get things ready for next season,” he said.

A couple of hours away at Ski Cape Smokey near Ingonish, N.S., they don’t plan to close for the season until April 20 – nearly a month from now.

“At Smokey we have better conditions than at the beginning of the year,” said Martin Kejval, CEO of Cape Smokey Holdings Ltd.

“It seems always that we run out of people before we run out of snow, if you follow my drift.”

Kejval, who also helps run Ski Martock in Windsor Junction, N.S., said Easter weekend will be a big one for Martock, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary with some special events.

“DJs, rail jam, slush cup and fireworks – it’s going to be something,” Kejval said.

MacDonald said Ski Ben Eoin’s 2025-26 winter season will end this Sunday with a popular event, the Slush Bowl, which is being brought back for the final weekend for the first time in years.

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