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| Amherst Daily News |
WENTWORTH - The ski industry has been anything but downhill this winter in central Nova Scotia.
"It's been a real good season," Ski Wentworth general manager Leslie Wilson said.
"We are, depending on how March Break goes, on track to have one of our best seasons in the last 10 years."
The hill in the valley of snow opened for the season on Dec. 23 and the weather has co-operated for the past two-and-a-half months.
As of last week, there were 22 trails open with a base of three to four feet of snow.
Wilson said consistent is the best word to describe the season and weather.
"Basically we've had some early cold weather followed by some snow and that gave us excellent conditions," she said.
"February was wonderful, almost the entire month we really only had one rain … We haven't had the big thaws and the spikes in the weather."
So far, the hill has received 218 centimetres of snow during the season. The south side of the hill, comprised completely of natural snow, has been open for a month and a half.
It's almost a throwback of sorts.
"It feels like a normal, traditional winter where the snow would come and would stick around," Wilson said. "A lot of folks are rediscovering skiing."
Avid skiers Michael and Kathy Saxton said they have been out to the hill between 20 and 25 times this season.
"We haven't had a bad day," said Michael.
Kathy said the conditions were "lovely" with the sun beaming down.
"It's been really good considering the rain we got in Truro," she said. "They've managed to maintain the hill quite well."
But the snow has impacted one side of the hill's business.
"Some of the school visits, unfortunately, were cancelled due to a lot of the snowstorm days," she said.
"But you never complain about snow, that's for sure."
The province's largest ski hill anticipates being open until April 5, depending on the weather.
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