Ski hills hope to stay open until mid-April

Thunder Bay - As the weather warms and the snow melts quickly, local ski hills are preparing for the end of the ski season, which is no surprise.

They're just not ready to close up shop yet.

Staff at Loch Lomond and Mount Baldy hope to keep the hills open until mid-April.

"We'll see what happens in the next few days," said Daniel Carras, owner of Mount Baldy Ski Area.

"We've been praying the forecasters are wrong, but at the end of the day, we've had a pretty tough few years, and this season has been really good.

"Hopefully we can get through mid-April. I don't have a crystal ball. We'll see, but from the long-term forecast, we should do well this year," said Carras.

Lyndsay Gerry, director of the ski school at Loch Lomond Ski Area, also hopes the season can wrap up in mid-April.

"We have a mock downhill on March 30, so if we can extend our hours until early April, that would be great. It really depends on our conditions," she said.

Gerry and Carras agree that this year's snowfall has been crucial for the hills.

"Our ski school has done really well. We had about 80 kids in our March break camp, which is a record for our ski school," she said.

Gerry said overall, Loch Lomond has been very busy this year.

During March break, conditions were favorable for both ski hills.

"We had a great March break, a lot of people got out, the sun was shining, so it was a lot of fun, and the conditions were great, we were really lucky," said Gerry.

Carras said, "It doesn't get any better than this; this might be our best year ever."

Source:  https://www.tbnewswatch.com/local-news/ski-hills-hope-to-continue-into-mid-april-10379956