Chicopee (finally) opens for ski season, but staff still hope for colder temperatures

As the saying goes: Better late than never.

Skiers in Waterloo region are able to hit the slopes locally now that Chicopee Ski Resort has opened for the season. 

Season's pass holders were given first dibs to ski at the hill last week. It opened to the public on Monday.

"We are thrilled to open the doors to everybody here at Chicopee now that we've got more snow coverage," the resort's CEO Bill Creighton said Monday afternoon.

The resort has four lifts operating right now and Creighton says he hopes in the next week or so to open more runs.

"We still have some challenges with getting all of our runs open and it looks like Mother Nature, for the next week is going to be tough on us again and it'll be about a week before we can make more snow," he said.

"We've got enough snow on the hill. The only thing we need is we need some more cold temperatures so we can finish building out all of the runs."

Environment Canada is calling for rain on Tuesday and Wednesday with temperatures at 5 C and 4 C, respectively. But temperatures are forecasted to dip below freezing on Friday and with that, the chance of flurries returns to the region.

Geoff Coulson, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said the freezing rain warning in effect for Tuesday wouldn't be the only messy weather system in the region this week. Another system is expected in Waterloo region on Thursday into Friday and it could bring more rain.

Then, by the weekend, it will be closer to snow-making weather.

"While we're not expecting temperatures to be necessarily as cold as normal for this time of year — normal highs around –4 C, normal lows about –12 C for this time of year — we are expected to see starting Friday more consistently through a number of days into next week, both the daytime highs and the overnight lows staying below freezing," Coulson said.

"Then as we get into the last week or so of the month, or even the last few days of the month, some of the models are indicating a return to more seasonal temperatures."

Creighton said he and the staff at Chicopee are excited to open more runs and to welcome people back, including for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, school groups are making their return for field trips.

"There's lots of winter left here in Kitchener-Waterloo at Chicopee," Creighton said.