Let it snow! Let it snow? Don't let it snow!

Save a few flurries, “the white stuff” didn’t fall from the sky this December. That has some people pretty upset. Others, however, are counting their lucky stars - and their cash - that it hasn’t snowed. Guy Harby, who owns Sparta Shell Station let out an emphatic, “That would be me,” when asked if the lack of snow has impacted his business. With stacks of snow removal contracts from both businesses and residents, his trucks, which need to be insured and maintained, are ready to go. “I’ve already lost about $5,000 so far” compared to other years, he said. Harby charges by the inch for snow removal. People sign seasonal contracts with Sparta Shell to ensure snow is removed in a timely fashion when there’s a storm. But since there’s no fee until snow is actually removed, Harby is in the red when there’s no white. Others are delighted with the weather. Among them is Dr. Tom Gilfillan, owner of Fredon Family Chiropractic on Route 94. Though his two girls love to play in it, he’s saved a couple hundred dollars already compared to years past because he doesn’t have to pay for plowing. “The guy who does my plowing is great and gives me a really good price which I appreciate, but it’s an extra expense that can really add up some years.” More importantly, like many other doctors and business owners, Gilfillan is forced to close his practice if a bad snow storm hits. “I’ll do whatever I can to make it in to the office for my patients,” he said. “But some storms leave you no choice.” Like Gilfillan, Linda Cappaze, the general manager at Lafayette Village, is just fine with no snow. “We get much more foot traffic when there’s no snow, and this year going into Christmas was probably a record amount. If there had been snow, we wouldn’t have seen this.” She said her retailers in the Village are “happy” and had a “very good” holiday season. A big snow storm paralyzes Lafayette Village, often forcing it to close. McAfee Ski and Snowboard is located across from Mountain Creek in Vernon and features a large offering of skis, snowboards and all the accessories. When asked if business has been impacted, a man named Gary said, “We’d rather not comment.” Three area plowing businesses had the same reaction. With December’s spate of near-record high temperatures, compounded by stints of heavy rain, many may think that ski trails would quickly turn into mud pits. Both the spokeswoman for Mount Peter, in Orange County, N.Y., and Mountain Creek want people to know that’s not true. Fortunately for the skiing and snowboarding industry, snowmaking science now keeps resorts going strong when Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate. Prior to snowmaking, the best that ski area operators could do to generate an adequate base was either to shovel or bulldoze snow into large piles that could then be pushed around, or install fences behind which snow might pile. Some mountains even resorted to covering trail sections with straw or pine needles to shield them from the sun—or at least make bare spots less conspicuous. Over the past half century, the industry has been revolutionized and now most ski resorts have given up depending on the vagaries of nature for the snow that is their livelihood. At its most basic, snowmaking is water forced through a nozzle that mixes with air and turns to snow. But like so much else, snowmaking has gone high tech. Mount Peter was started in 1936 by Macy’s Department Store to show off and sell their ski fashion. Known for its free beginner ski and snowboard lessons and family atmosphere, they say front and center on their Web site, “Don’t worry if it’s not snowing, we make our own snow.” They resort and the area is doing “just fine” says spokeswoman Amy Richardson, who hopes what she called a misconception in “another paper” doesn’t keep people away. “If you have a ski area on the East Coast where we are, you don’t depend on snow fall. You make it yourself,” she said. Snowmakers are in full gear and trails are snowed and ready. “The only thing that hurts us is bad/fictitious publicity that there’s not enough snow to ski.” Thanks to snowmaking, despite the Christmas night rain and fog, Mountain Creek had six trails open the next day and called surface conditions “machine groomed granular.” Conditions were listed as “Spring Like,” but thanks to the snowmaking machines, the average base depth was 6 to 19 inches. Mountain Creek advertises 100 percent trail coverage with 1,000 snow guns and “more snowmaking capacity than any resort in the region.” Director of communications Shannon McSweeney said, “The only drawbacks to not having snow on the ground are that we can’t open as many trails and because people don’t see snow in their backyards, they sometimes don’t think about going skiing.” McSweeney added, “Of course, we’re keeping our fingers crossed and waiting for winter to truly arrive here in the Northeast, with some nice cold temperatures and natural snowfall. But thanks to having the single largest snowmaking installation, SnoLab 26 and some of the best snowmakers and groomers in the country, we’ve been able to open despite the record warmth, and provide our guests with the opportunity to get out and have some fun. We’re looking forward to expanding and improving that experience as soon as possible.” While Mountain Creek’s policy is not to discuss its financial details and operating expenditures with the media, McSweeney did say, “I can tell you that we were 100 percent sold out for the holidays and we’ve had relatively few cancellations for this week. And most of the guests who did change their reservations, have pushed them until later in the season.” Vernon’s other ski resort, Hidden Valley, has not yet opened, but its Web site advises that it hopes to have enough snow down to open this weekend. In Newton, another type of business prefers its trails to be ice free. Spring Valley Equestrian Center offers miles and miles of scenic trails along the beautiful Paulinskill Valley. Though “each season of the year provides a different view of Nature,” Spring Valley’s spokeswoman Lori Wunderly said snow isn’t a problem, but “we have to cancel rides if the conditions are too icy.” With hourly trail riding rates at $30 per person, an icy winter can impact business. Though company policy prevents Wal-Mart employees from giving their name on record, they can comment anonymously. One Newton Wal-Mart employee said, “this year has been unbelievable,” referring to the amount of traffic through the store. “No snow meant a huge crowd, especially the weekend before Christmas. That pivotal weekend is the Super Bowl of retailing when stores like Wal-Mart will do all they can to get consumers into the stadium. No snow boded well for consumer traffic this year.” “I couldn’t believe the number of people buying Christmas stuff on sale the day after Christmas,” said Shawna Bengivenni of Wantage. “They had carts full of light-up reindeer, decorations and all kinds of things at the Franklin Wal-Mart.” Though she’s not one to stock up on decorations, Bengivenni is planning to return to a store where she saw some “really great” wrapping paper to see if it went on sale. “I don’t normally do the paper thing, but it’s really great, and I’m sure it didn’t sell for the $9 they were asking. Hopefully she marked it way down and I’ll get it for next year.”