Chicopee ski hill working to make enough snow to open as soon as possible

People itching to hit the slopes at Chicopee's ski hillmay have to wait a little longer as the mild temperatures over the Christmas holidays pushed back their opening date.

CEO Bill Creighton said this is the second year in a row that Chicopee delayed their opening day for the Kitchener, Ont., ski hill. It normally opens at the beginning of the Christmas break.

"When it's above zero, we can't make snow, no matter how much we invest in the equipment, so that's a challenge. This year over Christmas, especially with those warm temperatures, we just couldn't get open," he told CBC News.

Temperatures over Christmas were in the high single digits. Creighton said temperatures need to be at 2 C for staff to make snow, which means the colder the temperatures, the more snow they can make.

Creighton adds thatnot being open during the Christmas break does impact their bottom line, but having active members throughout the season helps.

"There are all those kids and families looking forward to getting out and that's a big revenue time for us, so it makes it a little tougher when we don't get that," he said.

"We got a lot of people in programs taking lessons and a lot of people who are active throughout the rest of the season, so we'll be OK."

Temperatures this week are more ideal for snow making, he added, and staff will be making as much as possible to get the ski hill open as soon as possible.

"We'll make every moment we can through the day, night, the whole works to get open as soon as we can," he said.

Warmer start,but temperatures will be back to normal

Steven Flisfeder, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada, said the temperatures at the start of January have been above seasonal average, sitting at 1 C, but they should come back to normal closer to the end of the week.

"Thursday will be on the cold side, expected a high of only 5 C[or] 6 Cwhich is a bit below normal. But the latter half of the week into early next, we're looking at near normal temperatures with daytime highs of 3 C," he said.

Flisfeder said there will also be snow in the forecast over the weekend and early next week. He said it also looks like it will be a seasonal average January as well.

"That's not to say that every day will be normal. There will be variability, but overall, average wise, we're looking at near normal for most of January."