The start to winter looked so promising.
With multiple storms prior to Thanksgiving, November had the most skiing Al Jenks had seen in his 47 years as owner of Windblown Cross Country Skiing & Snowshoeing in New Ipswich.
But since the calendar flipped to December, the ski area has been open exactly one day for skiing and that was more than six weeks ago. Jenks said when your business is dependent on the weather, you have to take the good years with the bad ones.
“Early snow doesn’t mean it’s going to stick around,” Jenks said. “It was the least amount of snow I’ve seen in December.”
With three weekends of skiing in November, Jenks has already surpassed the disastrous year of 1990, when he never opened – not even for a single day. And with a little more than two months left in the season, in no way is he writing off this year.
One good storm can change everything in his line of work. It can go from nothing for weeks to 400 or 500 people skiing the 25 miles of trails on a Saturday.
At this point, Jenks would need the right kind of snow, because all the rain and warm spells have left the area with virtually no base to build on. To reopen, Jenks said, six to eight inches of high density snow would be required for a base to properly groom and have enough terrain to make it worthwhile for skiers to venture out.
“If you have a base, which we don’t, you can get by with three inches of new snow,” Jenks said. “You need something to pack down.”
When there’s enough snow for skiing, Jenks will update his website every morning with the conditions – new snow, depth, percentage of trails opened. These days, there hasn’t been much updating except to remind people they’re still closed. The hope is that will change soon.
Since Jenks isn’t busy grooming trails, doing snow removal and providing guidance to customers, he’s able to do other chores around the 400-acre property. Early last week, he was going out to remove a couple of trees. There’s always debris left by wind storms to clean up, maintenance on the buildings or firewood to cut.
“There’s stuff to do. It just doesn’t make you any money,” Jenks said.
He’s learned not to get too high or too low when it comes to a good week, month or even season. The same goes for the not-so-good times.
“I’ve gotten used to it over 47 years, the ups and downs,” Jenks said. “I always have to keep enough in the bank to get through a couple lousy winters. And when you have a good winter, you don’t spend it all.”
Last year wasn’t looking too great, then Windblown benefited from a snowy March and had as much business in the final month of the season as it did the previous three.
“The season is never over until it’s over,” Jenks said. “The first three months I paid the bills and March I got a paycheck.”
The challenge is having people ready to work during the times when the ski area is open. Jenks is the only full-time employee and those who help out are either retired or use it as a fill-in, part time gig.
“There’s no way I could have a staff and pay them throughout the winter. I would have been out of business 30 or 40 years ago,” Jenks said.
Windblown also has a warming hut cabin and shelters for rent.
“They bring in a little, but the ski business is really what makes it go,” Jenks said.
While day passes and rentals account for much of Windblown’s business, season passes are down this year. Jenks said he sold some thanks to the snowy November, but most are typically bought during December and early January. And with no snow, people had no reason to buy one.
Jenks checks the weather each morning because he wants to be prepared as early as possible.
“Snow will appear on the horizon, and then it will disappear,” he said.
Jenks opened Windblown in 1972, initially intending to create an alpine ski area. Since then, there have been 15 other cross-country ski areas within a short drive. Now, he’s the only one left.
“In the mid 80s, I had the best years when I had my most competition,” he said.
For up to date info, visit windblownxc.com or facebook.com/windblown.cross.country.skiing.