After Sunday’s snowfall, the Dartmouth Skiway plans to open the Winslow lift, which will make all 30 of the mountain’s trails open to skiers and snowboarders, Dartmouth Ski Patrol assistant director Katherine Takoudes ’24 said. She said that conditions are improving, with the Dartmouth Skiway off to a fast start.
As long as “Mother Nature allows us to make enough snow,” and temperatures remain below freezing, Skiway general manager Mark Adamczyk said he hopes to open trails by next weekend — Jan. 19.
Prior to this week’s snowfall, only one trail at the Skiway had been operational, according to Adamczyk. He added that most of the Skiway was covered by man-made snow, which allowed the run to be open to the public.
Takoudes said that one slight change at the Skiway this year is that the Skiway patrollers will enforce their uphill policy more strictly than they have in years past. Until the Winslow lift is operational, uphill and backcountry skiers will not be allowed at the Skiway, she explained. When Winslow opens, ski patrollers will check the passes for uphill skiers while they are on the mountain.
Apart from this change, the Skiway will run the same way it has in years past, Takoudes said.
Ski patroller Allison Pittman ’25 said she was initially worried the lack of early coverage would deter people from the Skiway, but the mountain has been busy since its opening on Dec. 26.
“Yesterday, [Jan. 9], we did have a really busy day, so I think the conditions are not preventing people from coming out, which I guess is a good thing,” Pittman said.
Temperature fluctuations and sporadic rain have made conditions unpredictable, which has caused run closures throughout the day, Adamczyk said. “Nothing at a ski area is consistent. Things are always changing.”
He added that runs are closed when ski patrollers deem them to have “unsafe conditions.”
“The group of student patrollers we have is a wonderful resource, and I would say most trails in the Skiway get skied probably every 15 to 20 minutes by patrollers,” Adamczyk said.
According to Adamcyzk, the Skiway tries to have between 6 and 10 patrollers on shift each day, depending on the conditions and number of runs open.
“Sometimes, we’ll be able to open a run in the morning, [but] as things warm throughout the day, or a certain number of skiers ski on it, obstacles and unsafe conditions can appear,” Adamczyk said.
Despite varied conditions, College programs at the Skiway have been running, Takoudes said. The mountain’s ski patrollers have been training on the mountain, refreshing their skills and learning new safety techniques, she added.
The College Club Ski Team had their preseason practices at the Skiway over winterim — the period between fall and winter term — in preparation for the 2024 season, and the College’s student ski instructors had their training this past weekend, according to Takoudes.
Upper Valley locals have also taken advantage of the Skiway so far this season. The local kids ski school has been up and running with students taking to the mountain and learning from their instructors, Takoudes said.
