Mother Nature providing a near-perfect 90th for Chicopee Ski Hill

It has been a tough few years for the operators of Chicopee Ski Hill in Kitchener.

Late starts, early thaws and very little snow have been the hallmarks of the last couple of winters, but this year is totally different.

“The snow has been phenomenal this year. It’s like they’re paying us back for the last two, all in one shot,” Bill Creighton, Chicopee CEO, said.

This year marks Chicopee’s 90th anniversary and Creighton said they couldn’t have asked for better conditions.

“For our 90th, it seems like everything has come together. New lifts. New surface lifts, lots of snow and a lot of people having fun.”

It’s been so good in fact, Creighton says they haven’t had to make snow at all this month when normally they would use around 10 million gallons of water to make snow in February.

The excess of winter weather has led to several snow days for students this year. Creighton said they like to say: “Snow day, ski day.”

For the last few years, Chicopee has been forced to close after March break both because of poor skiing conditions and due to the hill hosting annual snowcross, snowmobile races, but not this year.

“This year we didn’t sign that contract so we’re hoping to be able to extend (the season) and that simply has to do with what the weather is like, what the crowds are like and how much snow we have left,” said Creighton.

He said even if you aren’t much of skier, Chicopee is an excellent place to spend the day, especially for parents who’s kids are hitting the slopes.

“Parents can sit in our lounge and our dining room and have dinner and listen to the music. We have live music Monday to Friday. It’s a great place to hang-out.”

Creighton says if people are heading out, they can check the conditions through cameras, live streaming from the hills. Find information about lessons, hours and equipment rentals at discoverchicopee.com