Last winter turned out to be a dud for New Jersey skiers because there wasn’t much snow and temperatures were warmer than normal. But that’s not the case this year.

We had one of the longest extreme cold snaps in state history earlier this month, with 12 straight days below freezing. But according to Evan Kovach, the director of sales and marketing for Mountain Creek Ski resort in Vernon, that turned out to be a plus.

He said everybody has been “super satisfied” with the frigid weather and snow because it means great skiing conditions.

“A lot of people would think the brutal cold would turn people away, but we’re actually one of the warmer ski resorts on the Northeast coast so we’ve actually attracted more visitors because of the cold,” he said.

“It really helps draw people to the resort. That’s one of the reason we’ve seen strong visitation and it has people thinking winter. They’re enjoying themselves on the slopes.”

Kovach pointed out, “There’s lots of technology in clothing these days that allows you to stay warm when you’re outside, so people are coming out and weathering the storm and having a good time while doing so.”

Hans Karlsen, the owner of the High Point Cross Country Ski Center, said he relies on Mother Nature to provide the snow, but his trails are in really great shape.

“We have really smooth trails, so we don’t really need much snow,” he said.

“High Point is the coldest and snowiest part of the state, so we’ve been open for 22 days so far this season.”

He said when temperatures dropped into the single digits he figured nobody would show up, but the place was pretty crowded.

“I’m kind of amazed how well people dressed.”

Kovach pointed out there’s plenty of snow for downhill skiing.

“Right now we’re relying mostly on snow guns just to touch up certain spots of the trails and to keep conditions, the snow surface, super powdery.”

“We’re still making snow and we’ll keep making snow likely through into February. It’s always good to refresh the surface.”

He also said the weather is great for snow tubing.

“The great thing about snow tubing is you require no skill to do it. Going snow tubing, you just sit in a tube and go.”

You can contact reporter David Matthau at David.Matthau@townsquaremedia.com

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