Snow Business: Mount Southington Defies the Rain With Good Snow

SOUTHINGTON, CT — The evil rain did not get the better of Mount Southington. It took some work, but the skiing on Martin Luther King Sunday was just stellar.

That sounds like a lot to say about a small mountain so soon after a monsoon, but there it was on Sunday, 100 percent open on a chilly but sunny say. The snow was not like skiing off a tabletop as some predicted late last week. Rather, it was on the soft side and very, very navigable from the bunny hill tot the black trails.

With a pair of 18-year-olds and two 12-year-olds in tow, it was so good, one did not have to worry about what trail to take.

So how did Mount Southington pull it off? With a lot of work and strategy, president and general manager Jay Dougherty said.

The first thing to deal with was standing water, he said, so canals were carved in the snow to let the excess water run off.

It was then a 12-hour session with the groomers featuring tiller attachments, Dougherty said. The wet snow had to be broken up because temperatures were dropping drastically as the storm blew out.

It was then another 12-hour grooming session, this time with the regular attachments on the fleet.

It all left the mountain with all 14 trails open, all seven lifts running and base and summit snow depths of 16 and 36 inches, respectively.

The half pipe was still standing and there were still too many elements in the terrain parks to try to count. They were mostly jumps and rails.

Dougherty said the plans are to let the holiday weekend ride itself out through Monday, see what happens with natural snow in the forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday and then perhaps take advantage of overnight temperatures in the teens through Friday and make more snow.

So forget about what happened last week. If a short drive is what you want — it's 20 minutes from Hartford and about 90 from lower Fairfield County — then Mount Southington is a viable option. It is certainly primed for a good rest of the season. Dom's Way was the best for families and blues Boomerang to Turkey Turn to Avalanche were skiing and riding the best on Sunday.

See more at Mt. Southington's website.

And on YouTube

Photo Credit: Chris Dehnel

Video Credit: YouTube

Chris Dehnel is a Patch Editor. His Snow Business column runs regularly during the snow sports season.