Marble Mountain ski resort set to open slopes after 'snowmageddon'

There is at least one upside to the high winds and snowfall walloping Newfoundland's west coast.

Marble Mountain ski resort's first chair of the season will lift off Friday morning after successive storms dumped enough powder to blanket the slopes.

"It resembles an old school winter," said Richard Wells, sales and marketing manager.

"I've been using the term 'snowmageddon' and I feel that we're going to get a lot of snowfall this year."

Wells said the opening date is on par with last seasonbut, weather permitting, the closing date has been pushed back one week to April 12.

He added the hill will close Tuesdays again this seasonas a cost-saving measure.

Tuesdays were "just that that dead day where it seemed like all we had was staff going through," he said. "We really tried some promotions to get people in through the doors the last couple of years, but it just didn't work out."

A lack of substantial transportation options, he said, limits what the resort itself can do to encourage more visitors.

The resort operates with the assistance of about $1 million in annual grants from the province. For its 2017-18 season, day lift tickets were down almost 14 per cent from the year before, with just over 59,000 skier visits.

Seasons passes, too, are down overallover the last decade, Wells confirmed.

But the snow, at least, has finally settled.

"We're at the mercy of Mother Nature," he said, "and fortunately this time around she really came through for us."

White Hills Ski Resort in Clarenville has yet to announce an opening date for its own slopes, but a statement on the hill's website says snowmaking began earlier this week.

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