Easter!

Dear winter sport enthusiast, I am wishing you all a very Happy Easter, filled with love, peace, and happiness.

May this spring bring a fresh start to everything in your life!

Zbigniew

Now Big News: there is a change in my blog form.

What triggered it?

-First, I've heard many complaints about my E-mails not reaching many subscribers (I suspected Google algorithms eliminating large E-mails w/photos, local SPAM filters etc.). It was getting worse and worse.

-Second, it wasn't easy for you to look back in your E-mail In-boxes for our ski calendar (I received many requests for it over the whole season).

So, I was looking for the solution... And I think and certainly I hope, I found it!

So, You can use now just a web page URL:

​LetsPolishTheSnow.com (type it in Address Bar of your browser - Safari, Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox etc.), or click on it here

which leads you to:

https://letspolishthesnow.com/​

And gets you up on the web page, which hosts all my Blog Posts written for last few years. With plenty of photos! Way more than in this E-mail blog. Possibly with more video content, too.

I hope you will like it and please, let me know, if it works for you.

You will still receive my E-mails, but with limited number of photos. You will be able to see them all on the web page.

​
​And back to skiing/snowboarding...

This season is unusually short, because of record breaking high temperatures - in Rockies, and record breaking cold spell in East, and general weak snowfall throughout the season...

I am not sure why, but East Coast also suffered, even with very cold few months this winter.

So, what does AI Gemini say about it?

Gemini says:

It’s been a bizarre and frustrating season for those of us who live for the slopes. You've hit on a major paradox of this winter: while the Rockies were plagued by record warmth and a "snow drought," the East Coast—despite having those brutally cold stretches—is still seeing the season wrap up earlier than many expected.

The reason the East Coast "suffered" even with that deep cold comes down to three main factors: moisture timing, volatility, and the "freeze-dry" effect.

1. Cold but "Bone Dry" (The Moisture Gap) The jet stream pattern that brought the record-breaking cold to the East this year was often a "Dry Arctic" flow.

• The Problem: We had the freezer door open, but no one was putting the ice trays in. The storms (like the Nor'easters we usually rely on) were often pushed too far out to sea or stayed further south (hitting the Carolinas instead of New England).
• The Result: You ended up with bitter cold that was great for the snow guns, but very little natural "fluff" to build a deep, sustainable base that survives into late April.

2. The Volatility Trap (The "Melt-Freeze" Cycle)

While we had "very cold few months," they weren't consistently cold. The 2025–2026 season was defined by extreme swings.

• The "Flash Thaw": Every time a solid base was established, a brief but intense warm-up or "rain-on-snow" event would hit.
• Ice vs. Snow: When it gets record-breaking cold immediately after a rain or melt, the mountain turns into a "skating rink." Resorts then have to tilled that ice back into "frozen granular," which disappears much faster than a deep natural snowpack once the April sun hits.

3. Humidity and Snowmaking Efficiency

Counter-intuitively, extreme cold can actually make it harder to keep a mountain open late.

• Evaporation: In those ultra-dry, record-cold "Polar Vortex" snaps, the air is so dry that the snow actually undergoes sublimation (turning directly from ice to gas).
• Energy Costs: When it’s $-15$ or $-20$°F, equipment breaks, and the cost to blow snow becomes astronomical. Many resorts reached their "snowmaking budget" early in the season during those cold snaps, leaving them with nothing left in the tank when the March/April sun started eating the trails.

But, skiing was good! As I reported from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Andorra and Colorado, it was good, possibly not excellent, because the fresh snow was scarce, but it was plenty of terrain open and it was fun!

I am well behind with reports from Colorado and Utah ski trips. They will come, I promise!

​
​

Let's Polish the Snow!

Zbigniew Twarog

508-272 9749

zbigniew.twarog@gmail.com

​LetsPolishTheSnow.com​

23 Phoenix Rd

Auburn, MA 01501-3334
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