For many ski resorts, a last-minute lift

GILFORD, N.H. -- Like farmers and postal workers, ski resort operators take a fatalistic attitude toward the weather. And late last week, when several inches of rain was dumped on New England, it wasn't looking so good for what many resorts say is their largest grossing weekend.

But through the modern miracle of man-made snow, and thanks to thousands of hearty Northerners who will ski no matter what the conditions, many proclaimed this year's Martin Luther King weekend a success.

"People are still going on their ski vacations," said Chris Ellms, director of ski area operations at Bretton Woods Mountain Resort. "The one dimension that's lacking is the natural snow."

Area ski resorts are suffering a weak season so far. Across the 73 ski resorts in New England, only 60 percent of the trails were open this weekend. Last year at this time, almost all of the trails were open, according to several resort operators.

But, oddly, the bad weather didn't seem to faze skiers this weekend. Jiminy Peak, the second largest resort in Massachusetts, sold 4,925 lift tickets yesterday, the most it has sold in the resort's 58-year history.

Nearly all of the 354 rooms operated by Bretton Woods were occupied on Saturday night, even though only 42 percent of 101 trails at the New Hampshire resort are currently open. And at Gunstock Mountain, an average-size ski resort in New Hampshire, sales on Saturday were up 20 percent over last year's Martin Luther King weekend.

Some skiers just love the sport and simply want to have tight boots around their feet and metal poles in their hands. They take pride in the fact that they ski even when they have to dodge rocky patches.

"There are two types of skiers: hard-core skiers and fair-weather-skiers," said George Burke, a ski instructor from Falls Church, Va., who was skiing yesterday at Gunstock and considers himself among the former. "You just make do with what you've got."

Others are victims of reservations made in advance, or promises made to their children.

"The weather has been disappointing, there's no doubt about it. But you can't just sit at home and let it ruin your weekend," said Richard Mieczkowski, who several weeks ago promised his three children that he would take them on their first ski trip to reward them for good behavior. Yesterday the four of them were at Gunstock, sharing cups of hot chocolate and baskets of chicken fingers and fries.

Martin Luther King weekend is typically the most popular weekend for skiing, although ski resorts typically put more emphasis on weeklong packages around Christmas and February's winter vacation. Resorts typically hope to make close to 15 percent of their 16-week season's sales on Martin Luther King weekend alone.

But with weather creeping into the 60s last week and rain late in the week, many resort operators grew frantic.

"I was petrified," said Brian Fairbank, president and chief executive of Jiminy Peak. "All week I had tremendous anxiety because I knew Thursday and Friday were coming, and rain was in the forecast."

Once the temperatures fell below 28 degrees, resorts began making gobs of snow. At Jiminy Peak, which has 200 snow "guns," the entire resort can be covered with a foot of snow within 48 hours, Fairbank said. The machines work by compressing cold air and water to make a thick powder that is more compact than natural snow.

This is often lost on city dwellers, however, because the weather they see out their windows affects their outlook.

"If people in Boston don't have snow in their backyard, we can't convince them that we have snow up here. It's the hardest marketing sell there is," said Debbie Irwin, director of marketing at Gunstock. "It has to look and feel like winter for people to want to ski. If it gets warm too quick, people start thinking about golf, gardening, and putting the skis away."

Dedicated skiers maintain their optimism, however. Many say that it could still snow this weekend. Even as skiers were interviewed yesterday, a storm moved into Boston to remind them of the possibilities up north.

The Old Farmer's Almanac predicts skier-friendly weather, with heavy snowfall, for mid-January and mid-February through mid-March.

"Right now the pattern has changed. We have cold for the next 10 or 15 days," said Dyke Shaw, director of marketing and sales at Mount Sunapee. "Could we be doing better? Absolutely. But we do with what we have. We live in New England."

Matt Viser can be reached at viser@globe.com.