Snowmaking heats up

Snowguns, with some help from Mother Nature on Monday, have turned ski country white for the holiday week.

Expect increased trail counts, top-to-bottom skiing, week-long activities from Christmas to New Year's Day, as well as beefed up terrain parks and halfpipes. Fingers are crossed that forecasted rain will turn into a mountain mix.

"The cold temperatures of the past 10 days have really enabled ski areas to fire up their snowmaking arsenals and significantly increase the amount of terrain that will be available for holiday skiers," said Ski New Hampshire executive director Alice Pearce.

Crotched Mountain in Bennington is running at 100 percent, while Wildcat in Pinkham Notch reports more than 4 feet of natural snow. A handful of White Mountain cross-country areas are open.

In Maine, though Sunday River had its guns going day and night for a nine-day stretch, about 4 inches of snow fell Monday, bringing the total to around 2 feet.

"The telling thing is that our major players -- Sugarloaf, Sunday River, Saddleback, and Shawnee Peak -- have well over 50 percent or will have over 50 percent of terrain open with another couple of days of snowmaking," said Ski Maine's Greg Sweetser.

Closer to Boston, Blue Hills in Canton opened Saturday. Spokesman Mark Pins said the area will be in good shape for the week, and so will its sister resort in Danbury, N.H., Ragged Mountain.

"Even if we get a little warming, it won't affect our base depths at all," he said.

And central and northern Vermont have a nice covering.

"We're looking good," said Vermont Ski Area Association president David Dillon. "There's been more natural snow in the northern part of the state, from Killington north, so there is a heavier trail count."

Grafton Ponds, in southern Vermont, is one of the few Nordic centers with snowmaking, and Colin Lawson was out making snow the other day.

"We're making snow before the rain comes," he said. "That's the irony of New England weather."

A train spotting
The ski train rolls again. The Mount Washington Cog Railway Ski Train starts chugging Sunday for its first winter season carrying skiers, riders, and sightseers up a portion of Mount Washington in New Hampshire.

"Now it's not just the experts that ski Tuckerman Ravine that can claim they've skied Mount Washington," said spokeswoman Martha Wilson.

A narrow, groomed, nearly mile-long trail with about 1,100 vertical feet runs alongside the train trestle, giving skiers and riders the option of accessing beginner terrain from one stop or more intermediate challenges from another, higher one. A full-day ticket is $59, while a single run ticket is $25. A $75 combo ticket is good all day for Bretton Woods and the Cog, with a complimentary shuttle between the two.

A big lift
Loon Mountain in Lincoln, N.H., is holding a ribbon-cutting ceremony Sunday for its new North Peak Quad chair. The four-person, high-speed detachable chair will fly over the North Peak's intermediate and advanced trails. It replaces a pokey triple and, according to resort officials, will cut ride time in half to five minutes. "This addition is part of a larger effort to bring variety to the North Peak area," said spokeswomen Bonnie MacPherson, noting that the effort also includes a widened Flume Trail. Plans call for another lift and more trails, with work starting next summer . . . Might the Red Sox' World Series trophy reappear in ski country? The cold trophy tour stopped at Sunday River in Newry, Maine, Saturday night, at the Phoenix House and Well restaurant owned by resort developer and Sox minority owner Les Otten. The place was so packed, Otten said, they had to pass the trophy in through a window. "All we can say is that for the rest of the ski season, be prepared," said Otten. "It might actually appear when you least expect it." . . . Reigning women's Grand Prix champ Hannah Teter is still supreme. The US Snowboarding Team rider from Belmont, Vt., captured first place in the US Snowboard Grand Prix in Breckenridge, Colo. Fellow Vermonter and Olympic gold medalist Kelly Clark placed second in Sunday's halfpipe competition. Sudbury's Michelle Gorgone shook off jet lag and strong winds Monday to nail first in the parallel giant slalom. On the men's side, Peter Thorndike of Meredith, N.H., landed in fourth in the parellel GS. Maybe it was just a workout, but Olympian Kris Freeman came home for the holidays and took first in Sunday's Banknorth Eastern Cup 10-kilometer freestyle cross-country race at Stowe, Vt. About 250 racers showed up as Freeman, of Andover, N.H., clocked a time of 27 minutes 5 seconds, well ahead of second-place finisher Chris Mallory (28:12.3) of the University of New Hampshire . . . When Damon and Sara Gadd plus Jack Murphy opened Sugarbush in 1958, lift tickets were $5.50. They'll be that again tomorrow as the Warren, Vt., area celebrates its 46th birthday . . . Nashoba Valley offers two lift tickets for $40 on New Year's Day as the Westford area turns 40.