The ski and snowboard season has ended early at Juneau’s Eaglecrest Ski Area.
Sunday was the last day of operation for the Porcupine Chairlift.
General Manager Matt Lillard says they’ve been operating on a week-to-week basis as rain and warmer temperatures continued melting the snow on the lower mountain.
“As we get into March and April, the demand is starting to drop and people are looking on to other things as they will when it’s almost 50 degrees downtown and sunny,” Lillard says.
Lillard says an average of 150 people visited Eaglecrest each day this season. That’s about a tenth of the number of skiers and snowboarders that may visit during a spring day in a normal snow year.
Earlier this season, operations on the lower mountain were suspended earlier because of the lack of snow, and the upper mountain, including the Black Bear Chairlift, was only open for a limited time.
Lillard says making the decision to shut down was the fiscally responsible thing to do, but he says they could still resume operations in the unlikely event that an April miracle storm dumps several inches of snow.
He says this was the first time in 38 years of operation that they didn’t have full opening of the ski area because there was effectively no snow on the upper mountain.
Lillard says they have policy of not issuing refunds for season passes purchased during years of poor weather or little snow. But the Eaglecrest Board of Directors may either review that policy or consider future discounts for season pass holders during their next round of meetings.
“The staff will be proposing some ideas and board members will be mulling them over and taking a vote on them,” Lillard says. That will likely happen at the board’s May meeting.
Even though there is no more skiing and snowboarding, Lillard says they still plan to go ahead with this Saturday’s Day On The Mountain which will include music and barbecue. Activities will also include snow painting and sculpture, face painting, and Xtra Tuff races.
There are nine seasonal and permanent employees currently on staff who will continue working for at least the next two weeks. Seasonal and part-time instructors and ski patrollers make up a large portion of the 120 employees during a normal snow year at Eaglecrest Ski Area.
(Editor’s note: Story updated with additional details and quote about season passes.)
