Record Setting Snow Takes Toll On Mass. Ski Resorts

WACHUSETT (CBS) – Record setting snowfall is taking a toll on many local businesses – including ski resorts.

Vice president of Wachusett Mountain, Carolyn Crowley Stimpson, says this is the best snow - the best conditions – they've ever had. Stimpson says it's also one of the worst February vacation weeks they've ever experienced.

"It's really lonely around here. We're in the vacation period and look at it, it's empty! It's crazy! Every day we're saying, 'Where is everyone?' I think they're all just stuck in the snow bank in Boston," says Stimpson.

Ski resorts started off with a less than ideal season.

"Fifteen days of rain in December. I think we got an inch of snow," says Stimpson.

Eventually, resorts hit the snowfall jackpot.

"We got 31 inches at the end of January and then people stopped coming. Go figure," says Stimpson.

Revenue at Wachusett Mountain is down 17% so far this year. The resort is down 40% if you only factor in the past three weeks.

"I don't know why. I don't know if people are just scared because of the temperature lately, or if people are just so packed in their driveway from all the snow," says avid skier, David DeLuca of Canton.

"They're only open so many months of the year. It's kind of sad to see people aren't up here skiing on a beautiful night," says Kurt Carlson of Worcester.

Skiers say conditions right now rival those in Utah and Colorado.

"It's the most snow I've ever seen here. It's nice and firmly packed. It's better than skiing out in the Western part of the country right now," says DeLuca.