New Englanders Wistfully Dreaming of a White Christmas

New England has the cold weather--now all many ski resorts need is snow.

The resorts have fired up their snow-making machines in hopes of meeting “white Christmas” guarantees and making up for a slow start to the ski season.

“There isn’t much we can do,” said Stanley Beers, whose Blue Hills ski area in Massachusetts was empty Friday.

The Boston area has set a record this year for its lack of snow.

As of Friday, no measurable snow had fallen at Logan International Airport for 284 days. The old record, set last year, was 274 days.

Portland, Maine, typically gets 17 inches of snow in December and 70.9 inches all season. Only trace amounts have fallen so far.

There was little or no snow in the forecast for the holiday weekend.

Six New England resorts owned by American Skiing Co. still were offering a guarantee for a white Christmas, complete with vouchers and future price reductions.

The guarantee kicks in if the ski areas don’t have at least 70% of the terrain open for skiing over the holidays, said Les Otten, American Skiing’s chief executive.

Company officials said they believed the man-made snow would help meet the 70% mark at their resorts, which include Sunday River and Sugarloaf in Maine; Killington, Sugarbush and Mount Snow in Vermont; and Attitash Bear Peak in New Hampshire.

The folks at Killington, which is Vermont’s largest ski area, were among the most upbeat--they’ve gotten 61 inches of natural snow so far this season.

But other places in New England haven’t been so lucky.

In Locke Mills, Maine, Mount Abrams Ski Resort’s snow guns have been operating around the clock and have put down 2 to 4 feet of snow on open trails.

The lack of snow has meant slow business for the Powder Ridge Ski Resort in Middletown, Conn.

It opened with man-made snow after the Thanksgiving weekend. But warm weather and rain shut it down after about four days.

General Manager Rich Satagaj said a cold snap about two weeks ago allowed the resort to reopen.