Cape Breton ski season plagued by mild weather

Ski Ben Eion in Cape Breton was eerily quiet on Saturday, as many of the hills were bare. It felt more like spring or autumn than winter.

“Right now, we've been seeing a lot of warm weather, lots of rain. We're getting the occasional cold night where we can turn the snow guns on, but as of right now, it's been fairly warm,” said Director of Business Operations Darcy MacDonald.

It's unclear when skiers will be able to hit the slopes at Ben Eion. With no natural snow, it means staff has their work cut out for them in trying to open for the season.

“We haven't had too many snowmaking days, but we did the best with what we could. It’s supposed to start getting colder tonight, and once we get a few cold days together, we can make quite a bit of snow,” said MacDonald.

In the Highlands at Cape Smokey, business is starting to pick up, but only the beginner slope is open. Mother nature is not making it easy on their bottom line.

“If you don't have snow, then you don't have skiers, and if you don't have enough skiers, you don't have people coming into the place,” said Cape Smokey CEO Martin Kejval.

The world-famous Cabot Trail is no stranger to tourists during the summer months. Now with the popular Gondola up at the property, the hope is to make Cape Smokey a winter destination.

“That's something we're pushing towards. We're not about just skiing -- that's why we're trying to push the message that we have snowshoeing open, we will hopefully have tubing open shortly, and we're working very closely with the Keltic Lodge as well,” said Kejval.

On the mainland, Martock is reporting progress in making snow and did partially open this week.

Back in Ben Eion, they are looking at ways to try and combat milder winters.

“We're always looking at how snow technology is changing and what we can do to try and deal with what mother nature gives us. As time goes on, we've been upgrading our snowmaking system and there will be more things in the future we will have to look at to make snow in warmer conditions,” said MacDonald.

In the meantime, the goal for many hill operators is to open as soon as possible.