March Madness: Don't Drink the Kool-Aid

"Dude.  That was epic.  Where'd you find my ski?"

It's finally here!  Like a jerk with his new phone book, skiers are rejoicing the best ski month of the year: March.

March is also the month when you're guaranteed to hear at least one person per day cry about how much they wish winter would end and how living in New England is such a horrible chore.

Before you take a sip of the "I'm soooo sick of winter" Kool-Aid and start thinking that ski season is almost over, there's a few things to consider.

Old Man Winter Is Kicking Ass Well Into April

Take a good look at that chart and soak it in.

During March, the mountains of the Northeast continue to add to the snow pack.  In fact, March is the third snowiest month on Mt. Mansfield and in Lake Placid, NY .  Amazingly, its also the second snowiest month on Mt. Washington.

"March is clearly the start of Spring.
Winter has been defeated"

Along with fresh snow, March also means longer days.  In the next two weeks we'll be adding another forty minutes of daylight, and another hour and a half by the end of the month.  This gives you more time to find your way out of a terrain traps, and less time listening to your tent mates snore.  This extra daylight is most likely the reason that March gets its reputation as a "Spring month".

But while the haters are claiming Spring has sprung, skiers know better:  March is still a month solidly in the winter column.   In fact, some of my favorite ski tours, including South Baldface and Cardigan occurred in March.

So if you're worried that you missed out on ski season, don't let the Spring worshipers get you down.  There's still a whole month of winter ahead: Just enough time to get yourself into shape for Spring skiing.