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Global Warming Is Melting Upstate Winter Tourism, Fun
By
Nathan Tempey
Published Feb 10, 2016
Modified Feb 10, 2016
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Lake George Winter Carnival/Facebook
By
Nathan Tempey
Published Feb 10, 2016
Modified Feb 10, 2016
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Record balmy temperatures and scarce snow have ruined lots of seasonal plans upstate. The New York Times surveyed some of the state's usual winter hotspots—as it were—and found usually frozen lakes still liquid, ski slopes barren or only occasionally cool enough for artificial snow, and locals stressing.
In the Adirondacks' Lake George, an hour north of Albany, the town and lake's namesake winter carnival has begun without the benefit of lake ice where much of the festivities usually take place. The Times reports:
The motorcycle and truck races that usually make a noisy spectacle of the iced-over lake are likely to be canceled. The dogs that are supposed to pull children on sleds around the lake will instead be pulling them around a parking lot. The outhouse race, in which teams of five drag wooden port-a-potties on skis across the ice — two pushing, two pulling, one enthroned on the toilet seat — was relocated to the dry land outside Duffy’s Tavern. (For the first time since the race was instituted 20 years ago, the skis were swapped for wheels.)
Lake Flower in the town of Saranac Lake hasn't frozen all the way across, but that didn't stop a few hardy/foolhardy souls from sawing out chunks of it to build an Ice Palace for their annual shindig. Look, traditions are traditions, okay?
The melty madness is a region-wide phenomenon. North Country Public Radio reports that January snowfall was 6 to 12 inches below normal for most of the Adirondacks, and 12 to 18 inches below normal for the Southeastern Adirondacks, and that Burlington, Vermont logged daily high-temperature records of 54 degrees on two days last week.
In Jackson, New York, northeast of Albany, an organizer said ahead of last weekend's Winterfest, "We're holding out hopes for snow." They got an inch and a quarter, according to records for nearby Battenville, which is better than nothing.
In Buffalo, frequently one of the country's snowiest cities, the Times writes that golf courses stayed open into December, and the usually lake-effect-stricken populace found themselves ranking 15th in the nation for seasonal snowfall, an event that prompted a whole Buffalo News article.
Rick Cohen, owner of Buffalo's Transit Drive-In theater, booked the new Star Wars movie through mid-January and said he may reopen as soon as Valentine's Day.
"From a business standpoint, I think global warming’s a great thing," he told the Times.
Last year's outhouse race. (Lake George Winter Carnival/Facebook)
Not so for the many ski resorts pleading with customers on Facebook to come check out their artificial snow (though by many accounts, several inches of snow over the weekend did some resorts in Dutchess County good). Butternut, just over the New York border in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, had its opening day on January 6th. Nearby Jiminy Peak wrote a few weeks later, "Even if it's snowing lightly... It's still SNOW!"
The Adirondacks' Big Tupper, a volunteer-run nonprofit ski resort, lacks snow machines, and a week ago announced that it lacked the resources to open at all this season.
In Lake George, a Winter Carnival organizer insisted to the Times that the lack of winter hasn't inhibited enthusiasm for the invent.
"There’s no negativity,” said Lou Tokos. "Everybody’s foaming at the mouth to come here."
That's obviously debatable.
Late last months, Catskills residents, businesspeople, and politicians gathered to discuss the area's future. Anthony Coiro, a councilman for the town of Hunter, said, "The changing climate is affecting our industries. We need to diversify," according to the Watershed Post. The paper noted that the Hunter Mountain Ski Resort is trying to build up a second revenue stream by renting itself out for summertime destination weddings.
Tagged
adirondacks
buffalo
catskills
climate change
global warming
lake george
Massachusetts
outhouse race
skiing
vermont
winter carnival
Nathan Tempey
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