'It's white gold': Strong start to winter season brings cautious optimism for Atlantic Canada operators
- Judith Mendiolea Lelo de Larrea
- Apr 20
- 6 min read
Early snowfall allowed many Atlantic Canadian winter tourism operators to open early, but climate change and unpredictable weather still leaves questions about season's success
Originally published by The Telegram Jan 06, 2026
Early snow arrived across parts of Atlantic Canada in December, prompting ski hills, trail operators and snowmobile clubs to open weeks earlier than they did last winter.
But as the winter tourism season gets underway, operators say it is still too soon to know whether the strong start will translate into a longer or more reliable season.
At the Blow Me Down Ski Trails in western Newfoundland, conditions in mid-December already resembled what is normally seen later in the winter.
“This winter is shaping up to be a good old-fashioned winter,” said manager Shawn Leamon. “We have already, so far, this season, have accumulation of snow more than we’ve had in the past two winters combined.”
A skier glides through freshly packed trails at Blow Me Down Ski Trails in western Newfoundland, where early snowfall has allowed operators to open weeks ahead of last winter. Contributed
Leamon said the timing and sequence of weather events helped create an unusually strong base.
“We had early snow that we could pack it down, then we had slight rain precipitation that just kind of settled all that snow down, and then we had like four or five days of really cold,” he said. “That kind of set everything up for a tremendous base.”
By early December, Blow Me Down Ski Trails was already seeing what Leamon described as “mid-February conditions.”
The early snow has translated into demand.
“This year, it was the highest number of memberships sold by that date,” Leamon said. “For us, it’s white gold.”
Still, he acknowledged that the club’s experience is shaped by geography.
“We’re in a little niche micro for snow,” he said, noting that Blow Me Down has been able to operate when other clubs across the province could not. “Last two winters, we were primarily the only cross-country ski club in the province on the island anyway.”
Snowfall and long-term trends
While early snow has brought optimism this season, long-term climate data show a more complicated picture.
According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, the number of days with snow cover has declined across many parts of southern Canada, including in Atlantic Canada, over recent decades, even as year-to-year variability remains high.
Federal climate data also show that Canadian winters have warmed significantly since the mid-1990s, with recent winters ranking among the warmest on record.
Climate research suggests that Atlantic Canada is experiencing more winter days above freezing as a result of climate change. Studies cited by federal and academic researchers indicate Nova Scotia and P.E.I. now see roughly seven additional above-freezing days per winter on average.
Those broader trends are shaping how winter tourism operators plan.
Building reliability through infrastructure
At Cape Smokey in Cape Breton, CEO Martin Kejval said the resort does not rely on natural snowfall alone.
“If you run your operations depending 100 per cent on natural snow, you would never open,” he said.
“We prepare, we make our own, we have fan guns, and we are able to produce our own snow.”
Kejval said Cape Smokey logged 124 ski days last season.
“Last year, we had 124 days of skiing at Smokey, and the year before, we had also over 100 days,” he said. “There’s ups and downs in it, but I wouldn’t call them unpredictable.”
This season, the resort opened on Dec. 17, five or six days earlier than last year, thanks to early-season temperatures being favourable for snowmaking.
However, for Cape Smokey, the end of the season is not necessarily dictated by snow.
“Usually in our case, we run out of people,” he said. “People just stop showing up and they stop being interested in skiing itself.”
Kejval also pointed to other operational challenges that can be more disruptive than snowfall.
“We personally struggle more with the wind in the winter than anything else,” he said, noting that high winds can shut down lifts even when snow conditions are good.
Rural impacts of shorter, variable seasons
In New Brunswick, variability has had clearer economic consequences. Ralph McBride, executive director of Snowmobile-Motoneige New Brunswick, said recent winters have tended to start later.
“The last couple of seasons have probably shortened up,” McBride said. “They started later… probably mid, later January before we go. So we probably started two weeks later than normal.”
At the same time, he cautioned against reading too much into any single year.
“Two or three years could be short and then the next year could be a longer season,” McBride said. “It’s variable.”
That variability matters for rural communities.
“The sooner the sleds get out or the people get trailered into these rural areas, then that picks up business for those restaurants, accommodations, and fuel stations,” he said.
“Longer season means that they have more income,” he added, referring to rural businesses tied to snowmobile tourism.
Snowmobilers ride along trails in N.B., where early winter conditions have led to a surge in permit sales and increased activity in rural communities. Contributed
This winter’s early snow has already changed behaviour. By mid-December, a lot of places had 10 to 12 inches of snow on the ground — something, McBride says, “ we didn’t see last year.”
Permit sales reflect that shift.
“We’re 7,800 more early permit sales than we had in the last few years,” he said. “The more permit holders we have, the more money goes back into the system, into the clubs.”
Public trails and shifting winter use on P.E.I.
On P.E.I., Gaylene Gillis McCarron, executive director of Island Trails, said early snow has already changed how people are using the Confederation Trail. In early December — when there was already more snow than usual — she says people were “already snowmobiling on the Confederation Trail when typically that wouldn’t have happened until like after Christmas.”
After several winters with delayed snowfall, McCarron said planning has become more difficult.
“Year to year is different. Our winters are so unpredictable. They lease the Confederation Trail December 1st to March 31st,” she said, adding that conversations about shortening lease periods have surfaced in response to shorter winters.
“But now we’ve had snow the first of December this year, so that’s probably not going to be an option.”
She said winter trail use on P.E.I. is also diversifying.
“They’re grooming trails for fat biking,” McCarron said. “When there’s a good sort of path of snow, it’s really much more fun to snowshoe.”
By contrast, winters without snow have limited appeal.
“Winter, when there’s no snow, when it’s just cold and icy is not super fun,” she said. “When it’s snowy and you can do activities, and you can do outdoor skating and snowshoeing, it’s very fun.”
Optimism, with limits
Across Atlantic Canada, operators say early snow has brought momentum, participation and optimism. But long-term climate data suggest warmer winters and declining snow cover remain an underlying challenge, one that affects regions and activities unevenly.
For Leamon, the hope is that early conditions hold.
“People like to get the value of their membership,” he said.
As winter unfolds, operators say they are prepared but cautious, knowing that early snow does not always guarantee what comes next.
Comments