SCRANTON -- The unseasonably warm weather is causing problems for some ski resorts in our area.
There is a lot of green on Montage Mountain in Lackawanna County and not enough white.
At this time last year, many ski resorts were up and running, but that's not the case this year. If you're a fan of skiing, the slopes of Montage Mountain are not an encouraging sight.
Still, even though there's not a spot of snow on the mountain, Ashlee Martinelli of Mountain Top was at the ski resort already buying tickets.
“It's going to snow at some point and when it does it will be fun to come up here,” said Martinelli.
With December's unseasonably mild temperatures, Montage has not been able to make snow since it needs to drop below freezing for the snow to stick.
The resort did test the snow guns on November 23 and the guns are good to go.
“So we've turned the guns on once this season already, a couple weeks ago before Thanksgiving actually and it was a great opportunity to get out there, train the new staff, make sure the system's charged and ready to go,” said Tyler Crawford with Montage Mountain.
Montage Mountain's opening day last year was on December 18.
Despite the lack of the white stuff, the resort is still hoping to open around the same time.
This time last year, other resorts, such as Camelback and Big Boulder in the Poconos were in full swing by Thanksgiving; this year that's not the case.
“It's a little abnormal, a lot warmer than we're used to,” said Scott Jacoby with The Ski Shop in Dickson City.
Jacoby says with ski slopes still closed, business is a bit slower than it usually is for this time of year, but that should change once the snow guns get going.
“I know they've been testing their guns and getting things ready so it's just a waiting game for the weather to stay cold at least for a little bit,” said Jacoby. “It will get everybody really excited, that's going to be huge moving forward, just colder weather or just the mountains being able to make snow.”
Once conditions become ideal to make snow, Montage Mountain says it could take just roughly three days to get a couple trails up and running.