MONROE COUNTY, Pa. — It was a short sleeve kind of day on the slopes at Shawnee Mountain Ski Area in Smithfield Township on Thursday.
The warmer, spring-like temperatures were something a family from New Jersey wasn't anticipating.
"It was a great idea to choose the warmest day of the whole year to go skiing. I'm glad there's snow on the ground, to be honest. They're very good for the weather. It was 75 degrees yesterday," said Anni Xu from Teaneck, New Jersey.
While the weather hasn't been kind to the slopes this year, the ski resort is getting ready for Presidents Day weekend.
Mountain officials plan to have 19 trails open, so their biggest priority is preserving and making snow.
"When it gets warm like this, we really like to maintain the snow we do have. We like to groom it and keep it in place so that we have coverage that we need on the trials that are most frequented, and then once we get the cold weather and that snap, we'll turn on the guns as soon as we get below freezing and we'll keep them on until it gets above freezing," said Michaela Kennedy, the social media manager and marketing assistant at Shawnee Mountain Ski Area.
Despite the warmer weather causing some slushy conditions at Camelback Mountain Ski Resort, officials say they will be pumping out tons of snow Friday night for the upcoming holiday weekend.
"We've invested in the last five to ten years heavily in tons of technology specific to monitor our snow conditions, our snow melt, and the availability to make snow in the smallest and closest-to-freezing temperatures we can," said Tim Bayer, the vice president of facilities at Camelback Mountain Ski Resort.
Camelback will have 36 trails open for the long holiday weekend.
Both ski resorts tell Newswatch 16 they hope the ski season goes well into March.
Shawnee Mountain is hosting the annual Paint the Mountain Pink breast cancer awareness event. All are welcome to help paint the mountain pink for breast cancer awareness by wearing pink and participating in fun activities throughout the day. The first 200 guests to arrive on Saturday morning will receive a freebie. Proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society.