UNION DALE, Pa. — The snow guns have been running around the clock at Elk Mountain Ski Resort near Union Dale, trying to replace what warm temperatures melted away last week.
The ski resort closed over the weekend to keep as much snow on the slopes as possible and then make more.
"We felt we made the right decision in closing for a few days, and we made a lot of snow, so that will lead to some great conditions this week and this weekend," said Bob DeLuca, director of marketing at Elk Mountain.
"Great temperatures to blow in, so if they just went all night, I figured they'd have something. I didn't know they were going to have this much. I guess rain and the temperatures didn't wipe out too much," said Nathan Dunlap.
Dunlap and Craig Magovern came up from Bucks County to spend a couple of days riding at Elk and had to adjust their plans because the mountain was closed. They know how weather affects a business that relies on the weather to cooperate.
"It's terrible when you don't have consistency like that. People don't know what to expect. You could have a massive crowd one day and then not on the next, and sometimes you're scrounging for money then, especially smaller resorts like this that are still mom-and-pop oriented. They need constant business. They're only open what three months out of the year?" said Magovern.
Based on the number of skiers and snowboarders that are out on a weekday in bitter-cold temperatures, they were also glad to have the mountain opened after being closed for three days.
"I am very surprised that there's this many people, but then again, it hasn't been a great season so far, so everybody is just trying to get out," Dunlap said.
Skiers and snowboarders said they're OK with the colder temperatures if it means making snow and more open trails.
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