Despite mild weather ski areas still have snow

CHARLEMONT, Mass. (WWLP) - The ground may be looking pretty bare here in Springfield but that isn't the case at many nearby ski areas.

Except for a few patches of snow you probably aren't seeing much of it in your yard, especially if you live in the lower Pioneer Valley. And what snow there is, is probably looking pretty dirty about now.

But despite the recent mild weather people are still hitting the slopes and coming to ski at Berkshire East in Charlemont.

“During the rain storm the top of the mountain was around 50 degrees but the bottom barely got above freezing so we held onto a lot of our snow and with today's technology with grooming and snow making we can clean up the mess and get it up and going in less than 24 hours,” said  Jon Schaefer the assistant manager at Berkshire East.

One family who came all the way out from Rochester, New York to ski was concerned about the  conditions they'd find.

“When we left it was 65 degrees in Rochester so we were a little worried it was going to be really icy, just not really great skiing weather but it's been great so far,” said Heidi Morgan from Rochester, New York.

It looks like they'll have no problem making snow with the cooler weather on the way and they’ll likely be picking up some more natural snow next week as well.