Businesses taking heat for warm weather

MILFORD - Warm temperatures and a lack of precipitation during the early winter season have more than just local children saying, “Let it snow.” It is no coincidence that the New Year was ushered in with rain, not snow as seen last year. The economic impact of this warm winter has a crippling effect on seasonal businesses, from snowplowing to snowboarding. The reason for the climate change may be uncertain, but its consequence is not. Asked to comment on this winter season’s impact on Camelback Ski Area, general manager Richard Wiseman replied, “What winter season?” Wiseman said it is the worst he has seen in his 13 year tenure at Camelback, one of the more dominant winter activity resorts located in Tannersville. Camelback finished the month of December down 30% of the business they normally do, but surprisingly better than Wiseman expected. With the high temperatures, even Camelback’s advanced snowmaking technology fights an uphill battle. This weekend, he said, they will be seeing temperatures around 60 degrees and plan to operate only 9 of their 33 trails. “Hopefully this December’s weather is an anomaly,” Wiseman said. At Ski Big Bear, owner Ronald Schmalzle said that business is down some 5-10%, crediting the making of snow early on in the season for allowing them to even stay open now - a feat many competitors didn’t attain. The snow removal industry has not seen a single storm thus far this winter. A representative from Mr. Fix It, based in Milford, told the Pike County Courier that in the business’ seven-year existence, this is its warmest season yet. The contracts the business holds with local entities are season contracts, meaning that the amount paid is not based on each snow removal. Although Mr. Fix It is benefiting from the lack of snowfall this year, the representative said that there will be repercussions next year with contracts. “It is a win or lose situation,” he said. Rufus Parham, owner of A1 Landscaping out of Matamoras, explained that a large part of his snowplowing business relies on how much snow falls. In his 29 years of experience he can only recall one other season comparable to this, a decade ago. Luckily, his businesses has grown and diversified so that a season like this will not bankrupt him, but large expenses incurred in the beginning of the season are daunting. Still, Parham remains optimistic. While some businesses are being hit hard, the Department of Transportation and local governments are able to spend less on snow and ice removal. A Department of Transportation spokeswoman reported that the mild winter of last year resulted in a 12-15% savings. Meteorologist Tom Clark of WNEP-TV in Scranton said, “This is some of the warmest weather you will see this late in the season as far as average temperatures are concerned, and it’s going to continue for another week or so. This is the least amount of snow we have had in over 50 years.” The lack of the really cold arctic air, he commented, is the problem at hand. The El Nino is weak this year and there are much more natural cycles that would overcome any evidence of global warming, Clark stated. As for a possible cause, Clark highlighted an upper-atmospheric polar vortex, which prevents arctic air from permeating the Northeast, as the predominant issue. However, Clark affirmed that the current weather is no indicator of next winter and not even of the next few months. Old Man Winter may just awaken yet.