After years of planning, the Middlebury College Snow Bowl will finally open for night skiing this winter. In addition to its regular 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. hours Wednesday through Friday, the Snow Bowl will remain open for night skiing until 9 p.m.
This winter will mark the first time the Snow Bowl will offer night skiing after it was originally announced last spring. LED light fixtures will be added to “The New Sheehan Lift,” what ski patrollers are referring to the old Sheehan Lift, as well as the Discovery Zone to allow for skiing safely during these later hours.
Located in Hancock, Vt., the Snow Bowl is a ski area situated in the Green Mountains, just 13 miles east of Middlebury with over 700 acres of terrain. As a small mountain close to the college, the Snow Bowl has been a valued winter recreation location for members of the Middlebury community since operations began in 1934.
Derrick Cram, ski shop manager and long-time Snow Bowl employee, said he is especially excited about the addition of LED lights because the Snow Bowl employees have been discussing this idea for years.
Cram attributed the successful implementation of the new infrastructure for night skiing to Mike Hussey, general manager of the Snow Bowl, who spearheaded the initiative.
Hussey told The Campus in an interview last March that the new lights will include trails for all skill levels from beginner to expert. He explained that these additions to Snow Bowl will hopefully expand community access to the mountain.
“It will benefit the community as a whole,” Hussey told The Campus last spring. “We want to make sure that everyone is given the time to ski, and I think this really does it.”
Cram described how the updated infrastructure and expanded hours of operation will hopefully improve the finances of the Snow Bowl, which is owned and operated by Middlebury College, by bringing in more skiers each day.
“This is a chance for the Snow Bowl to get to a break-even point and not have to be subsidized by the college as much,” Cram said. “It was an opportunity for us to hopefully make the Snow Bowl more financially sustainable.”
Cram also emphasized that if the Snow Bowl sees the financial benefits from these changes, that could mean more opportunities for future improvements. “Hopefully [we will] have more capital to invest in more improvements and building out the Snow Bowl to be more attractive for upcoming generations,” Cram said.
According to Cram, as a small ski area, the Snow Bowl can only accommodate so many people at once, so additional time will increase access to a broader number of people. Students that might be busy with classes during the day will now have a better opportunity to ski at the mountain.
“[Students can] get some runs in, especially if you have a busy schedule, and those hours might be more appealing,” Cram said.
The additional hours during the week will also be crucial for high schoolers to take advantage of the Snow Bowl, according to Cram. He shared that the Middlebury Union High School ski team could not previously train at the Snow Bowl due to the mountain’s limited hours.
“One of the things that ultimately killed the ski team at the high school was the fact that it wouldn’t give the students early release to come to the Snow Bowl to train,” Cram told The Campus. “They couldn’t practice, so they couldn’t race.”
Sofia Bobroff ’26, a member of the Middlebury College Ski Patrol, said she is thrilled about the prospect of night skiing and what it will mean for the Snow Bowl..
“I’m super excited about the addition of night skiing at the Bowl, not only because it’s super fun, but also because it will create lots of exposure for the Bowl,” Bobroff wrote in an email to The Campus.
Due to the mountain’s new operating hours, the Tri-Valley Transit will be running later shuttles between the college and the mountain, Cram said. While specific shuttle times have not yet been released, an updated schedule will be released soon with the new transportation information..
EJ Bartlett, marketing and communications director of MiddCORE and the Innovation Hub, was also enthusiastic about this new night skiing option and touched on the community aspect of the expanded hours. Bartlett explained that during winter in Vermont, people feel holed up in their houses by the cold and the dark, but night skiing will be an exciting opportunity for people to have something active to do with other community members.
Although many students and local residents look forward to expanded hours, staffing has been a sticking point in planning for the late night hours, Cram said. He explained that while the Snow Bowl has worked hard through the off-season to ensure they have the infrastructure in place for the upcoming winter, they will need extra hands to successfully operate the new extended hours.
“We’re hiring students, and we’re going to have a variety of people working up there; there’s all kinds of different hours available,” Cram said. Positions for which the Snow Bowl is hiring include ski school instructors, ticket sellers and lift operators, according to the mountain’s website.
The Snow Bowl will be open for the season with both day and night skiing in December.
