Warm weather impacts Ohio ski and snowboarding resorts

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – While the recent mild central Ohio weather has been nice for some, it's been naughty for skiing and snowboarding resorts in the area.

Both Mad River Mountain and Snow Trails have live cameras on their websites to show the slopes. There's a lot more grass and mud visible than the resorts like for this time of year.

“It was a bittersweet holiday for sure, 60 on Christmas is never a good look when you’re in the ski business," said Alajos Fiel, General Manager of Mad River Mountain.

Mad River Mountain has not been able to open to the public yet. The team made some piles of snow but they have not been spread out. Fiel said the current situation is a bummer for those who want to hit the slopes and the workers who have made the snow.

“It is tough on the crew but kudos to the snow making mountain ops team, they’re watching their work kind of go away as the warm weather and rain has impacted us," Field said. "But they know at the end of the day they’ll be back in and we’ll be ready to open sometime soon.”

Snow trails are dealing with similar issues. It opened last week, but suspended operations Wednesday.

“We dont like to see it when the weather really puts a pause on things, but we’re going to push through and it looks like after the new year here we’re gonna have some cooler temperatures arriving back in in the twenties and that's really what we want," said Nate Wolleson, Marketing Manager for Snow Trails.

Local ski and board shops also pay attention to the weather. The team at Aspen Ski and Board said they're not affected as much by local weather as the resorts, since customers stock up and travel elsewhere.

“We have really picked it up lately so we’re hoping we do get some cold weather to help keep it going," said Scott Sahr, store manager. “It's momentum. When we have some colder weather it does, people that might not ski will come in for warm clothes.”