The time for stoke is now. Are you ready? October skiing is highly likely this year. So when does it start? Look for snow guns to come alive this Wednesday evening (October 17). Thursday night will be even colder. Look for a hard freeze almost all the way down to the coast.

Below is the National Weather Service temperature forecast for Killington Peak.

Freezing temperature should be widespread Wednesday and Thursday nights. Most ski areas should lose snowmaking temperatures at the base during Thursday afternoon, but should maintain them at elevation. A few higher elevation areas like Wildcat may be able to maintain top-to-bottom temperatures throughout Thursday. But none of those areas tend to blow top-to-bottom so early in the season. Below is a chart of Thursday afternoon temperatures.

It's too early to say whether we will see turns being made this weekend at typical early players like Sunday River, Killington, or Bretton Woods. We'll have to wait until we see exactly what conditions materialize before we make that call. But I strongly expect to see skiing by Saturday, October 27. Next week looks to be well below average in temperatures. There should be multiple nightly snowmaking windows. Most ski areas that want to have October skiing should be able to do so. Below is the 5-day temperature anomaly forecast leading up to that Saturday.

Get stoked! I'll be doing some ski tuning this week.