Reports of closed resorts and closed lifts all over the east coast this past weekend, subzero temps and high winds had Wildcat NH shut down. Brave souls looking to make turns were sent down the hill to sister resort Attitash where they had lower mountain chairs open on Bear Peak…meanwhile in Vermont, correspondent Sam Shirley checked in from Burlington’s community freezer, better known as Bolton Valley — photo above. Sam reports:

I skied at Bolton today on the last day of this cold snap. Conditions varied greatly, from wind-scraped ice, to deep, relatively dense, powder. Cover was good, except in wind-blown areas, and most of the mountain was open. Glades were especially nice because they were less affected by the wind.

…crowds were non-existent across the region…Killington VT was another resort that closed completely on Saturday…Next weekend also shaping up as less than great for the northeast ski business; wet forecast has a lot of skiers looking closely at their Martin Luther King holiday plans…eastern Pennsy resort Montage Mountain reporting 100% of terrain open, that’s pretty good considering how close this was to becoming a lost ski area just a couple years ago. Up the highway a bit is the well-regarded Elk Mountain, still working on their trail count although most of the key runs are open. Although these two mountains are relatively close, they get different weather patterns and usually Elk is blessed with more snow, so that tells you how well things are going for Montage…turning west, finally some more snowfall. Snowbird UT said enough is enough and declared another 7″ as a “powder day.” Down in Colorado, my personal fave Ski Cooper collected about half that amount but it was enough to put a fresh coat on everything…weekend World Cup action, technical events in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia (ladies) and Adelboden, Switzerland (men) only surprise was the level at which Mikaela Shiffrin and Marcel Hirscher dominated, both skiers sweeping the weekend’s SL and GS events. The wins give Hirscher a 150 point lead over Henrik Kristoffersen in the overall; the Norwegian finished 2nd and 3rd to stay in striking distance. Hey you never know. Shiffrin on the other hand is 720 points ahead of Wendy Holdener, and well on her way to another overall title…Southern California’s throwback ski area Alta Sierra still not open; waiting for snow. Folks are hopeful that a pending storm will hit with enough punch to get the modest USFS area open this weekend. Last year they were able to open Christmas Day…moving east a bit to New Mexico, a spokesman for Pajarito Mountain Ski Area in Los Alamos sez they’ve had to lay off half their work force due to lack of snow, they’ve got only two of their six lifts spinning…back to Vermont, The Hermitage Club, which operates the former Haystack ski area, paid about $87,000 in past-due water and sewer bills last week, thereby avoiding shut down…more news tomorrow, have a great week…We leave you with a couple more of Sam’s goodies, taken yesterday at Bolton Valley…

Above, looking up the Wilderness liftline. Below, one of the narrower runs at Bolton; my guess is the Cobrass trail…