Tussey Mountain (Finally) Set to Open for 2016 Season

Tussey Mountain has braved the unseasonably warm weather and is finally set to open for the 2016 season on Thursday.

The mountain announced the opening date on its Facebook page at the conclusion of a video depicting snow blowing throughout the Boalsburg peak’s ski slopes.

‘After waiting out a ridiculously warm December, January roars into 2016 with enough great snowmaking nights and days that we are excited to announce that we will be opening for the 2016 season this week,’ Tussey said in an e-mail sent to their subscriber list.

Amid the unusually warm December, Michael Spagnolo of the Penn State Campus Weather Service projected that conditions wouldn’t shape up for those hoping to hit the slopes until mid-January, but the cold came earlier than expected.

“In the short-term it’s going to remain tough for local skiers,” Spagnolo said last month. “There will be a lack of natural snowfall and a lack of prolonged freezing temperatures for snowmaking.”

It’s been especially cold in recent days. The warmth peaked on Dec. 27 at a high of 61 degrees. January has come in with highs of 33, 35, 34, 24, and 26 through the first dive days, with temperatures dipping down into single digits on Monday and Tuesday. While there hasn’t been any natural snow coming down — at least not enough to coat a mountain — the low temperatures have enabled Tussey to create plenty of its own, as you can see in the video below: