Whiteface Mountain Ski Center snow reporter Erik Petersen takes one of his last runs down the slopes on Sunday, April 14 prior to the venue c losing for the season. (Provided photo — ORDA)

WILMINGTON — It’s strange to see — after 141 days of downhill skiing and snowboarding at the Whiteface Mountain Ski Center this winter — the whiteface.com conditions report say 0 lifts (of 13) and 0 trails (of 96) were open on Monday, April 15. The last runs on the mountain were on Sunday, April 14.

Snow reporter Erik Petersen and the rest of the Whiteface crew are now in warm-weather mode, as the conditions podcast is promoting the opening of the Whiteface Mountain Veterans’ Memorial Highway on May 17 and the ski center’s summer offerings on June 28, including scenic Gondola rides, disc golf and hiking trails.

While Whiteface had a record-breaking year for the number of season passes sold — about a 20% increase over the average of the last four years (about 6% growth over last year) — state Olympic Regional Development Authority Communications Director Darcy Norfolk described this ski season as “one of the most challenging winters since 2015 weather wise.”

In early March, the Adirondack Daily Enterprise reported that this winter was the warmest on record for the Tri-Lakes area since humans began officially keeping consistent track of the temperatures in 1905, according to the National Weather Service in Burlington.

NWS-Burlington meteorologist Conor Lahiff said the mean average temperature for this winter in Saranac Lake was 24.1 degrees, half-a-degree higher than the previous record of 23.6, set in the 2015-16 winter, and 7.6 degrees higher than the “normal” winter mean average of 16.5 degrees.

Skiers and snowboarders take some of their last runs of the season at the Whiteface Mountain Ski Center in Wilmington on Sunday, April 14, the day the venue closed. (Provided photo — ORDA)

“That’s a pretty significant difference,” Lahiff said.

Before the last warmest recorded winter in 2015-16, the winter of 1932-33 held the record for decades at around 23.5 degrees.

Using preliminary numbers, Norfolk said skier visits at Whiteface were up over last year by about 3% and revenue looks close to meeting last year’s numbers (pre-audit).

“Despite the weather’s best effort to keep us down this season, our staff and their perseverance allowed us to have a very successful year,” Whiteface Mountain General Manager Aaron Kellett said in a statement. “In addition to 140 days of skiing and riding, we hosted multiple world class events including USCSA National Championships and NorAm Super G, as well as community programs for the Lake Placid Ski Club, school groups including AuSable and Keeseville, youth commissions and more.”

During the first week in April, a nor’easter dumped snow on the region, helping Whiteface extend the season just a little bit longer, yet rain, wind and warm temperatures reduced that late-season snow before the venue reopened on April 13 and 14 after being closed since Tuesday, the day after the solar eclipse. The annual Pond Skimming Contest was held on Saturday, April 6.

A snowboarders takes a last run of the season at the Whiteface Mountain Ski Center in Wilmington on Sunday, April 14, the day the venue closed. (Provided photo — ORDA)

Whiteface opened for the season on Nov. 24.

The ski center opened for last year’s season on Nov. 19, 2022, and closed on April 16, 2023.

The Mount Van Hoevenberg Nordic Center opened for the season on Dec. 1 and closed on Friday, April 12.

(Adirondack Daily Enterprise Staff Writer Aaron Marbone contributed to this report.)