On the heels of a winter that at times seemed invincible, leaving skiers — at least in the East — with little to fret over, spring’s signs are evident. And it’s not just the weather or terrain conditions.

At the Whiteface Mountain ski area, the surest sign the seasons have changed isn’t a trail closure, dwindling snow base or thinning parking lot. Those are all fickle, even in April.

But when you see hot dogs, dinosaurs, bananas and even a cow, all on skis or snowboards, splashing across or into a pond, it’s a pretty safe bet. Such was the scene on Saturday as the ski area hosted its International Pond Skimming Competition. As is often the case, the event was at capacity, with 100 intrepid participants putting wax to water as hundreds more lined the course to witness the spectacle.

Last year’s course on the Round-a-bout trail whose flatter pitch and big pond saw few participants skim the entire pond. Organizers decided to go big this year, moving the trajectory back to its traditional location on the Fox trail where a steeper chute and shorter waterbody meant it was off to the races.

Jacob Kaltz lifts the tips and leans back over the water at the Whiteface Mountain International Pondskimming Competition on Saturday. (Enterprise photo — Chris Gaige)

The physics were confirmed by the event’s forerunner, Whiteface General Manager Aaron Kellett, who throttled it across the pond with plenty of momentum to spare going into the exit ramp — whose cross-traffic between pondskimmers was dutifully managed throughout the event by the Whiteface Mountain Host Patrol.

Safety was a priority. A team of four rescuers in wetsuits stood in the pool the entire time, helping direct competitors out of the water if they came to a splashing halt, with additional ski patrol standing by on land in case any medical attention or rescue efforts were needed. Neither were. Results are below.

Best combo: Garrett Wormuth

Biggest splash: William Crooks

Best Costume: Jack Burn

Skiers and snowboarders try their luck in the Wilderness Wiggle at the Whiteface Mountain ski area on Saturday. In front is Adrien Hayden, followed by Whiteface Operations Manager Nick Zachara and Mike Champagne while Dominic Testani crashes out at back. Testani was back on his feet in short order, and completed the Wiggle. (Enterprise photo — Chris Gaige)

Crowd favorite: Nicholas Hagar

Distance: Benjamin Shankwitz

Fastest across: Pat Bixler

Better than her father: Emery Kellett

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Autumn Fitzgerald catches some air in her flying squirrel costume Whiteface Mountain's Apple Butter Open moguls competition on Sunday. (Enterprise photo — Chris Gaige)

Bumps

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Sunday afternoon saw some high-flying action on the Brookside trail as the Apple Butter Open returned. The annual amateur moguls competition, open to all skill levels, saw a similarly festive array of costumes, tricks and vibes as the pond skim.

As alluded to by its name, the prizes weren’t exactly high-stakes, though they were nonetheless pretty sweet: apples by the crate, courtesy of Forrence Orchards.

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NYSEF racer Madelyn Seeliger prepares to touch down at the Apple Butter Open on Sunday. (Enterprise photo — Chris Gaige)

The Wilderness Wiggle

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Midway up the mountain, more than 1,000 feet above the pond skim and Apple Butter competitions, a new twist was in the works, literally. At a point in the season when warmth lets skiers and riders shape the snow to their will — it’s usually the other way around — mountain crews decided to have some fun.

Thus came the Wilderness Wiggle.

A set of 20 or so orange poles, or “pops” with their circular markers on top were set up along the Wilderness trail ahead of the weekend. The rules were simple, and short enough to write on a few lines of masking tape at the entrance.

Otto Emery jumps at Whiteface Mountain's Apple Butter Open moguls competition on Sunday. (Enterprise photo — Chris Gaige)

“THE WIGGLE,” it began. “Please turn around the pops. Follow the tracks. Start to the left.”

Nothing more needed to be said. As skiers and riders carved hundreds of passes through the soft snow, it didn’t take long for a mighty track to develop, with banks as deep as three to even four feet in spots — a testament as much as anything to the herculean snowmaking operations the trail saw this year.

Being a steep black diamond with the pops fairly close to each other, the turns were fast and tight. The Wiggle was a force to be reckoned with — ejecting many skiers and snowboarders by the second or third turn. But it was equally playful, with the soft snow crucial to the Wiggle’s growth also serving as a forgiving landing surface for those routed by the rut.

While the Wiggle was open to all brave or daring enough to try their hand, it had its fair share of formidable users. That’s because the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team was holding a spring training camp around the mountain, making masterful use of the Wiggle as well as the spring bumps and jumps to be found around the mountain. Kellett last week said it was a fun experience for the mountain to host the training at the tail end of a high-caliber season where Whiteface pulled off its first NORAM Cup — just one level of ski racing beneath a World Cup — downhill race since 2012.

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One last hurrah?

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While this past weekend could easily amount to a worthy send-off salute to a season for the ages, mountain staff aren’t ready to slam the door on it quite yet.

Whiteface will be closed today through Thursday, according to the venue’s Sales and Marketing Manager Lauren Garfield. But, she said the goal is to reopen for a final two days on Friday, April 17 and Saturday, April 18.

This is all tentative, meaning April 12 might have been the closing day. Garfield said staff will endeavor to make a final decision by Wednesday, April 15. That will largely hinge on how this week’s weather plays out. It’s not favorable to ski areas, to put it mildly.

The 60-something degree highs, believe it or not, are themselves manageable, given how much snow remains on core terrain. The wild cards — both of which mountain staff would love Mother Nature to minimize — are the amount of rainfall and wind, the latter of which produces a hair-dryer like effect during warm temperatures and rapidly accelerates snowmelt compared to the same temperatures, but with a stagnant wind.

Computer weather models range from 1 to 2 inches of rainfall by Friday, largely driven by an uncertainty in whether or not a pair of midweek rainstorms will track directly over the Adirondacks or graze the region with heavier precipitation to the north.

As was the case last season, if Whiteface manages to reopen on Friday, it will be the final ski area operating in the state. April 12 was closing day for its sister mountains Gore and Belleayre — all three of which are operated by the state Olympic Regional Development Authority — as well as West Mountain in Queensbury.

Thanks to an early commencing of daily operations, Whiteface already has more ski days of any resort in New York for the 2025-26 ski season, with April 12 marking day 142.

As the American West battled an anomalously, and in some states, record-breaking warm winter, many iconic resorts there that usually keep the lifts spinning well beyond most of their counterparts in the East have already closed for the season. Park City, Vail and Deer Valley are all on that list, to name a few.

To view the latest conditions, including Wednesday’s anticipated decision, visit https://whiteface.com/mountain/conditions/.

Mason Strickland rides above the water at the Whiteface Mountain International Pondskimming Competition on Saturday. (Enterprise photo — Chris Gaige)

Harry Witt rotates himself for landing at the Apple Butter Open moguls competition at Whiteface Mountain on Sunday. (Enterprise photo — Chris Gaige)