When the snow dwindles in our backyards, skiers also start to melt away in the spring. There was a clear example of this at the Portland Golf Expo last weekend.

Each season, as temperatures climb and the snow disappears — not from the ski slopes — but from golf courses and boatyards, skiers turn to other activities.

A year ago at the Portland show, golf courses on Cape Cod were already open and Maine golfers were being invited to head south. This year, Northern New England’s ski areas didn’t face such competition. Cape Cod still had more than a foot of snow and no courses were open. Courses in the Boston area are facing an even longer period to melt all the snow. That should mean more skiers turning out to ski this month and even into April. This is important because it isn’t lack of cover in the mountains that ends the ski season — it’s skiers turning to other pastimes. Of course, those of us here in Maine know that it will be weeks before we can rake the yard. My yard has close to three feet of snow so there is no pressure to start outside spring cleanup. I might as well keep skiing, which was my intention anyway.

Temperatures finally climbed to the point where we had some spring skiing surfaces this past week. There wasn’t any loss of cover in the mountains, but the sun and 40 degree plus temperatures did start the transition to spring conditions on the surface. It meant the switch from insulated warm-ups to unlined shell pants and dropping a layer under the parka. The next step will be to a shell the parka and a gradual shedding of layers until we’re skiing in a wind shirt. For many skiers switching clothing is all they do to prep for spring skiing, but the skis also call for attention.

This past week, I knew my skis would probably be OK as I had tuned them recently and used a universal wax with a wide temperatures range. But just to be sure, I took along a rub-on wax suitable for higher temperatures. The first day the snow responds to above freezing temperatures, the snow typically turns sticky. After refreezing at night, we get the wetter corn snow after it softens the next day. The same rule applies in the spring as in the dead of winter.

“Get out early for the best conditions.”

My ski day this past week was Wednesday, the one day of spring-like temperatures in the mountains. With temperatures in the 40s, the snow softened, and in places we could feel it grab a little, it was typical of the first day of warming. By sticking to the groomed runs we had good skiing all morning, and while we called it a day after lunch, I can assume with the cloud cover that conditions remained about the same throughout the day. Thursday morning everything had frozen up again and the outlook was for mid winter conditions the rest of the week and snow on the weekend. This is typical of March as we go back and forth from mid winter to spring conditions.

My advice for this time of year is simple. If the snow is a bit grabby on your first run, check with the ski shop as they are usually set up with a wax appropriate for the day. Start the day on the groomed runs and follow the sun around the mountain to find the best conditions. Get in as much skiing as possible before the snow gets heavy as temperatures climb and retire to the deck for lunch. That’s my formula for enjoying each ski day as we transition from winter to spring.

Thursday morning I found an email from SKI magazine that Les Otten wanted to make The Balsams bigger than Killington. Obviously, that caught my attention for a number of reasons.

All of us familiar with the Balsams regretted its closing a few years ago. When Warren Pearson from Buckfield was vice president of marketing and one of the managing partners, it was a regular winter stop for us. We would spend Friday night at our place at Sunday River, head out at 7:30, stop in Errol for breakfast, arrive at the Wilderness Ski Area around nine and park within 75 feet of the base lodge.

We had plenty of room to sit and change into our boots. When we skied down to the lift, a long line with two or three couples ahead of us. The morning would be spent getting first tracks on corduroy and seeing only a handful of skiers on the trails. Mid afternoon would find us in the hotel, enjoying some après ski before the scenic drive back through Grafton Notch. We have missed those day trips.

Of course, that level of activity would never support Les Otten’s vision of one of the biggest resorts in New England. The article in SKI pointed out how Otten was looking beyond the current ski area to northeast facing peaks that rise over 3,400 feet with the potential of nearly doubling the vertical drop from its current 1,000 feet. His vision includes a new base village, replacing or upgrading the existing hotel properties and making the Balsams a true year-round resort.

It’s an ambitious plan that calls for breaking ground this summer, opening for the summer of 2016 and the winter of 2016-2017. Having seen how he made his dreams come true at Sunday River, I will be watching the creation of the New Balsams with keen interest, knowing that if anyone can make this happen it’s Les Otten.

See you on the slopes.

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