Night skiing is out for Stowe this year

“The main reason we decided to eliminate it was lack of participation, plain and simple,” said Jeff Wise, Stowe Mountain Resort’s communications director.

Skiing at night was never wildly popular in Stowe, so when mountain officials considered things they could shave from their operating budget, Wise said it was an easy strike.

“We’re trying to be green and manage our resources well,” Wise added.

Night skiing not only had limited popularity in Stowe, but it was also highly weather-dependent.

“We couldn’t always run the gondola on extremely cold nights or in high winds,” Wise said.

Night skiers and riders took the gondola at night and skied down Upper Perry Merrill to Gondolier, whizzing down the slope — some sections of trail better lit than others.

The biggest pluses of skiing at night were a lack of crowds and less expensive tickets; night tickets cost less than half as much as a half-day ticket.

It was also fun and slightly eerie to ride the lift in dim light, then step out into the night and carve down the hill unhindered by an overabundance of bodies.

But when one of night skiing’s best qualities is the fact that no one else is there, the mountain’s decision should come as no surprise.

The Stowe Electric Department estimates the Mountain Co. will save about $890 per month, though that figure “does not include the price of energy actually used by the lights,” said Ellen Burt, general manager of the electric department. That makes the $890 savings a baseline estimate.

The actual savings will be much higher when energy, labor and the cost of running the gondola are factored in, resort officials said.