Northeast Ski Season Quietly Starts in Massachusetts

Originally posted on Powder | By Ian Greenwood | Last updated Oct 20, 2025 2:30 PM ET

As major ski resorts in Colorado and elsewhere prepared for the start of the 2024-25 season, Ski Ward, Massachusetts, quietly opened a slope for skiing and riding this past weekend.

The small ski area outside Boston has, over the past few years, developed a reputation for snatching the North American “first open” award from other, better known mountains.

According to a social media post from Ski Ward’s terrain park crew, the slope was open on October 18 and 19, 2025 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. It was served by a magic carpet.

The ski area hasn’t announced additional fall ski weekends before the season gets underway officially. It does, however, plan to begin offering ski lessons on November 1.

Here’s a look at the fun from last weekend. Tap or click to watch the video.

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A post shared by Ski Ward Terrain Parks (@skiward.parks)

Awarding Ski Ward the “first open” title can, of course, be debated.

Does it have to involve chairlifts? Earlier this month, another ski area, Trollhaugen, Wisconsin, offered a weekend of rope-tow served skiing thanks to preserved snow. Were they technically first? And the skiable area at Ski Ward, compared to what you would find at Keystone or Arapahoe Basin, Colorado, on opening day, looked quite small.

Should there be a size requirement?

That’s all semantics, though. Ski Ward locals went skiing and snowboarding in October. Those who’ve skied in October know it’s a special treat, regardless of if it involved bottomless powder or a small patch of man made snow.

You might be wondering how, in a low altitude corner of Massachusetts, Ski Ward is able to make snow this time of year.

Like a few other ski areas in North America, the mountain has a secret snowmaking weapon that works even when the weather’s relatively warm, the Latitude 90.

The machine can blow snow when ambient temperatures are as high as 77 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the company that makes them. Thanks to its Latitude 90, Ski Ward has offered skiing three Octobers in a row, starting in 2023.

This article first appeared on Powder and was syndicated with permission.

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