Bringing in after-hours revenue is a lot more involved than simply tacking on a few extra lift hours.
Once a resort decides to keep more of the mountain open later, the entire equation for grooming fundamentally changes: the timing of the work, the amount of set-up time the snow gets, how aggressively machines can be operated and how the quality of the next morning’s product is protected.
At most resorts, grooming crews get to work during the quietest, coldest hours of the night. That’s when the mountain is empty and the temperatures are low. But when after-hours operations are in full swing, the situation flips. The mountain stays busy much later into the evening, and the precious window for creating that signature morning corduroy grows narrower and narrower for grooming crews.
When the mountain doesn’t go to bed
Normally, when lifts shut down at 4 p.m., ski patrol sweeps the slopes, grooming teams get started, the snow cools and refreezes and guests wake up to a mountain covered in fresh corduroy. But when resorts extend those hours, the whole routine gets thrown off balance.
One thing that sometimes gets overlooked is just how critical set-up time is. Trail grooming can take anywhere from two to six hours, sometimes up to 10, for the trail surface to properly refreeze. The longer a freshly groomed run gets to rest before being skied, the tougher and longer-lasting that surface will be.
When terrain is open until 9 p.m., that set-up window starts much later, and that has consequences. There’s less time for worked snow to firm up before the morning rush, higher odds that first-hour skiers encounter harsh conditions if temperatures drop fast and more pressure on crews to finish faster, which can lead to quality slip-ups and risk-taking.
What changes when slopes stay open late
When slopes are open late, traffic patterns shift. Late-day skier traffic tends to be choppier, with more braking, more congregating in lit zones and higher concentration on a smaller footprint. Even if groomers are only operating a few trails under the lights, those zones take a beating.
Temperature patterns also matter. Freeze-thaw swings complicate grooming decisions. When temps fluctuate above and below freezing, some areas groom in late afternoon when the snow is softer, so it can set up overnight. The trade-off is that early morning skiers may experience icy corduroy before the surface softens later. That’s a real planning issue for after-hours programming. The snow that feels manageable at 6 p.m. can become a different beast by 7 a.m.
Rethinking grooming schedules
When groomers lose time, they have to get smarter about what they touch and when. Instead of waiting for full shutdown, some operations use touch-ups in high-traffic corridors, park entrances, learning areas and choke points. The goal isn’t perfect corduroy, it’s risk reduction and flow improvement.
If only part of the mountain is open late, designate a piece of terrain that stays protected, so morning quality doesn’t collapse. This is especially relevant when the brand promise includes premium early-day grooming. Because set-up takes time, it’s better to groom the areas that need the longest refreeze earliest and leave lower-stakes zones for later. After-hours operations often mean more machine hours or the same machine hours in a tighter window.
Public agencies that maintain large trail networks give a sense of how long grooming can take, even without late operations. Canada’s National Capital Commission notes groomers work through the night and early morning in Gatineau Park in Quebec. On a good day, grooming can take six to eight hours per person, and on tricky days it can take up to 14 hours. With late operations, there are fewer quiet hours, more frequent rework and less time for preventative checks.
Fatigue is a safety issue, not a vibe
Extended operations add labor cost and change fatigue patterns. Split shifts (late evening and early morning) are especially rough – sleep gets fragmented, reaction time drops and errors become more likely. For night operations, safety planning also needs to be explicit about what happens when things go wrong. It is important to build a solid emergency action plan that accounts for power outages, lift evacuation in the dark, trail closings and a night-adapted sweep program.
Even if grooming teams aren’t writing the emergency action plan, they’re operating inside it, and they’re the ones moving heavy equipment in low-visibility conditions around the same terrain guests just used.
When is after-hours actually worth it?
One of the most useful mindset shifts is to stop treating grooming as a cost centre and start treating it as product protection. To evaluate whether after-hours revenue is worth the operational burden, track:
- Guest feedback and complaint patterns
- Surface failure points
- Machine downtime
- Crew fatigue indicators
The most painful failures happen when after-hours operations are promised first and operationalized later. Pre-season is when resorts decide which trails can handle late traffic, which runs must be protected for morning quality, what cut-off times preserve set-up hours and whether staff size supports safe rotation.
