No snow November: what does it mean for some Edmonton businesses?

Edmonton snow-clearing businesses are playing a waiting game.

Other than a light dusting in October, there hasn’t been any snow in Edmonton. And outside of some light flurries, Environment and Climate Change Canada isn’t predicting any heavy snowfall in the next two weeks.

That has Jean-Paul Mullen and his crew waiting for the skies to open up.

“Last year this time, we were already at 25 cm of snow,” recalled Mullen, the owner of Griffin Landscaping and Snow Removal. “So we were already full-out with all our equipment and guys.”

This year, Mullen and his employees are working on equipment maintenance while hoping snow comes sooner than later.

“They’re paid salary, and with it not snowing, we don’t get all those extra hours, so they definitely feel the crunch themselves as well,” said Mullen.

Adding to Mullen’s frustration, he says, is an increase to $60,000 a year for liability insurance, as well as increased costs and the carbon tax on fuel.

All that and no snow to clear.

“Our graders here used to be about $450 a fill,” said Mullen. “They’re shy of $1,000 now to fill. So it comes off our bottom line.”

No ski for you

It’s a different story at Edmonton’s Snow Valley Ski Club, where crews were working hard Wednesday to pump in fake snow.

“We don’t really rely a whole lot on natural snow at all,” said Paul Robinson, Snow Valley’s assistant general manager. “Despite us being in Edmonton, the amount of natural snowfall we get would never be enough to open the ski hill here.”

The warmer than average November has delayed the ski hill’s opening for the season, Robinson says; it’s usually up and running around Remembrance Day. Robinson hopes Edmontonians can hit the slopes by late next week.

“We had our lesson plans scheduled to start this coming weekend, so losing out a whole week of lesson programs isn’t great for business,” he said.