Night skiing is the sport of skiing or snowboarding after sundown, offered at many ski areas. There are usually floodlights – including LED lamps – [1] along the piste which allow for better visibility. The night skiing session typically begins around sunset, and ends between 8:00 PM and 10:30 PM. [2]
Night skiing offers reduced price access versus daylight hours. Trails at night are normally not as busy as during the day, [3] but there are usually fewer runs available. [4] The trails also tend to be icier than during the day, due to melting and refreezing.
A few ski resorts offer opportunities for night skiing wearing personal headlamps. [5]
Processions of skiers holding torches, lanterns or flares while skiing down a slope at night has been a scheduled event of winter festivals since at least 1903. The dramatic spectacle of torchlight ski descents is a program element at the Holmenkollen Ski Festival, [6] Nordic Games, [7] and ski resort holiday celebrations. [8]
In the 1925 Winter Carnival at Rumford, Maine, night ski jumping was included. [9]
Lighted slope skiing originated with Clare Bousquet at Bousquet Ski Area in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in 1936 thanks to a local partnership with General Electric. [10] [11] Other early lighted slopes include Fryeburg, Maine (1936), [12] North Creek, New York (1937), [13] Rossland, British Columbia (1937), [14] Jackson, New Hampshire (1937), [15] Hyak WA (1938), [16] Juneau AK (1938), [17] Lake Placid, New York (1938) [18] and Brattleboro, Vermont (1938). [19]