Heading to the slopes? Call ahead Reservations needed for many areas due to COVID FacebookTwitterEmail More for you With more than 2 feet of snow blanketing parts of New York and New England, winter sports enthusiasts should have a great weekend in the fresh powder – if, that is, they've already purchased season passes or reserved lift tickets. If not, some will find themselves out in a more figurative cold: Amid spiking COVID-19 cases, many areas have halted sales for the weekend and during the Christmas-to-New Year’s period, which is traditionally the busiest time of the season. For the owner-operators of ski areas, most of whom will be open by Saturday, the snowstorm along with the onset of cold snowmaking weather is a welcome change after what had been an unusually warm and dry season so far.