The ice castle business may be melting away

Ask me how I feel in a few weeks if February turns out to be, well, February. But so far, I miss winter.

After all, I'm a New Englander. A four separate and distinct seasons New Englander. 

Sure, we have snow in May, Indian Summer, January thaws.

But in the winter, while it may vary from year to year, we get cold, and we get snow.

So far, we've had precious little of either.

Which, admittedly, makes it easier to go out and take long walks. And it saves on heating.

But I miss winter.

And I'm pretty sure that the folks with winter-related businesses miss it a lot more than I do.

One of these business is Ice Castles New Hampshire. 

I don't have kids or grandkids, so I haven't spent a lot of time at this sort of attraction, but Ice Castles, which has five locations in the US (cold places only: UT, NY, WI, MN) looks like fun. 

Even a chickenshit like me knows that it would be fun to whoosh down an ice slide. To crawl through ice tunnels. To meander around an ice maze. 

I'd like to ooh and aah at the "Mystic Forest Light Walk", an illuminated path. I'd like snow tubing, which looks like an even funner version of the flying saucer sliding of my childhood. And when it's coldy and snowy, well, that's 'lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you.'

Unfortunately, New England weather has been lovely. Just not lovely weather for a sleigh ride, or snow tubing, or ice tunneling. 

For Ice Castles New Hampshire, the unseasonal weather has meant delaying their opening by a couple of weeks.

They're hoping to open today - chilled fingers and frozen toes crossed - but even a few missing weeks makes a difference when your season (January - March) is so short. 

"The opening date has been pushed back due to the weather," Melissa Smuzynski, a spokesperson for the Ice Castles, said in an email to NBC10 Boston on Tuesday. "We are now targeting the end of January or early February."

The tentative opening date had been this Thursday, Jan. 19, which was already later than the attraction opened last year. (Source: NBC Boston)

When I checked, the Ice Castles at Lake George, NY hasn't opened yet either. Guess they're not quite close enough to the Buffalo weather belt. Utah, Minnesota, and Wisconsin are up and running, and Wisconsin is even sold out for it's peak season. 

Seasonal businesses are tough. My husband's family ran a golf course, and a couple of bad weather weeks could break - and a couple of early or late fair-weather weeks could make - the year. 

So I know that seasonal businesses all skate on thin ice. 

Especially those counting on New England winter to be New England winter.