Story by Mike Doble – [email protected]
Not all of the resorts are making snow and some that are ARE NOT reporting that they are! Temps dove down last night and the guns went to blasting the slopes. Cataloochee, Snowshoe and Sugar GOT BACK to making snow to repair any slope coverage that needed it. Other resorts got into snowmaking for the first time. Appalachian Ski Mountain, Beech Mountain and Winterplace have the snowguns firing.
<Sugar Mountain this morning! Making snow from top to bottom! …and there's some natural snow falling this morning as well! Light flurries were in the forecast across the mountains of North Carolina but those didn't materialize, however we ARE seeing some snow falling at Winterplace, Canaan Valley, Timberline and Wisp Resorts. Check out the LIVE CAMS at www.ResortCams.com!
LET'S TALK ABOUT THOSE RESORTS THAT ARE OPEN!
Snowshoe Mountain Resort – 15° – Light Snow
Snowshoe is still reporting 11 open trails with a base of 17-34" of manmade / granular conditions and they have night sessions open as well!
We've been hearing news about a "Side by Side Hare Racer Village Zipline". We'll try to get you some information on that.
Snowshoe has over 40 acres of open terrain and 1-3" of snow is in the forecast for today. We're hoping to see THREE LIVE CAMS go LIVE this week at Snowshoe so we can show you all the great conditions!
Cataloochee Ski Area – 24°
Cat began making snow again at 9:30pm Friday night! According to all reports Cataloochee looks EVEN BETTER than their webcams show. Cat is reporting some thin coverage but I wouldn't expect to see any today on their three open trails. Cat is open for day and night skiing and snowboarding on a base of 8-18" of manmade and frozen granular.
Sugar Mountain Resort – 18.6°
Made snow all night and should be able to make snow all day and around the clock over the next 24-30 hours or so. Sugar is reporting "manmade powder" although WE reserve the word "powder" for the stuff that God makes. We'll call it MANMADE SNOW for today and a secondary of Frozen Granular on a base of 8-30". Sugar is NOW OPEN for NIGHT SKIING and SNOWBOARDING AS WELL. They have the same (2) trails open as on Friday.
Late on Friday afternoon I drove by and I can tell you that without the overnight snowmaking Sugar would NOT have been open today. I'll say there will be some thin coverage areas today but those should disappear with the kind of snowmaking that Sugar lays down. A liftie will cost you $41 today for an adult all day or Twilight ticket.
Here's a nice overview of Sugar Mountain showing top to bottom snowmaking:
Ober Gatlinburg – 26° – Making snow
Ober's Tubing Hill is open and you can watch them tubing at:
NOW HERE'S THE NOTABLES FOR THE RESORTS NOT OPEN JUST YET! SOME ARE MAKING SNOW!
Appalachian Ski Mtn – 24°
ASM is making snow for the first time this season (other than testing) and they are hopeful of opening on December 1st or 2nd. This is Appalachian’s 50th Anniversary Weekend, and the special 1962 lift ticket price ($5) will be offered to all guests if open, both Saturday Dec. 1 & Sunday, Dec. 2!
It is COOL to watch the snowmaking LIVE at: http://www.resortcams.com/webcameras-app-ski-mtn-live.php
App can blizzard up in a heartbeat with their impressive snowmaking plant.
Beech Mountain Resort – 17°
They too are making snow. They are showing 17° on their on-mountain station and we are seeing 24°. It's cold and they should make snow all day! Their base cam is down but we have it from several sources that Beech is indeed making snow! We spoke with Talia Freeman up there on Wednesday and she said that Beech COULD open sometime next week. Stay tuned.
Winterplace Resort – 22.5° – Trace of new snow
…and MAKING SNOW! Although there's no report of snowmaking anywhere else, you can see it happening at: http://www.resortcams.com/webcameras-winterplace.php
Those guns are cranking!
Massanutten Resort – 31.8°
They ARE MAKING SNOW! They too look to open as soon as temps allow for dedicated snowmaking. Check out the snowmaking at: http://www.resortcams.com/webcameras-massanutten-base.php
<Canaan showing some light snow this morning!
Canaan Valley – 21° Trace of New Snow!
We couldn't see any evidence of snowmaking happening however we also know that they plan to open in December.
Timberline Resort – Same temp and we can see snow falling via the LIVE CAM at:
Bryce Resort – 33.6°
No snowmaking here just yet. Should be able to tonight if they want. Temps will be borderline this week so Bryce could wait until a larger window of opportunity comes. We'll talk to Bryce on Monday and get the word. We do know that Bryce plans to open mid December per their normal startup.
Wintergreen Resort – 19°
It's cold enough to make snow however the forecast for the next week ahead only shows two nights where they could continue to do so. So they are waiting on a larger window of consistent cold to begin making snow. With their system they can open after a couple of days of dedicated snowmaking so stay tuned.
Wisp Resort – 25° – Trace of new snow
No report otherwise
Sapphire Valley 31° – No snowmaking just yet.
Wolf Ridge Resort – 20.6°
No report of anything happening there and no webcams.
That will do it for me today! Check back later for any updates on snow up in West Virginia! Email me at [email protected]