We have lots more to share with you guys today, so check back in a couple of hours after reading this morning’s news as we want to gear up promotions for a big SkiSoutheast.com / Snowshoe Summit – and we have TWO Ski Vacations to give away to Canaan Valley Resort – ALL COMING TODAY. So be sure to check back!
Let’s get to a state by state tour!
WEST VIRGINIA SKI RESORT REPORT:
Snowshoe Mountain – 30° – These guys are looking at 22 degrees milder temps this morning than those of 24 hours ago! They are still below freezing and experience some mixed precip this morning. Things are pretty icy there this morning and due to that they have reduced the number of lifts running and subsequently the slopes open to 55 this morning. They made snow last night and some good snow is forecasted for Thursday and forward. Their talented groomers and snowmaking crews will have Snowshoe is AWESOME shape on Thursday and Friday – and through the weekend with at least 59 trails open. You don’t want to miss the Subaru Master the Mountain event beginning on Saturday.
Also be sure to check back in a couple of hours for some news and updates on the SkiSoutheast.com / Snowshoe Summit coming up in just 16 days. We’ll be talking a good bit about those plans so again – check back shortly!
Canaan Valley – They are at 35° and reporting 1" of wet snow/mix. They have 24 trails open and snow is on the way! Also be sure to check back later today as we are partnering with Canaan Valley to give away not one but TWO sweet ski getaways for the weekend of February 27th & 29th! Be sure to check back for that in just a bit!
Timberline Resort is reporting 2" of wet snow and 30 trails open today!
Winterplace is not reporting any snow and at 35° no snowmaking is happening as well. The ARE 100% open with all 28 trails and snow tubing though! They are experiencing some light rain mix right now but snow is on the way!
WISP RESORT – They are reporting a TRACE of snow and 27° with 29 trails open and snow tubing as well. More snow is on the way!
VIRGINIA SKI RESORT REPORT:
Wintergreen Resort – 28° – They are reporting a wet mixed precip this morning. They have closed the tubing and terrain park for some added work, but they have 25 trails open for today. Here’s the news from Anne Marie Jones, "Today’s wintry mix of weather will exit overnight allowing temperatures to fall and our snowmaking system to come back on. We have a lot going on the second half of this week with College Regional Races Thursday, Friday and Saturday and this weekend packed full of Events that cater to women. Last but not least, a Slopestyle Terrain Park Event for skiers and riders on Sunday. Our tubing park will remain closed today while we re-do all of our tubing lanes, it will re-open tomorrow.
Skiing and Riding: Today we have 25 slopes and trails open and 4 lifts. We will be open for day and night sessions, skiing and riding from 9AM-10PM. The average snow base depth throughout the resort is 30”- 50”.
Tubing: The Plunge will be closed Tuesday 2/17 and Wednesday 2/18 so that we can concentrate snowmaking in the tubing park and re-groom new tubing lanes. Making more snow will help us keep The Plunge open through March."
Massanutten Resort – 35-37° (Temp at their base and summit.) They did not make snow and report no natural snow. They are 100% open with all 14 trails with groomed conditions and they have 8 lanes of snow tubing open.
Bryce Resort – Reporting no snow nor did they make snow but they look great via their live cams and they are 100% open with all 8 trails and snow tubing with groomed conditions.
We have not heard from The Homestead in a couple of days.
OBER GATLINBURG – 41° – They are getting a wet mix and are open with 6 of 8 trails.
NORTH CAROLINA SKI RESORT REPORT:
This is going to be a busy weather, snow, road conditions reporting kind of day! I hate it when news people state "this is a fluid situation so stay tuned", but if the rest of this day and the next few days are anything like the first hour we’d have to update our report every few minutes to stay on top of what’s happening around the mountains of North Carolina right now!
I have caught myself several times this season making statements like, "I don’t think I’ve ever see this kind of weather anomaly" or "I can’t remember the last time we saw…" but it has been an unusual weather winter to say the least. However, I don’t think I have EVER received the kind of reports and witnessed the kind of weather anomalies that I am getting this morning! (There I go again!) However, consider this:
I left home this morning at 7:15am to harder rain and more water on the road than I can ever remember being associated with 32° temperatures. (That was the temp on my truck and signage when I got to my office.) I stopped in for a breakfast biscuit at the country store in Foscoe and one the crew there informed me that they have just driven in from Blowing Rock and that there was SIX INCHES OF SNOW on the ground and snowflakes nearly three inches in diameter coming down. I arrived at the office to lessening rain and more of a mix of snow. Now that I am at my desk I can log in and pan more than 30 live cameras and I am looking at Ski Beech and particularly Beech Mountain Parkway and the roads are relatively clear with perhaps a coating of slushy, wet snow and you can tell that the ground maybe has a half inch of snow and ice cover.
The subject of the morning has to be "Can you BELIEVE the size of those snow flakes?!?!" I have already heard from four different sources this morning and all four were describing what they thought was perhaps the largest snowflakes they’d ever seen. Louise Anderson over at Sugar just buzzed me with the same news.
A "paragraph ago" I was about to add that we’re seeing some moderate snow right now – but that has changed back to a mist. It seems we have that kind of day in store for us! We’re receiving all sorts of WINTER WEATHER ALERTS and watches but most of those apply to later tonight and Thursday. Most of those seem to be forecasting perhaps 2-4" of snowfall for Thursday. At this time things look to be more of the nasty, underdeveloped snow variety with freezing rain and trees, cars and all else being covered in a way snow/ice mixture.
The temperature this AM is hovering in the 27-31° across the region. We’ve been expecting the mix of snow turning to rain turning to snow pattern for today as that has been forecasted for a couple of days now – but I didn’t expect it to be happening all at once!
The forecast IS for pockets of snow and wintry mix/rain for today as the high is expected to rise in the low to mid 40s. Wednesday night’s low should kick back to 27° amd changeover to an all snow event that should last through all of Thursday. The high tomorrow is forecasted to be in the upper 20s to low 30-31° range and Thursday night is when things get bitterly cold and drop back to around 13-15°. Expect lots of snowmaking and with the natural stuff, conditions should be simply AWESOME for Thursday skiing and snowboarding, Thursday night – and then the weekend is looking superb! Friday looks sunny and cold with highs in the upper 20s and lows in the teens (around the clock snowmaking!) and Saturday and Sunday looks like a sunny/snow/sunny/snow kind of two days with highs in the upper 20s to low 30s and lows in the teens both nights. So conditions will be SWEET!
The cold pattern looks to be holding up nicely so ski and riding conditions should be awesome for the next prolonged period. If you have not made it up to the mountains yet – or even if you have – get your gear together – and get your rear up here! This is what it is all about!
Let’s get to some reporting and we’ll update you as things warrant doing so. Before we dive into things – check back in just an hour or so as we’re giving away THREE VACATIONS TODAY…and you don’t want to miss that!
Here we go…
Appalachian Ski Mountain – 32° – They did not make snow, but Susan over there says they have areas where 5-6" of snow has fallen in Blowing Rock but there at the ski area they have a wet, slushy 2" or so this morning with 100% of their terrain open.
Cataloochee Ski Area – 31° – We just spoke with them and they have received 3" of wet snow this morning and they too are 100% open with tubing open as well. They are reporting that they made snow last night as well.
Ski Beech – 32° – They are reporting NO SNOW, but there IS a coating of perhaps one-half inch of slushy, wet, snow ice this morning. When is the last time you heard about 3" of snow at Cataloochee and Appalachian Ski Mountain but nothing at Beech. Weird but true! Anyway – BEECH has 11 trails open and groomed/frozen granular conditions for today. Expect them to begin making snow later this evening and 2-4" of snow is in the forecast for Thursday.
Be sure to check back later today for some updated news about this Saturday’s SkiNC / Ski Beech Summit!
Sugar Mountain – 24° – They are reporting 1" of snow this morning. It is a crazy weather day as some areas on the top side of Sugar are reporting one-half inch of ice, others are reporting an inch of slush. The view here at the top of the Big Red lift show nothing more than a coating of maybe a half inch. However 2-4" of snow is forecasted for Sugar for Thursday and Sugar made snow. They are 100% open and looking marvelously great!
Wolf Ridge Resort – They are reporting a mix of snow and rain this morning. They too should see some good natural snow on Thursday according to the forecast for over there. They have 11 trails open and tubing is open as well.
Hawksnest is reporting RAIN and they have closed the tubing park for today.
Sapphire Valley is closed today and Thursday (normal mid week hours).
We have a lot to share with you guys today – in addition to any updates on the weather, etc. We’re giving away several ski getaways later today and we have some updated news about this weekend’s SkiNC / Ski Beech Summit. We also want to kick up the promotions on the SkiSoutheast.com Snowshoe Summit coming up in SIXTEEN DAYS! It will be here before we know it! Be sure to check back within the next hour or two as we begin funneling more information to you guys! Check back in just a bit!
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