Happy St. Paddy’s Day Everyone!
It should be a wonderful day of skiing and riding today and Tuesday. Highs today should be in the 50s both days and it looks like we’re in for some mid week rain showers on Wednesday. We need the rain but the ski areas are trying to make it through the end of the month and they are already showing signs of "end-of-the-season Spring Conditions".
<Wisp Looks Sweet today!
WISP RESORT IN MARYLAND – They are showing 26° this morning but no Snowmaking was reported. They have 28 trails open today and one glance down all of their live cams shows near mid-season ski conditions for today. It should be a great day to play in Garrett County!
WEST VIRGINIA SKI REPORT:
Canaan Valley is reporting 15° this morning and Frozen Granular conditions on 16 trails for day skiing only today. They plan on closing for the season this coming Sunday.
Timberline Resort (one ridge over from Canaan) is reporting 18° and Groomed / Granular conditions on 25 trails for St Patrick’s Day skiing and snowboarding. They have both the Bear Claw and Lower Dew Drop Terrain Parks open as well! Some people have asked us about Timberline’s Black Diamonds (as to whether or not they are open) and YES, both double-blacks (Off the Wall and The Drop) ARE open. A lot of people don’t know that Timberline actually has SIX DOUBLE-BLACK DIAMOND TRAILS and four are closed at this point in the season.
Snowshoe Mountain – They are reporting 17° this morning and they DID make snow overnight. As far as we can tell, they are the only ski area in the Southeast or Mid Atlantic region to have made snow last night. They have closed their Silver Creek side of the mountain and now offer 40 trails for day skiing only. They also have closed their tubing operation for the season as they now move into the last two weeks of the snow ops.
Laura Parquette writes, "Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone. On a day that many people will be thinking green, here at Snowshoe we’re thinking white, as in there’s still plenty of white stuff coating our slopes. The start of this week will offer some great spring skiing conditions. After Saturday night’s snowfall, we were once again able to make snow overnight last night, and our open terrain is in great shape! Today we should see plenty of sunshine and spring-like temperatures. The mild weather in the next few days may allow some thin or bare spots to peak through, so please be aware of variable terrain, as is the norm this time of the season. Please note that the Silver Creek area is now closed for the season. That includes both night skiing and riding and our tubing hill. There are only 14 days left in the season, so be sure to get your 08-09 season passes at their lowest available price TODAY (through April 30th)!"
Winterplace Resort – They are reporting 22° for their low temp but did not make snow. They are on their last week of ski and snowboarding ops as they plan to close for the season on Sunday, March 23rd. They are at 100% open with all 28 trails, terrain parks, and tubing. We’re going to have to look into it, but Winterplace has to have had the most time at 100% open this season of any of the larger resorts. (App and Bryce operated at 100% most all season with lesser terrain). Winterplace is in great shape for these last few days.
VIRGINIA SKI REPORT:
Bryce Resort has decided to close their "Snow Sports Season" one day earlier than first reported. They will close for the season this Saturday. For these last few days they will offer an abbreviated session and ski from 10am-2pm on six trails.
Massanutten Resort will end their season this coming Sunday, March 23rd but offer nice conditions today with some thin coverage, but 10 trails and snow tubing in operation.
The Homestead Resort is now Closed for the Season.
Wintergreen Resort is showing 22° this morning but did not make snow. They are skiing and riding on a reduced number of trails for today and Tuesday (eight trails are open now) but Anne Marie Jones writes, "Today we will be skiing and riding on 8 slopes and trails and 2 lifts will be running. The Highlands will be closed midweek this week with plans to re-open Upper Cliffhanger and Lower Wild Turkey this weekend!"
Wintergreen Resort has previously stated that they would be open until March 30th, but are only showing an operating schedule through March 23rd on their website and with the reduced terrain they may be rethinking their closing date.
NORTH CAROLINA REPORT:
Appalachian and Cataloochee have stated that they will make snow right up until the last couple of days of the season as has Wintergreen in Virginia. They may get their chance on Thursday and Friday evening as temps are expected to drop into the 20s.
<Appalachian looks Inviting as Heck this morning!
Right now we’re seeing some great conditions no matter if we were looking at them in early January or right now in mid March at Appalachian Ski Mountain. They look very inviting with 100% of their terrain (10) Trails, both terrain parks and ice skating open. In fact they look so good, I think I’ll be over there this afternoon! I’ll be wearing one of the new SkiSoutheast.com Hoodies if you want to look me up.
Appalachian Ski Mountain did not make snow last night.
Cataloochee Ski Area – They report that they DID make snow last night and Tammy Brown, Cat’s Marketing Director, writes, "We will continue to make snow as long as temperatures permit throughout the month and we have great coverage and plenty of snow which should allow us to ski and ride throughout the rest of the month."
It is due to that statement that we had reported that Cataloochee would close up for the season on March 30th. Evidently that is not the case as Tammy wrote me yesterday that they are in fact planning to stay open until April 6th if the weather cooperates!
They are open during the week this week from 1pm-10pm today through Friday. They have 6 trails open today and they too look darn nice.
Hawksnest Resort – They closed for the season after tubing only for this past week. Justin Grimes writes, "Thanks Skiers, Snowboarders, and Snowtubers! Many thanks to all of you who visited Hawksnest making this a very successful season! Please stay tuned to this site for updates on the improvements we have planned and progress on our expansion for next season.
This shot views Hawksnest’s beginning terrain from above, and more importantly, it gives us a glimpse of what their hoped for expansion would look like. Imagine skiing those intermediate groomers you see in the distance of this photo.
Photo by John Jarrett
Sugar Mountain – They are reporting a low of 24° on the summit weather station and 28° on the base station but did not make snow. They have plenty of base, but are reporting a minimum base of 11". One look at the right side of their slopes shows some DEEP base (they are reporting a maximum depth of 59" so they have plenty of snow to make it til then end of the month. As far as we can see there are no thin coverage areas to speak of and they are offering some great Spring conditions for today on 13 trails. They have closed their tubing, terrain park and ice skating rink for the season.
Until Next time…
Be sure to visit www.SkiSoutheast.com for more news from the rest of the Southeast and Mid Atlantic ski areas!
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