The calendar says that it is only November 3rd, but Old Man Winter seems to be in a bit of a hurry as the temps lately have been on a roller coaster…dipping into the 20s last week, then cruising up into the 50s this week and then down to 23° overnight here at our offices, 20° at Banner Elk and in the mid 20s over at Cataloochee in Maggie Valley, North Carolina.
As promised, Cataloochee cranked up the snowguns and General Manager Chris Bates pulled the trigger and got the 2006-2007 season officially underway! You’ll have to click the "click here for more" link to see it, but Ron Rocha, a Cataloochee Ski Patroller, makes the first tracks of the season (kind of) at Cataloochee Ski Area in Maggie Valley, North Carolina. Cataloochee began snowmaking for the 2006/2007 season at 5:10pm on Wednesday, November 2, 2006. The area plans on opening at 8:30am on Saturday, November 4 on two beginner slopes with weekday rates in effect.
Snowshoe is also making snow! (Check out the Photo of the Day on www.SkiSoutheast.com)
With a temperature of 10 degrees at 4848′ Snowshoe is making machine-made snow on five different trails with 26 guns cranking this morning. If the forecast holds true and temperatures remain below freezing, Snowshoe’s veteran snowmaking crew hopes to make snow straight through the weekend and increase coverage to seven trails and 55 guns.
Snowshoe’s Andrea Smith reports, "This is one of the most exciting events of the year for us as it is a major step toward opening our slopes for skiers and riders, hopefully by November 22nd!"
It’s COLD Enough…
The temperatures are in the 20s across Western North Carolina this morning with the coldest reading at FRIGID 13° on top of Beech Mountain! With only a slight breeze, the wind chill on Beech just moments ago when I looked was minus 6°! It’s cold across much of the Southeast this morning as you can see by checking out these morning readings:
Wintergreen Resort in Virginia – 18°
Snowshoe Mountain – 18°
Wisp Resort in Maryland – 19°
Snowshoe Mountain isn’t expected to get above the 20s today as the forecasted high temp is only expected to be around 26°.
Cataloochee’s Efforts Rewarded
Old Man Winter will keep the cold temps in place particularly at night over the next couple of days so Cataloochee’s Saturday and Sunday fun should be pretty nice. Expect sunny skies and temps in the 40s for the most part. The mercury might creep into the low 50s during the day. However, overnight lows will stay in the 20s so the first two days of the 2006-2007 Ski Season should be pretty decent. We heard rumors that Cat would keep on making snow whenever temps allowed and as of this article post (8:35am) they ARE making snow. That can be seen live on their webcam – kind of. The camera’s not that good over there…and we’re hopeful that we can get a pro cam installed over there later this month. It would be nice to be able to see some people enjoying that new snow!
For those that have been complaining to us about wanting the ski season to get here – well it’s here! If you have the opportunity go enjoy the weekend’s fun at Cataloochee. Next week’s temperatures are looking to be going up into the 60s (which is normal for this time of year) and to more near normal lows (the normal low for this time of year is 36°).
SkiNC congratulates Chris Bates, Tammy Brown and the Gang at Cataloochee on their achievements!
Until Next time…
Be sure to visit www.SkiSoutheast.com for more stories and skiing in the Southeast!
Send comments or emails to: [email protected]