This is the Coldest Morning of the Season So Far!

First Trax

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Today is yet another morning where I can come in here and talk about how freakin’ cold it is.  Woo!  It was 10 degrees here in Charlotte when I woke up this morning.  I got to use my handy dandy new Nest app and turn on the heat with my phone before I got out of bed.  So nice.  It’s even colder up in the mountains as temperatures are in the negative 7 to positive 5 range.  Sheesh.  And that’s with things warming up a bit this morning.  The station atop Beech Mountain showed a low temperature overnight of -14 degrees with a wind chill of, get this, -43 degrees!

Day

 

Yet again this morning we also have a little bit of natural snow to talk about.  Here are those numbers:

Wisp Resort: 1″
Canaan/Timberline: 1.8″
Snowshoe: 3″
Winterplace: 2″
Beech Mountain: 2″
Sugar Mountain: 2″
Appalachian Ski Mountain: Dusting
Wolf Ridge: Dusting
Cataloochee: Dusting

Not crazy high numbers, but still fun to talk about.  Bluebird skies today should make for an awesome time on the slopes if you can get out there.  The view from Snowshoe looks fantastic right now.

snowshoe-morning

In addition to the natural snow, snowmaking has been out of control the last few days.  Most of the cams are all white right now due to the slopes being blasted.  It’s amazing how much better things look now after just a few days of this cold snap.  Base depths look a lot more healthy now than when I did them on Monday morning too.  The weather the last few days has been optimal to say the least.  And when I say optimal, I mean OPTIMAL.  Check out the chart below which shows the best temperatures for snowmaking.  You can click to enlarge.

wet_bulb_chart_fahrenheit-p

If you are confused by that graph, all you really need to know is that the best snowmaking temperatures take place when the wet bulb is less than 20 degrees.  This is when you get that nice dry, chalky snow that crunches beneath your feet when you walk on it.  Refer to that first graph I posted of the temperature at Beech.  The wet bulb temperature has been WELL below 20 degrees for some time now.  The snowmaking conditions are literally off the charts good right now!

This string of great snowmaking weather is going to continue for the next few days.  It won’t be quite as cold, but it’s still going to be rather chilly.  This upcoming weekend is going to easily be the best weekend of the season thus far.  I am STOKED to ride on Saturday!

NOTABLES

Here’s some things I wanted to point out before I go.

– Sugar Mountain opened up Oma’s Meadow (formerly Big Red) and Tom Terrific today.  TT is a fun black diamond.

– Ober Gatlinburg has a new website.  It’s pretty sweet I must say.

– Keep in mind that trail counts are going to rise in the coming days.  Most resorts are keeping a number of trails closed for now while they make snow on them.  For instance, Wintergreen posted this on their site…

Thursday “best guess” opening predictions for the upcoming weekend:

Upper Wild Turkey – Friday

Cross Cut – Friday

Lower Cliffhanger – Saturday

Devil’s Elbow – Saturday

The Gap – Saturday

Progression Terrain Park on Upper Diamond – Friday

Main Terrain Park – Sunday

So, if you’re planning a trip this weekend and don’t see as many runs open as you’d like RIGHT NOW, don’t fret.  Tomorrow and Saturday we should see a number of new trails open up.  I still think we’ll see somebody get to 100% by Saturday.

West Virginia Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month Press Conference

Make sure to check back later today around 1:15pm to watch West Virginia Tourism Commissioner, Amy Shuler-Goodwin and West Virginia Ski Industry officials LIVE at Winterplace Ski Resort in West Virginia.  This is their annual televised conference they do every year for Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month.  It’s pretty cool!  You can watch the live stream at the link below.

https://www.skisoutheast.com/live/

That’s it for today.  Remember to scope out all the ski areas on Resort Cams today.  Should be fun to watch!

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