Before I dive deep into the “verbal snow drift” that I tend to share with you guys daily – I want to give a quick shout out of thanks to Joe Stevens and several mountain ops at various ski resorts who reminded me about how many JOBS are provided not only by the ski areas themselves – but also the extended influence that the ski industry in our region has on the many lives who depend it them.
Joe Stevens posted a nice reminder of that in this week’s Snow News is Good News column. You can catch that at https://www.skisoutheast.com/shop-ski-locally/
This IS Christmas shopping season and if you’re reading this Mountain Report, chances are YOU and others in your family are snow-loving people. You can never go wrong by purchasing something related to the sport – for that special person in your life. As Joe suggested – look to “BUY LOCAL” when you can. Chances are if you’re located “OFF THE MOUNTAIN” that might be hard to do. However, all of the ski and snowboard shops in the region have websites and many offer the ability to buy online.
IN OTHER JOB NEWS…I was sent several notices from mountain ops folks at various ski resorts about CURRENT JOB OPENINGS. If you’re in need of a job, there ARE jobs to be had as some ski areas (like Timberline Resort in Davis, WV) are currently hosting JOB FAIRS. In fact, Timberline is also looking for an assistant to the newly hired CEO of Timberline Resort – Colonel Al Tomson. You can check out THAT JOB ANNOUNCEMENT!
LOTS OF EMAILS IN MY SKIMAIL INBOX
Thanks to those of you who have been emailing us lately. We COUNT on you guys to keep us informed. Networking is important to us and we can’t possibly ski or ride every resort in the region, everyday. If YOU have a favorite hill and you are there somewhat regularly – by all means send us your updates in the form of photos, videos and any write up as there is no better way for others to know “what’s happening” than to hear from those of you who are there – on the snow! email me anytime at [email protected]
Also bear in mind that this website hosts a pretty cool ski and snowboarding messageboard and many regulars post trip reports complete with photos, etc. We’ve always operated on an “Information IN is information OUT” basis as we’ve found that as the BEST way to keep more people informed. So post to the messageboard or email us directly and we’ll always credit your reports.
Check out the messageboard at: https://www.skisoutheast.com/messageboard/
By the way, HERE is a great trip report posted by theKENDOG from his trip to Beech Mountain Resort on Saturday. 64 people have already viewed it which supports my statement about how YOUR insight and shared experiences can help inform the masses.
I was looking back at the 2016 SkiSoutheast Summit at Snowshoe Mountain post and case in point – THAT post has been viewed 6002 times. Many of those viewing our website have never BEEN to Snowshoe or other ski areas and this is a GREAT resource for newbies.
WEATHER FORECAST LOOKS GREAT FOR SEVERAL DAYS!
Meteorologist Brad Panovich will be providing his latest Skier’s Forecast in the next day or so – however a quick glance at the forecast shows a little UNDER-DEVELOPED SNOW (rain) on Monday of this week but then things look very nice for the duration ahead and leading up to Christmas and the New Year. Looks like we should see really good snowmaking ops for at least seven of the next ten days to two weeks – if not more. There’s also some great prospects for SNOW between now and Christmas – so we should see MORE slopes open and MORE ski resorts operating.
Here’s the tour today and I provided it in the order of low-to-high temperatures as reported at 8am. (Sometimes I get bored!)
15° – Canaan Valley Resort – It was 8° overnight and that was the first sub-10° reading of the season for the Davis, WV ski resort. They saw another 1″ of natural snow and that made it 5.3 from the storm total and 17.8″ on the season. They are open for day sessions Sunday with 8 slopes and trails and a 12-24″ base of groomed conditions with packed powder.
15° – Timberline Resort – making snow and plans to open December 23rd. Timberline’s JOB FAIR is going on right now and if you need a job, this might be the place for you! ALSO – they have an immediate job opening for an executive assistant to the new CEO (Colonel Al Tomson) at Timberline. For more information, check out the JOB ANNOUNCEMENT!.
17° – Sapphire Valley Ski Area – making snow and plans to open December 17th
19° – Snowshoe Mountain Resort – making snow and they are OPEN with 11 slopes and trails as well as terrain parks and more. They are open for DAY SESSIONS right now with a base of 40″ of groomed perfection.
19° – Wintergreen Resort – Making snow and planning to open December 17th! They look ready to play right now!
20° – Wisp Resort – Making snow. They’ve seen 3″ of snow on the week and season. They will be opening December 16th.
20.4° – Sugar Mountain Resort – making snow and OPEN for day and night sessions with 7 of 21 slopes available as well as ice skating AND TUBING. They have some DEMO equipment available slopeside.
20.5° – Ober Gatlinburg Ski Area – making snow and plans to open December 12th
22° – Beech Mountain Resort – making snow and they are open for day and night sessions with 6 of 15 slopes open and ice skating is open as well. They have packed and frozen granular conditions.
22.8° – Bryce Resort – SUNDAY is OPENING DAY at Bryce! We received numerous emails on Saturday to let us know! Way to go guys and gals! Anyway, they are open for DAY SESSIONS today on 4 of 8 slopes on a groomed 12″ base of snow. No snow tubing quite yet.
24° – Winterplace Resort – Tom Wagner posted, “The snowmakers have made a lot of white whales and now the groomers are preparing the slopes for your enjoyment beginning on Tuesday, December 13th when Winterplace will open for the 2016/2017 season.
24° – Appalachian Ski Mountain – they DID NOT make snow overnight which is something of a surprise, but things certainly look mid-season great today on 9 of 12 slopes and trails open for day and night sessions. Terrain parks are in great shape and ice skating is open as well.
24.2° – Massanutten Resort is making snow and plans to open December 16th.
24.4° – Omni Homestead Resort is making snow although not at the base of the ski area. Not sure what that’s all about, but we have gotten a few emails about it. They have not announced an opening date, but will certainly be open prior to Christmas.
27.3° – Wolf Ridge Resort – they are making snow and open with 4 of 15 slopes and trails for day and night sessions and tubing is open as well! They have a great base building with manmade granular conditions.
31.6° – Cataloochee Ski Area – they made snow overnight and things look awesome this morning on 8 of 18 slopes and trails. Cataloochee is reporting groomed conditions for day sessions only today on a base of 24-44″.
That will do it for me today. Enjoy your day. Get out on the slopes!
In the meantime, keep those emails coming! Email me if you like at [email protected]