Tom Bosworth reports from Snowshoe:
It was GREAT to be on the hill today. Snow fell most of the time out and we saw about 1-2” of accumulation. The trails were remarkable and almost NO lift lines. I skied down The Cupp so many times with NO wait that my thighs are burning! Conditions were as good as I’ve seen them at Snowshoe. I love it when the trees are all white!
Mike Edwards was at Sugar Friday and Saturday:
I was at Sugar Friday and Saturday during the day. The first run on Friday was ok but not as good as I was hoping. While navigating a trail the surface went from loose granular to ice and back to the loose granular. It was about 32 degrees and they were blowing lots of snow. Mother Nature also added her natural snow as well. The temps dropped as the day went on and the conditions actually got better during the day. Other than where the snow had piled up from people skiing and boarding the ice was pretty much covered. Saturday was a different story. What a difference a day makes! The morning runs were fantastic! Sugar had covered all of the icy spots and even Whoopdedoo was groomed powder from top to bottom. I skied on most of the slopes and all of them were great. No ice anywhere! The crowds were fairly thin in the morning and they didn’t get too bad in the afternoon, especially for a Saturday after snow. The longest wait I had was about 15 minutes for the yellow lift. Late afternoon the conditions had deteriorated some and some ice had been exposed. I guess this was to be expected, normal wear and tear. Overall I would say that Friday was a so-so day and I would give Saturday 2 thumbs up!
Lane Passmore was at Hawksnest on Saturday:
Made my way up to HawksNest on Saturday. On my way up me and my friend stopped at the Ham Shoppe on Hwy 105 and I have got to tell you this place is the bomb. Every time I go there I can’t believe how good their sandwiches are. I STRONGLY recommend this place to everybody!! Anyway, got to HawksNest and it was a sunny but chilly! There were strong winds that would cut straight through you if you weren’t dressed for it. I got my lift ticket and on my way out to the slopes I noticed the tube runs were full!!! That was good news for me because there were no lines as we made our way to the red lift. We got to the top and it was on!! We went down the Sock-Em-Dog first and it was great all but a few icy patches. They were blowing snow as you guys said they would be but it wasn’t too bad. Next we went down the Merlin and it was in pretty good shape but there seemed to be a few more icy spots on that side of the mountain. We ran run after run all day long and had a blast!! I do wish they had Top Gun & Narrow Gauge open but with the mild temps we have been having I had nothing to complain about. I think HawksNest has done a great job on their snow management. We had a great day on the slopes from start to finish.
Jeremy Dickerson also reported at Hawksnest:
We got to the mountain earlier today than usual first chair was ours! What a great feeling! …. my car read 18 on arrival this morning and around 31 when we left at 5. Conditions at Hawksnest have improved incredibly over the past day! There are no longer any bare or grassy spots on any open trials. They still however are not fully opened there’s still about 2 trials closed I think. 2 new obstacles have been added to the park and 1 removed. There is now a short flat long down rail in the middle of the park as well as a small kicker next to it. However the wall ride picnic table was taken down today but shouldn’t be a problem to put up tomorrow or sometime soon. Blowers were on full blast today and I’m sure will continue as long as it’s cold enough. The Sun shined hard all day long and made for a wonderful day to teach some friends how to snowboard for the first time. What a great experience! It always makes my day to show someone something I love and to know instantly it’s something that they now do too. Until next weekend take care.
On-Snow Reporters:
We will keep a log of the best reporter’s submission, photos and reports. Trust us it is way to time consuming to post every pic…but send them…because we are tallying the scores. The winner of the Best On Snow Reporter for 2005-2006 will win $1000 in cash, a FREE Getaway Vacation and more. The contest will run from now through March 1st and we will choose the winner. Our choice will be based on the following and IN THE ORDER of importance.
Quality of Photos
Quality of Reports (well written, informative, unbiased)
Number of Photo Submissions
Number of Reports
Extra points will be given for getting smiling faces in the photos and including names and cities where you can.
Extra points will be awarded for creative ideas.
We will choose the winner based on how helpful and informative the reports have been.
As of 01/08/2006 here are the top vote getters. (We will only document the top three to five here throughout the season…and we may begin posting the top ten, depending on how close results are.)
1. Kent Jackson
2. Lorrie Tomlinson
3. Mark McKelvy
4. Dave McConnell