March COULD BE the best month of the season

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March continues to deliver as we are now one week into the month. You could easily make the case that we are seeing some of the best conditions of the year, nearly everywhere. AND, the forecast is turning more favorable vs. less than ideal.

Last night, a fairly unexpected 3″ fell at Snowshoe, as they have now seen 10.5″ in 3 days. In addition, Canaan saw 1.7″ and is opening some rarefied terrain. Even better, though is that Winterplace recorded 2″ and has a good forecast lining them for the upcoming weekend (see below).

There was even some snow on the NC/TN border last night and Ober saw 1″, to give them a great March boost.

Snow making temps (and the lack of humidity) are ideal right now for those that didn’t see any natural stuff. Believe it or not, App was able to lay down a foot of machine made snow last night!

Everyone Wins in West Virginia 

  • Snowshoe: 3″ in 24hrs (10.5″ in 3days) . . . New Natural Snow Conditions
    • Grab your powder turns on 7 ungroomed runs today . . . “We got another 3″ of fresh snow bringing our total to 10.5 inches in the last 72 hours!”
    • -2F this morning with wind chills as low as -20F today . . . “Be sure to bundle up, as the temperature will remain in the teens all day.”
    • Snowmaking on 8 runs at Snowshoe . . . “Hats off to our team of groomers and snowmakers for working their magic and getting the mountain in fantastic shape for us today.”
    • Alterra Mountain Company (Snowshoe’s parent company) announced improvements for 2019/2020
  • Canaan: 1.7″ in 24hrs (9.7″ in 3days) . . . Packed Powder Conditions
    • More natural terrain open! . . . “We will operate with 28 slopes and trails available to ski and ride on, including NATURAL snow trails on Snowfields, Meadows 2, Shaft, and Timber Spur.”
    • XC Open today on 30km of trails and the golf course . . . reporting soft snow conditions.
    • West Virginia Wednesdays, bring your WV ID and receive a $15 lift ticket.
    • More to come . . . 1-3″ expected for Friday
  • Winterplace: 2″ in 24hrs . . . (nicely) Groomed and Variable. Snow making is on
    • (Easy) Panorama, Glades and Over Easy will be closed for snowmaking and re-open later this week.
    • Tubing re-opens tomorrow . . . “Closed Monday, March 4th – Wednesday March 6th for snowmaking and reshaping.”
    • Today, Armed Forces Appreciation Day  . . . last one this season

The NC/TN border got some snow last night . . . Ober saw an inch!

  • Ober: “Good Morning!!  It’s a chilly morning here in Gatlinburg and we are very excited to be making snow for another night!”
    • Today we are open from Noon-10pm and will have 5 runs open:  Mogul Ridge, Upper Bear Run, Cub Way, Ski School and Castle!  The base is 15-35″ on our main slopes and the terrain park is located on the Skiers Right of Castle Run. Snow conditions are Machine Groomed.  We are currently making snow and will continue as temperatures allow.

Wisp opens up more natural terrain . . . now has over 30+ runs open!

  • Wisp: Currently light snow, with Trace snow overnight . . . 5″ in 3days
    • Open with Thin Coverage on (expert) Devils Drop and Bobcat Bowl
    • Snowmaking on (easy) Sunset Boulevard, Possum, Wisp Trail, and (expert) The Face
      • No date yet, but ‘Through March’ . . . “Our Mountain Operations team continues to make snow on a number of runs to keep a solid base through March.”
Wisp: Powder turns to be had, yesterday . . . could be the same today

NC sees Trace snow in some places . . . Day 2 of ‘Primo’ Snow making conditions

  • Cataloochee: a ‘win-win-win’
    • More terrain . . . “It’s a beautiful day in our backyard and the trail count is going up”
    • More base coverage . . . “Today we will be skiing and riding on a base of 37-72″ on 15 slopes (including Upper and Lower Over Easy) and offer three sessions.”
    • Selective Snow making . . . “The temperature is currently 13 degrees but we will not be making snow on main slopes during skiing hours.”
  • Beech: Trace snow overnight. Packed Powder and Groomed Conditions
    • Base depth increases from 36-68″ (yesterday) to 36-72″ (today).
    • Had to close the park today . . . Operating on 8 runs and 3 lifts.
    • Cold!!! . . . Wind Chill Values as low as -15F today
  • App: “Good morning skiers and riders. Remember, today we have 5 slope closures for round the clock snow making.”
    • AppalTop, Hard Core, Thin Slice, Candied Appal & Appal Jam will be closed both day & night sessions for focused round-the-clock snowmaking on Wednesday, March 6. The top 3 snowguns on Appaljack will also run continuously on Wednesday. The Appaljack Terrain Park will remain open with features for all abilities.
    • Made a FOOT of Snow in 24hrs, . . . now, 56-112″
    • Park Progression . . . “Features (now) include waterfall drop rail, c-box, flat box, down flat down, wankster, flat bar, pill, A-Frame and Tall rectangle box.”

Mid-Winter in VA

  • Wintergreen:
    • “It’s a crystal clear day and chilly temperatures. Come to Wintergreen, burn some energy and warm up on the slopes! We have GREAT winter conditions – spring skiing and riding isn’t even on the horizon. Get the best of winter, right in your own backyard. Looks like Mother Nature will chime in with some snow on Friday – just enough to make you want to spend the weekend at Wintergreen. And Saturday is shaping up to be a stellar day to play in the snow.”
A warming sun on a cold day at Wintergreen this morning
  • Massanutten: 
    • “Mid winter conditions today with sunshine and highs in the mid 20s.”
    • Snow making on 11 (of 14 runs) . . . “Snowmaking will be in progress today.”
    • For your planning purposes (subject to change) . . . “The current plan is to operate daily through Mar 18 close Mar 19-21 and reopen for Mar 22-24.”
  • Bryce: We get great updates from Bill N. at Bryce. Here is some of the slope information from him . . .
      • Snowmaking is on tap for Wednesday night (in addition the previous two nights, Monday and Tuesday)
        • The plan is to start about 10pm (or) maybe a little earlier
      • There is no sign of slowing down at Bryce toward the end of the season . . . in fact, the Winterfest is this weekend . . .

That’s all for today.

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