The overall THEME for today, this weekend and next week is COLD, COLD Temps and some light to moderate snow all along the way. Snowmaking is ongoing and will be, but you may now start seeing some ski areas turning the snowguns off on open trails while we’re skiing and focus them on the remaining closed terrain. Conditions are THAT nice across all of the ski areas.
Some of the ski area locations have picked up MORE snow in the last 24 hours and we’ve detailed that below. With more snow on the way – THIS IS THE WEEKEND TO GET TO YOUR FAVORITE SKI AREA!
Check the Slope Conditions Page for All of the Details…but here’s some highlights going from North to South:
Wisp Resort – They have added 2 more open trails and now they have 23 slopes to hit today. Wisp Resort has received ANOTHER 4” of SNOW in the last 24 hours and that gives them 14” of snow in the last 72 hours and more is falling NOW and they should see more over the next few days!
They have wonderful conditions and in addition to 23 slopes, they have 30KM of Cross Country trails open with a 2-8” base. You can hit those from 10am-4pm!
Canaan Valley – They are reporting 19° this morning and another 1” of snow in the last 24 hours. They also are reporting the largest increase of available slopes openings of the season. Yesterday they were skiing on 13 trails and TODAY they have 28 open trails for your enjoyment! They have now had 41” of snow in the season and much of it has come in the last week or so! Great conditions!
Timberline Resort – They too saw an inch of new snow (2” in the last 48 hours) and they are offering 18 slopes for today. Okay Pam…get us some photos!
Snowshoe Mountain – They are reporting 14° this morning and they squeezed out ANOTHER 1” of snow in the last 24 hours, and that makes it 8” of snow in the last four days! Snowshoe has 44 trails open today and Lindsay Kutsko reports, “Snowshoe should be 100 % open this weekend. Dont miss out on this weekends SCION West Virginia Open, for more detail on this weekends event check us out the event calendar on www.snowshoemtn.com”
Winterplace Resort – It’s 20° this morning in Ghent, West Virginia and they saw another TRACE of snow. They have 16 trails open and great conditions for today.
Bryce Resort – They have seven or eight trails open today with the lone absentee being the black diamond, Hangover. Horst Locher and his guys have been blasting the slopes, so look for them to be 100% open VERY SOON!
Massanutten Resort – It may be about MID-SEASON but if you’re looking for a job in the snow biz, they are currently hiring lift and snow tubing attendants as well as ski instructors! Mass has 7 trails open and nice conditions today. I know a LOT of people that got their first skiing in at Massanutten, including my buddy Joe Stevens if I am not wrong. If you’re a good skier, and interested in being on the snow, give Massanutten a call. It sounds like they are slightly under-staffed right now.
Wintergreen Resort – They have 20° this morning and great snowmaking has continued there. Sarah Lovejoy reports, “We are still making snow . . . And the slopes look GREAT ! Upper Wild Turkey and the Plunge will open tomorrow, with Tyro and the Terrain Park scheduled for a Saturday opening. And, the Elbow is not far behind and should open this weekend as well.”
Ober Gatlinburg – They opened another slope (that’s two more in the last two days) and they now have 5 slopes open! Mogul Ridge & upper half of Bear Run are Now open!!!
Appalachian Ski Mountain – 23° this morning. We’re not certain why, but they have closed the older of the two terrain parks for today. They still have the Appal Jam Terrain park open as part of their 7 trails available today.
Cataloochee Ski Area – Added another trail and now has 9 slopes open today. Also, don’t forget to join the Cat Crew on Thursday nights here for the Cataloochee Challenge Cup Race Series. Individuals race against the clock for the better of two runs. Top three challengers in both men’s and women’s’ age divisions win cool stuff. You must be 21 years of age or older to participate. Racing begins at 8pm with a post awards party at 10pm, so dust off those racing skills and test your luck. The Cat is where its at on Thursday night’s Challenge Cup Race Night. Call the ski area for more information.
Tube World located in Maggie Valley, across from Ghost Town four miles from the ski area will be open from 4pm until 10pm with 1hour and 45 minute sessions available beginning at 4, 6 and 8pm.
Hawksnest Resort – 21° this morning. Conditions at the nest are simply great right now. If you’re a beginner or just wanting a tuneup, Thursdays are free lesson days. Simply rent your equipment at Hawksnest and receive a free beginner lesson.
Ski Beech – They have been blasting the slopes such that they have upped their base depth twice in the last three days and have added 4-8” of new, manmade powder in the last 24 hours (10” on the maximum side of things in the last 72 hours!) This morning they are reporting 19° and light snow flurries are falling!
Beech has added 2 slopes to give them 9 trails available for today. From our contacts we think we’ll see some of the favorite black diamonds opening within a day or so. Beech looks phenomenal for this weekend! One of our trip reporters was up at Beech on Wednesday and said that he could not believe how nice Beech was looking on Wednesday. Don’t forget that MEN SKI FREE during the day session on Thursdays at Beech. (Get us some photos!)
Sugar Mountain – Tubing is closed but they expect their hill to be open for Friday and the Terrain Park should be ready to open for the weekend. Sugar looks s-w-e-e-t this morning with 16 trails.
Wolf Ridge Resort – We have previously announced the big Slope-Style Comp that is happening this weekend at The Wolf’s new terrain park – Park Place. There’s new news this morning! The owners of Wolf Ridge Ski Resort announced Wednesday that Scenic Wolf Resort and Breakaway Village will be providing the CASH for 1st & 2nd place in this weekend’s competition. The first place winner will receive $500 in cash. Second place will take home $250 and third place will receive a Snowboarder’s Helmet and a Uni-tool.
The competition begins at 1 PM and will include skiers and snowboarders. Each competitor will be given 2 runs judged by a panel of 3 judges. The score will be based on style, amplitude and technicality. The top 5 competitors will move on to a final 3rd run. Prizes will be given to top 3 competitors.
Also, The Breakaway side of the mountain is open on Friday & Saturday nights.
WebCams Create Fever, Traffic …and Occasional Grief!
Yesterday I was having a conversation with Charlie Burleson who owns Charlie’s Beech Mountain Realty and Rentals (they are a great source for vacation rentals on Beech). We were doing some tweaks on the new Live Camera that we just put up to view the road, traffic and the sled hill that is beside the Town Hall Building. Charlie started chuckling and told me that a woman called his office earlier in the day and began to “inform” Charlie that they’re webcam was misleading people and that it was OBVIOUSLY not showing current images because she said that she had looked at the Beach 2 Beech Parkway Cam and there was no snow anywhere…and yet there he was misleading people by having “old images” with snow in his parking lot.
Charlie of course informed him that the Town of Beech actually MADE snow for the sledding hill and because of that he USUALLY has snow in his parking lot even when there’s none elsewhere! That was cute though because the woman was convinced that Charlie was pulling a “marketing fast one” on her.
Occasionally, we will have people take large posters with “Hi Mom” to send “hellos” back home via the web cams. It’s funny, we live in an age where we have tons of means of communications and yet there’s something about people in any part of the world can see you waving “hi” back home!
The cameras are delivering some great images these days. I received a couple of emails from people wanting to make certain that I saw how SWEET Ski Beech was looking on Wednesday afternoon. Just to be clear…yes, Ski Beech IS wonderful right now. I’m jealous as heck of all the people that I am sitting here watching (while typing) riding that fresh, manmade powder. Looks very sweet…thank you very much!
Until Next Time…
THINK COLD AND SNOW!!!
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For more information about the ski resorts of the Southeast and Mid Atlantic visit www.SkiSoutheast.com
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