Joe Harmon reports for Appalachian:
Today Mark and I ventured up to App ski mtn for the day. We got there around 9:15 and stayed till around 1:30. Overall it was a great day out on the slopes. The conditions were really nice. There were a few icy spots to be found, but they were few and far between. App has set up some new features in the terrain park. They have the new Wall Ride up, and it is very cool. The snow on the mountain was soft, and fast. Santa made a visit to App today. He was passing out candy to all the kids. The slopes were very uncrowded as you will see in my pics for the holiday period. I think most people were doing their last minute christmas shopping. I know they were last night, as work was extremly busy. Enough of the typing, if you can get out, and enjoy the awesome conditions. Sunny sky and comfortable conditions were the words of the day. Get out if you can and enjoy what North Carolina has to offer.
David Long skied Ober Gatlinburg:
I have spent every day at Ober Gatlinburg for the past week and am working full time there in the ski shop and as an instructor. As of now the lift lines have been rather short and the snow fairly well for holiday periods. Bear run is now open from the top to the bottom. Riding tonight was very nice with the crowds following the trend of the week and being very light. The snow was very hard, most would call it icy, but it was not icy at all. Just very very hard and solid, but not ice. The snow should soften up as rain is forcasted for Saturday night and the crowds are expected to be light on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Ober is having a great season with more lots more snow than the usual average for this time of year and having the ability to make loads more snow than ever before! Not being the largest resort Ober can be very fun when riding on Mogul Ridge which was in very good shape, aside from some nasty places at the very top. Hit Mogul and Bear and have a great day with low lines.
Heidi Hatcher was at Sugar – Saturday saw empty slopes and empty lift lines all day at Sugar! Clear blue skies and mild temperatures (with no snow guns!) graced the lucky skiers and snowboarders that hit the slopes today. Upper slopes were a bit icy today, but perhaps some of that snow in the forecast will help get us some new powder in the next few days. Happy Holidays!!!
Lorrie Tomlinson reports on Appalachian Ski Mountain:
Friday morning, as we enjoyed a great breakfast at the Mountain House in Boone, we discussed our plans to finish the Christmas shopping after we finished eating. When we started the car to begin our shopping day, the ski conditions report was being broadcast by 102.3 FM radio station. They finished their report by mentioning skisoutheast.com. Well, I then proceeded to tell everyone (friends and family visiting from out of town) that I finally met Mike the other night when he was sporting one of the new skinc hoodies. Mike, it was a pleasure to meet you and I still want one of those cool shirts. (I was telling Kasey the story at the end of the night & she wants one too!)
Well, the skinc discussion and hearing the snow report, triggered a different idea. Were we going to shop or snowboard??? We arrived at App Ski Mtn about 10 minutes later. The man collecting the parking fees was spreading his Christmas spirit by wearing a Santa hat. The parking lot was not even half full. The temperature was in the mid 30s and the wind was almost non-existent. Under a clear, sunny sky, App was 100% open and all the lifts were running. The terrain park has really come together with several rails and kickers. Surface conditions were incredible, some of the best that I have witnessed. The snow guns were not operating, so no goggles were needed. As the day progressed, no jacket was required either. The temperature reached almost 50! It was another great day at App.
Merry Christmas!
Ted Duncan reports on Canaan Valley:
I have to admit that I didn’t spend all day out on the slopes, but the time I spent was fantastic. I particularly liked the Timber Trail and Gravity Line…but spent a fair amount of time with the kids on Easy Does it and Timber Spur. The conditions were as good as I’ve seen. Everyone’s wanting some more natural snow but we couldn’t ask for better slope conditions. Soft and fun!
Mike Watson – Jonesville, VA skied Wolf LAurel – I hadn’t ski’ed at Wolf Laurel for nearly 15 years. Since I had the day off Friday, my family decided to try it and hope that the crowds weren’t too bad. When we got there, we had to park a whole 40 yards from the lodge. With no lines to buy lift tickets or pick up my son’s snowboard rental, we were soon on the slopes. I was pleasantly surprised by the diversity & length of the slopes. Everything was well groomed and there were plenty of bumps for the more adventurous to play on. I don’t know where the crowds were, but they certainly weren’t at the Wolf. We had to wait maybe 5 minutes one time for a lift. Most of the time we just skied right on. All in all, it was a great day to enjoy God’s creation on skis & snowboards. I just can’t understand why more people don’t ski there when it’s only minutes from I-26.
Have a Merry Christmas & celebrate the birth of our Creator!
Marty Wilson was at Bryce Resort:
I was hoping more would be open over here but skiing is kind of afterthought at Bryce. Bootlegger was in good shape. Holiday Skiing Should be great!
Bob Covington skied at Snowshoe:
I love this place when it isn’t crowded. The snow managers have done an amazing job with conditions and The Cupp was everything I remembered – long and sweet. The top of Shays is probably one of the best gliding runs there is…and connecting over to Lower Cupp is a great trail if you guys haven’t tried it.
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 12/24/2005 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. Lorrie Tomlinson
2. Kent Jackson
3. Mark McKelvy
4. Heidi Hatcher
5. Joe Harmon
6. Dave McConnell
7. Gresham Barker
8. Matthew Mottersby
9. Jesse Smole
10. Clinton Koontz
11. Jeremy Dickerson