We have a busy Monday planned as we want to put some final numbers on this past weekend’s SkiNC / Ski Beech Summit and share how much was raised for the Helena Jolly Education Fund. We have all the pieces this morning and we’ll put that together and share that information within the next hour or two. We also have a lot of photos and videos to share and we’ll try to get to as much of that as possible today.
We also want to kick the promotions for the SkiSoutheast.com / Snowshoe Summit into high gear and we hope you’ll be on the lookout for that.
However, before we look back into the past (this past weekend) or the future (the SkiSoutheast.com Summit) let’s talk about today! TODAY will be a sweet day to be on the slopes no matter where you choose to ride and we’re seeing reported snowfalls of from 2-3" across most of the ski areas and added manmade snow to boot! We took a ride around and the 2-3" of snow is hard to find since Sunday was such as raw, windy day. However MORE snow fell overnight and it has left a great bit of ambience snow around the region. The resorts themselves have also blasted the trails and conditions should be marvelous today!
We’ve provided an in-depth tour this morning and we’ll be providing more information later in the day.
Here’s what to expect today!
Appalachian Ski Mountain – 16° – They are reporting 1" of new snow and 34" on the season – Reported Base: 81-106" – 100% open with all 10 trails, both terrain parks and ice skating. Drew Stanley of App wrote, "Moderately cold temperatures during the day and temperatures during the teens at night provide the best of both worlds for skiing and snowmaking. 48 hours of dedicated round-the-clock snowmaking have put all of our slopes in shape to be open through our scheduled March 29th closing day. As always, Appalachian will continue to make snow until the day before we close to maintain the best snow surface possible for all of our guests."
Appalachian Ski Mountain has only been making snow once the slopes close each evening.
Cataloochee Ski Area – 12° – Reporting 2" of snow through Sunday night – Reported base: 49-94" – Made snow overnight and they are open with all 14 trails (100%) and they are skiing and snowboarding only during DAY SESSIONS on Mondays. Tubing is closed until Thursday.
Ski Beech – 12° – 3" of snow in the last 30 hours and 52.8" of snow on the season – Reported Base: 34-68" – Open with 13 trails, terrain parks and snow tubing. They are making snow this morning.
Sugar Mountain – 9° – 3" of snow in the last 30 hours and 50" on the season – Reported Base: 50-90 – 100% open with all 20 trails, terrain park, skating and snow tubing. Sugar announces, "On Sunday, March 1, 2009 Sugar hosts the Richard T. Trundy Memorial Sugar Cup Competition: A giant slalom competition open to the public. The event is held on Big Red for participants with at least an intermediate or above ability level. All proceeds go to the American Cancer Society in memory of Sugar Mountain Resort’s former Director of Operations, Richard T. Trundy."
Wolf Ridge Resort – 19° – 2 to 3" of snow in the last 30 hours or so and 41" on the season! – Reported Base: 48-68 – Open with 12 Trails and snow tubing.
Sapphire Valley – For those that keep asking why we are not providing updated reports for them – they have not updated their own website nor advised any reporting service of their conditions since February 13th (ten days). While it’s bad enough that they haven’t updated their own website in ten days, that’s still better than the fact they the last time they updated the NC Ski Areas report was on December 8th, 2008! At that time they were announcing that they’d be open on December 19th. We rest our case.
THE WEEK AHEAD – WEATHERWISE
According to most of our weather friends, the temps today will be frigid for the second day in a row. Some areas of the North Carolina Mountains never got above 16° on Sunday and today will be another cold one with highs in the 28°. Monday night’s low will dip back to 11° and that means more snowmaking!
Tuesday gets back to AVERAGE for this time of year as there should be lots of sun and highs around 41°. Tuesday night’s low should allow for more snowmaking. That may be the LAST of the snowmaking opportunities until Sunday night when temps are expected to drop back into the low 20s. Wednesday through Friday should be a touch milder than normal but with all of the snow on the slopes – things will be just fine. There’s additional great news as post Sunday’s forecast – we turn COLDER again the next week! That is super news for the SkiSoutheast.com Summit!
Stay tuned for more news today!
Until Next time…
Be sure to visit www.SkiSoutheast.com for more news from the rest of the Southeast and Mid Atlantic ski areas!
Send your comments, photos, videos and trip reports to: [email protected]