Hello Everyone –
Let’s see, the majority of all of the terrain in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions is open right now for skiing and snowboarding and I have yet to make a single turn this season. I wish I had a really good reason, or should it be excuse, for not strapping on the board but I don’t other than I have been too busy with my real job. I’m sorry but that is pretty lame in my book as I could grab my board and my five-year old and drive 90-minutes to the nearest resort and have some fun. But no -other things have gotten in the way, so shame on me, knowing full well what the conditions are everywhere right now.
It looks like winter has finally set in across the region and that’s good news for slackers like me as the snow will be there when I finally get it in gear. Again, shame on me. Those conditions throughout the region, if you haven’t noticed, are as good as they have been for the holiday period in recent years. Last year there had been more natural snowfall to this point but not over two-feet in 24 hours less than a week before Christmas. For those of you who have made some turns this season, good for you. For those of you, who are still waiting like yours truly, then shame on you too.
This is a very important three weeks for every resort in the region. For the most part, resorts will experience 25 to 30 percent of their yearly business during these three weeks. This is the time of the year when the region’s resorts can guarantee those white holidays (by the time I wrote this Christmas was three days old) for visitors from the south. It’s just flat out a busy time and if you are looking to try out that new equipment that Santa Claus brought you, you may want to wait a few days.
Now back to my original point, it’s time for yours truly to get out and conduct some product evaluation. So beware of that old snowboarder pulling up next to you could very well be me, so let’s ride the chair together and enjoy the fact we are enjoying fun on the snow.
That’s it for this week, more to come as the season continues, just remember whether it be cold or whether it be hot, we’ll weather the weather, whatever the weather will be. Think about it! See you on the slopes. Happy Holidays everyone.
Send your comments to: [email protected] or [email protected]
Joe Stevens, a member of the southeast ski industry since 1990 is a regular columnist for skisoutheast.com and serves as the Communications Director for the West Virginia Ski Areas Association.