Ski Beech pulls the trigger on the season. – If you were planning to spend St. Patrick’s Day on the slopes at Ski Beech, you are out of luck as Ski Beech has ended their season. Gil Adams of Ski Beech posted this message on their website at 4:39am this morning, “We are closed for the season. The temperature at 7:00 AM was 48 and raining. Due to the warm, heavy rain overnight, we have closed our slopes for the season. We want to thank you for visiting Ski Beech this year, and we look forward to seeing you again next season.”
For all who emailed us asking about when Ski Beech would close, you now have your answer.
THERE’S PLENTY OF SNOW! REALLY!
There are times during each season that we find ourselves having to report conditions that sound conflicting as heck and then attempt to sell the idea that there’s plenty of snow for you guys to have a ton of fun on. This is one of those times. On one side we report that due to warm, heavy rain – Ski Beech is closed for the season. On the other hand we have to promote the FACT that there IS plenty of snow at Cataloochee, Appalachian and Sugar Mountain. If we didn’t clarify things then we’d get a bunch of emails from people wanting to know WHY App, Cat and Sugar are not closed when things are so bad at Beech.
The only thing we can do is report and as one popular news agency says, “you decide”.
Despite the same warm, heavy rain there IS still plenty of snow at Appalachian, Cataloochee and Sugar Mountain. The difference is the fact that those three mountains simply had more base. Beech was already looking p-r-e-t-t-y thin before the rain ever hit. (See archived article including photo on Wednesday.) We speculated on Wednesday that Beech might end their season at any moment as much from the fact that there just wasn’t any traffic to speak of – as anything else. They are now closed so if you had reservations KEEP THEM and simply head over to Sugar or App and ski what will no doubt be plenty of good, Spring Conditions.
THERE’S SNOW IN THE FORECAST!!!
Sugar has a few thin spots and even Appalachian and Cataloochee’s lesser acreage has some thinning areas, BUT those are minimal and there’s PLENTY of side-to-side coverage on many slopes and trails AND on top of that, COLD AND SNOW is in the forecast for the weekend!
That is right! SNOW! The forecast for Saturday is a high near 35° with a 40% chance of SNOW. The low Saturday night will be around 22°. Sunday will be a sunny day with highs near 42° and lows near 30°.
So it’s going to feel a lot like winter! The snow will be firm, and the talented groomers at the three North Carolina resorts that are still open will do a great job of laying down some corduroy to ride! Throw in the added ambience of a dusting or so of natural snow and things should be pretty nice for this weekend and THAT is the truth!
WHAT’S HAPPENING!?!?
Appalachian Ski Mountain – 45° – 100% open with all 10 trails and terrain parks as well. They are hosting the last of their new “Shred for the Cup” Rail Jams this Saturday. The weather should be great for it and App’s Drew Stanley shared this with us, “Mike…It is coming up this weekend and despite the temps this week, we have plenty of snow, and the setup should be great! You can find more information/current points standings/etc… at www.appterrainpark.com “
Cataloochee Ski Area – 49° – Tammy Brown writes, “On Friday we will be skiing on 7 out of twelve slopes with 3 aerial lifts and 1 surface lift operating on base of 20-48” and a machine worked surface. The top of the mountain, Upper Omigosh is now closed for the rest of the season. On Friday we will offer two sessions of skiing, twilight skiing from 1pm until 10pm and night skiing from 6pm until 10pm with an afternoon half day rate also available. Weekday, student and military rates are in effect for twilight skiing and weekend rates are in effect for night skiing.
Also, come join us for some recreational racing here at Cataloochee, these races are open to any age and any level and will be held on Sunday, March 18, from 1pm until 3pm. Cost is $3 per run, or $5 for two runs. Awards and Results will be held at 4pm in the lodge on Sunday afternoon.”
RIDE IT WHILE YOU CAN!
Before I even finished typing this morning’s column, one emailer wrote some rather disparaging remarks about Ski Beech’s closure this morning. People – chill out! First, take a look at the live cams and that’s all the proof you need that Ski Beech made the right call. Additionally, you can bet that Beech and the other ski area management staffs have their eye on the weather ahead and quite frankly next week is looking very mild again AND there is some more rain in the forecast for Thursday or so of next week. Management has to take these kinds of things into consideration and make the call that’s best for them.
While we expect that App, Cat and Sugar to ski on…don’t be totally blown out of the water if any of these ski areas decide to end their seasons prior to their previously announced dates. Remember that those dates ALL come with a disclaimer that reads “weather permitting”. We’d also add a slight (but important) addendum to that disclaimer and it would read “traffic depending”!
If you want the ski areas to ski on —- then go ski!
Until Next Time…
THINK COLD AND SNOW!!!
Send comments and emails to: [email protected]
For more information about the ski resorts of the Southeast and Mid Atlantic visit www.SkiSoutheast.com
REMEMBER TO VIEW ARCHIVED ARTICLES IN CASE YOU MISSED A STORY POSTED EARLIER TODAY