Up to 3″ of Snow Fell Last Night and Great Snowmaking Makes Valentine’s Day Skiing SWEET!

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The four day long President’s Day weekend (Friday through Monday) is looking very nice and if you have plans to ski or ride today….conditions will be nothing short of awesome! Most of the region got a little light snow overnight, and with temps down into the teens, there was some super overnight snowmaking and that will make for phenomenal conditions for the weekend as well!

The forecast for the weekend ahead ranges from sunny skies Friday and Saturday into the North Carolina mountains to snow showers into West Virginia and Maryland on Friday, Sunny skies Saturday and maybe a little mix of wintry precip to rain on Sunday and then more snow Monday!

Canaan Valley, Wisp and Timberline Resorts all reported about 3" of new snow, with Snowshoe and Winterplace reporting another 1". The snows seems to skip the Virginia resorts again and the North Carolina resorts saw just a TRACE of snow – as did Ober Gatlinburg. A couple of readers wrote us to bring attention to the fact that while the West Virginia resorts have seen 80-101" of snow this season; and while Beech Mountain in North Carolina leads the state with 22" on the season…the top snowfall so far of the Virginia resorts is Massanutten with 10" and Wintergreen with just 7" of natural snow so far this season. The 80+ inches in WV is about one-half of their normal for an entire season but not far off where they should be at this point in the season. The 22" for Beech is more than 50% below where they normally are for this time of year. Beech Mountain averages about 80" of natural snow each season.

Regardless, conditions are GREAT today and that’s all that matters to us, right!?!?! Here’s some notes from around the region!

Wisp Resort – They are at 24° this morning and saw 3" of new snow and that makes it 10" thus far this week. They did not make snow and that is how great conditions are right now! They have 28 trails open, tubing, two terrain parks, mountain coastering and some awesome conditions!

Snowshoe Mountain – They are reporting 8° this morning and another 1" of snow. They have seen about 3" of snow in the last three days and have 58 trails open, two terrain parks, snow tubing and awesome conditions. Laura Parquette wrote, "Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone. Today really is a day to show some love, as another inch of fresh powder fell overnight and it looks like it is going to be a beautiful day out there. We may see a few more flurries and snow showers this morning, with another half an inch of accumulation possible, and then the skies will gradually clear and the sun will make an appearance this afternoon. Temperatures are expected to remain cold throughout the day–with very low windchills, so bundle up–and snowmaking begun overnight will continue as long as those temperatures all today. Please be aware of snowmaking on open terrain. Today would be a great day to ditch the office and get a head start on the long weekend, so if you haven’t visited us this season, make your plans today!! **Powderridge lift will have a delayed, 10am opening for routine maintenance**"

EDITORS NOTE!!! GM Bill Rock and marketing department pros Brad Larsen and Laura Parquette have teamed up with us at SkiSoutheast.com to create a SkiSoutheast.com / Snowshoe Weekend March 7-9th and we’ll be announcing some great discounts, parties, giveaways and more for all who would like to join us for the inaugural SkiSoutheast.com Summit! We’ll be announcing the details by tomorrow so be SURE to stay tuned and make plans to join us from some awesome fun!

Canaan Valley – They are 35° colder than at this time Wednesday morning! They are reporting 3" of snow overnight with 15° at 8am. The 3" of new snow takes them to 101.1" on the season. The Tucker County West Virginia resorts have had more snow than the rest of the region thus far. Canaan has 14 trails open today and awesome, powder conditions.

Timberline Resort – They are reporting 11° and 3" of snow (101" on the season) and 26 trails available for skiing and riding. They also have their popular terrain park open as well. Jessica Scowcroft wrote us that they will be hosting the Willie Nelson Tribute Weekend Feb. 15-18th. This long weekend will feature three days of continuous music from 4pm-2am Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evening at Timber’s Pub located on the top level of the Ski Lodge. They are also playing host to the Nitro GS Snowboard Race on Saturday, Feb. 16th 10am!

Winterplace Resort – They are reporting 12° this morning and an inch of new snow as well as great snowmaking overnight. They are 100% open with 28 trails, snow tubing and terrain parks all open!

Wintergreen Resort – The Virginia resorts seem to keep missing out on the snows that have fallen this winter. While resorts into North Carolina got a TRACE of snow and the West Virginia resorts saw 1-3" of snow…none of the Virginia resorts reported any natural snow. Wintergreen DID however make a ton of snow and they have 20 trails open today. Anne Marie Jones writes, "Last evening’s weather delivered near perfect snowmaking temperatures which are forecasted to last through mid-day today. Snowmaking crews have been busy strategically making and stockpiling snow throughout the entire resort this week and have successfully resurfaced most of the mountain. The current weather forecast shows a high likelihood that snowmaking efforts will resume again on Friday and Saturday evening.

We anticipate having 23 slopes and trails open for skiing and riding on Friday and increasing the count to 24 slopes and trails on Saturday.. The average snow base depth throughout the resort is 20-40” with great skiing and riding conditions."

(NOW THAT is providing good details for our readers!)

Massanutten Resort – They are reporting 18° this morning and they made snow as well. They are offering ten trails, snow tubing and terrain park fun today. Conditions should be sweet today at Massanutten.

Bryce Resort – They are at 19° this morning with 8 trails and we’re not sure why…but they did not make snow. Perhaps things are just that good today!

Ober Gatlinburg – The Smoky Mountain resort got a trace of snow and at 18° made some great snow as well and they offer 5 trails today with Groomed conditions.

Appalachian Ski Mountain – They saw a low of 13° overnight and are already at 21° at 8am. They saw about 1/2" of snow and made snow as well and are 100% open with both terrain parks and ice skating for your pleasure today. They are not making snow during ski sessions today!

Cataloochee Ski Areas – They are at 10° this morning with 11 of 14 slopes on a great, groomed surface. They have their tubing hill open today as well!

Hawksnest Ski Resort – They are at 16° at 8am and they made snow and saw a trace of snow as well. They were grooming early and look super today on 9 trails, with terrain features on Sock em Dog and their popular tubing hill open today.

Ski Beech – They saw a low of 8° at 1:40am this morning and are currently showing 10° at 8am. They are showing a wind chill of -2° at 8am with a 9 mph breeze. They saw a 23 mph gust and midnight. THAT had to be cold. Beech looks like a post card this morning and conditions could not be better. They have 12 traiuls open, ice skating and terrain park features. They will be making snow as long as temps allow on a frozen granular / new snow surface.

Sugar Mountain Ski Resort – They are currently already showing 21° at the summit of their mountain at 8am, but they saw a low of 8° this morning and they are reporting a TRACE of snow and are making snow as well. They will make snow as long as temps allow. They have 19 trails open, terrain park, ice skating and tubing. Boss Hawg plays again this Saturday, February 16th from 4pm-6pm in the base lodge. Sounds like a good time to be at Sugar!

Ski the Ridges – (That’s what Wolf Ridge is calling itself these days) – They are at 12° at 8am. They made and are making snow as long as temps allow today. They have 16 trails open, terrain park and tubing as well. The Top is currently closed but they will reopen it for this weekend.

Enjoy your day…I’m going to be beat my head against a wall. JUST KIDDING MOM!

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 snow photos, videos, comments or emails to: [email protected]  

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