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! As much as NINE INCHES OF SNOW HAS FALLEN in the past 24 hours (at Snowshoe Mountain)! Canaan and Timberline are reporting 6-7" of snow, Wisp 4" and even Ober Gatlinburg in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee picked up 2" of snow! The North Carolina ski areas are all reporting 1-3" of snow.
TODAY will be a sweet day to be on the slopes no matter where you choose to ride!
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!
WEST VIRGINIA SKI AREA REPORT: 7.3" of snow at Canaan and Timberline, 9" at Snowshoe and 4" at Winterplace!
Snowshoe Mountain – 3° – 9" of new snow and possibly another 3" will fall today! Snowshoe has been bombed with natural snow lately and is now at 181" on the season which surpasses their normal average seasonal snowfall total of 180" and they have the rest of February, all of March and the first of April to go! Reported Base: 56" – Snowshoe has all 60 trails open and packed powder conditions!
EDITOR’S NOTE: If you have not made plans to attend the SkiSoutheast / Snowshoe Summit being held March 6th-8th – DO SO NOW! That weekend should be huge with the Homegrown Music Festival going on at the same time and we heard from a fair number of people who attended the Summit / Fundraiser at Ski Beech this past weekend that are planning on going to Snowshoe. It should be a blast. Stay tuned as we update information about the Snowshoe Summit later today and Tuesday.
Canaan Valley – 14° – 7.3" of new snow, 22.3" in the last TEN days and 168.9" on the season! Reported Base: 20-40" and they are open with 24 of 39 trails for day sessions only today. No snowmaking needed.
Timberline Resort – 14° – They are reporting 6" of snow although the official snow measurer up that way reports 7.3"! They have been bombed with snow and they are making snow on selected trails. Reported Base: 30-70" – They have 32 of 37 trails open and 17km of backcountry open for cross country skiing with a 6-11" base of natural snow!
Winterplace Resort – 16° – 4" of new snow and 71" now on the season! Reported Base: 40-80" and 100% of their trails open (28) and snow tubing as well!
WISP REPORT IN MARYLAND REPORT: Wisp – 11° – Reported 4" of new snow and 111" on the season! Reported Base: 20-58" – Day sessions only on Mondays and 27 of 32 trails open with snow tubing and terrain parks open as well!
VIRGINIA SKI AREA REPORT: (No natural snow and only Wintergreen Resort is making snow right now.)
Wintergreen Resort – 10° – Reported Base: 40-60" – No natural snow to report – They are making tons of snow and have 25 of 26 trails open and terrain park. Their popular snow tubing park will reopen on Tuesday. Anne Marie Jones writes, "10 degrees at 7AM, we are making a lot of snow! The next 4 weekends are packed full of activities: the final Double Cross, Slopestyle, Rail Jam and The Slide and Splash Bash! This coming weekend we are saying thanks to our WPI Members and HEAD Pro Skier and Freeride Champion Grete Eliason will be here making turns with guests and helping out with the Freestyle Double Cross. HEAD will provide demos all weekend and the Oakley “O Lab” will be here showing off their products. Live music, great food, Grete here for a visit, great snow, and a great boardercross event, you should come up for some fun!"
Bryce Resort – 22° – Reported Base: 34-59" – No snow to report and they have not made snow although they could have for more than a week. They are open with all 8 trails and snow tubing. We spoke with Nate Gatchell up at Bryce because we have not seen any snowmaking and he said, "We were so fortunate to be able to make a lot of snow this season and we simply don’t need to." He added that they had not made snow in about two weeks and they will only make it if needed the rest of the way. They have their Winterfest Festival on March 7th and plan on being open at least another week or more past that.
Massanutten Resort – 12° – Reported Base: 50" – No snow to report and though they could have made snow, they don’t need to and didn’t – They are 100% open with all 14 trails and 8 lanes of snow tubing.
OBER GATLINBURG IN TENNESSEE REPORT: Ober – 16° – 2" of natural snow and 19" on the season. – Reported Base: 56-84" and 6 of 8 trails and snow tubing open!
NORTH CAROLINA SKI AREA REPORT:
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.
Ditto – The Homestead Resort in Virginia – No reports since dirt was invented.
THE WEEK AHEAD – WEATHERWISE
According to most of our weather friends, the temps today will be frigid for the second day in a row. Up to 3" more snow could fall at Snowshoe and the WV mountains. There will be some scattered snow flurries into the NC mountain. Things will stay could through Tuesday night and then that may be the last of the snowmaking ops for most all of the ski areas until Sunday evening. 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…
Send your comments, photos, videos and trip reports to: [email protected]