I’d like to start the morning off with a big High-Five going out to the Virginia Ski Areas who pulled down more snow from yesterday’s bombing than they’ve received all season long! Massanutten scored 8 inches, Bryce got 7.7 inches, and Wintergreen followed up with 6 inches of snow! AWESOME. Virginia’s season totals are all still under the 15 inch mark, but this blast of powder will serve them well!!
Now that I’ve pumped up the VA ski areas, let’s talk about the weather elsewhere. I know you all are beginning to think that all I ever talk about is the weather, but, the industry hinges on it, plus I’ve got great info from Weatherman Brad Panovich coming in almost daily, and I just want to share it!!
WHO SAID JANUARY WOULD BE MILD? THEY WERE WRONG!
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A new Skiers Forecast from Brad indicates that yesterday brought 4-7 hours of INTENSE snowfall. And we’re not finished with snow for this week. Tomorrow brings a Friday CLIPPER system that will bring a possible 1-3 inches of snow to the North Carolina ski areas and as much as 6-8 inches in Pocahontas County, WV – home of Snowshoe! The rich just get richer! Following Friday’s burst of snow, the weekend will dry out and warm up. By warm up I mean temperatures could reach the mid-30’s. Along with this slightly less cold weather comes a couple of dry days before February comes. February is set to start off COLD and WINDY and brings increasing chances of NORTHWEST FLOW SNOW. Conditions should be AWESOME across the board as almost every ski area in the southeast and mid-Atlantic are reporting some kind of snowfall – Mike is heading to the Shoe this weekend and I know we’re all jealous. With nearly a foot of snow from this week the powder will be ripe for the shredding! Stay tuned for updated forecasts this weekend about the possible snows the first few days of February!
Big thanks go out to Mr. John McCracken up at Wisp Resort who is the man in charge of their snow reporting. It’s great to have another reliable set of eyes on the snow. As I was checking around the Ski Area Snow Reports I noticed that on Wisp’s homepage they were reporting 12 inches of snow and on their Ski/Snow Report page they were only reporting 4 inches. So, I sent an email and asked about the discrepancy, and I promptly got a return phone call from John at Wisp explaining that the two numbers report different time periods…the 12 inch report is for the last 24 hours and the 4 inch report was for the last 12 hours. THANKS to the WISP gang for calling me and letting me know!! SO…12 INCHES AT WISP=TONS OF POWDER! In other Wisp news they are 100% open today!
Alrighty, let’s head South…
SNOWSHOE is reporting another 7 inches of snow this morning, and more is on the way! By the end of this week Snowshoe could be under ANOTHER FOOT of fresh powder!! Here’s what Laura Parquette has to say today, "Choker and Lower Shay’s Revenge were both left ungroomed last night. Choker has some nice moguls formed and Shay’s should offer some deep powder. The Sawmill and Camp 99 trails were groomed first overnight, meaning the area off of the Soaring Eagle Express lift should provide some of the best powder stashes on the mountain. All season, Grabhammer and Knot Bumper have also provided lots of powdery goodness in the basin area. For you expert skiers and riders don’t forget about Bear Claw and Flying Eagle over at the Silver Creek area. These often overlooked slopes provide excellent conditions and you may be able to make first tracks all day! And your Snowshoe lift ticket is good at the Silver Creek area from 9am until 9pm! For those looking for some groomers to cruise, all of our green and blue terrain was groomed overnight and there should be a beautiful carving surface for you to enjoy this morning. Yesterday’s snow was one of the heaviest snows we’ve experienced thus far this year, so it should have packed down and tilled out nicely with some TLC from our expert grooming crew."
CANAAN and TIMBERLINE both pulled down 9.3 INCHES of new POWDER!! They have been leaders of the snowfall total pack this season, and that remains…they’re sitting at 143.4 inches of snow!! Canaan is 100% open today and Timberline is open on 37 of 39 slopes and trails! It’s also HEROES DAY at Canaan…where POLICE, EMS, FIREFIGHTERS and MILITARY get 1/2 off rentals and lift tickets!
WINTERPLACE got BOMBED yesterday as well! With 8 inches of FRESHIES conditions on the mountain don’t get much better. They are 100% open today as well on all 27 slopes.
As I mentioned before, VIRGINIA finally got dumped on and Bryce, Massanutten, and Wintergreen are all operating WIDE OPEN at 100% and tons of great snow for you to enjoy!
The NORTH CAROLINA ski areas also enjoyed some fresh snow from Wednesday’s Hit and Run Storm…
BEECH Mountain leads the pack and got 5 inches of snow, with SUGAR following close behind at 4 inches, and APP SKI MTN pulling down 3.5 inches of SNOW. All three of these mountains are 100% open!
WOLF RIDGE got 1.4 inches of snow, just enough to put a nice top coat down on the slopes. They are open on 16 of 23 slopes, so look for more terrain to open up this weekend.
SAPPHIRE VALLEY is open on all terrain. I’ve got to tell you about a SUPER cool event going on at Sapphire February 19th. They are hosting the 5th Annual OUTHOUSE RACES…a cool event that benefits students who wouldn’t ordinarily have the opportunity to participate in after school ski programs. So, check that out, and for more information call 828.743.1163!
CATALOOCHEE just got a TRACE of snow, but conditions are awesome and they are 100% open!
To round it out…OBER is open on 100% of the mountain, and they’ve also got just a TRACE of new snow this morning.
THINK COLD!! THINK SNOW!!
Check out our other sites if you’ve got some time… www.HighCountryWeather.com and www.HighCountryWebcams.com!
You can reach me directly at [email protected] with questions or comments, and you can also send me photos and videos, too!!