Things are hopping around the state today!
We’re getting a lot of emails from people wondering who’s making snow, who’s opening and who isn’t – and why not…so we figured we’d take you guys on a little trip around the state.
Appalachian Ski Mountain has been making snow and will open on Wednesday, November 22, 2006 and will be offering FREE LIFT TICKETS for anyone ready to go and do some turns on the two trails that they will have open. Drew Stanley informed us that they MIGHT also open up from the top of Upper Big Appal, so that may in the mix as well. They will also offer some features within the terrain park as well.
Cataloochee has been pouring on the snowmaking and of course they are open. (They’ve BEEN operating for 3 straight weekends now) Cataloochee begins night skiing tonight – another first in NC and the Southeast! They are skiing and riding on four trails with more on the way soon! The way Cataloochee’s been going of late…they may be shooting for more “firsts”…Stay tuned.
Hawksnest has not been making snow yet. They are waiting on the next round of cold weather and hopefully timing that with having their staff, equipment and everything in place to open. Look for them to be ready to open by the first weekend or two in December.
RJ Grady over at Sapphire Valley Ski Area contacted us to tell us that they have been making snow for the last 3-4 days, but targeting an opening date is sketchy. He reported, “We’ve got some good base already made on the slopes and the tubing hill, but right now we’re still getting the staff in place, so opening day could be another few days or so.” We’d advise checking our SLOPE CONDITIONS page or call Sapphire directly to make sure they are operating.
Scaly Mountain is tubing only again this year after making some strong hints that they may be skiing again this season. We’ve tried to contact the top brass over there, but thus far we’ve only been greeted with voice mail. They do say that they will “know more” after December 1st…
MOVIN’ ON…
Ski Beech – Everyone is calling us about Ski Beech! They HAVE been making snow…and they are working to get open soon. Some of our visitors have emailed us from time to time about how slow Ski Beech is to open, and “how they are not as motivated to open” etc. That may have been somewhat true in the past, but Ski Beech (like many of the ski areas) has invested in upgrades and additional snowmaking capabilities in the off-season. For example, the word is that they will be attempting to open The Oz Run not long after opening the rest of the mountain. According to Gil Adams of Ski Beech, “We have really built a lot of base in the last couple of days and most of that has been focused on the top of the mountain. We could be skiing up there right now.”
Gil told us that they had a pump go screwy on them this morning that is prohibiting them from making snow on Play Yard, which is the main “finishing” area of the mountain. Therefore they will be addressing that such that they won’t have additional issues after the mountain opens.
Adams added, “Our goal is the build enough base to support skier traffic and last, rather than opening with just enough to get going.”
According to them Ski Beech may not open for Thanksgiving or even Thanksgiving Weekend…but rather opt to open into the first of next week with a good base that will offer quality and quantity. We’d suggest keeping an eye on our SLOPES CONDITIONS page for updates and opening day announcements.
Sugar Mountain is open to the top. They opened for the season on Monday and already have some quality snow to play on. As of this writing (2pm Tuesday) they are making snow and you can expect a good ride at Sugar for Wednesday, Thanksgiving Day and as long as the weather holds.
Wolf Ridge (formerly Wolf Laurel) Resort is aiming at December 8th to get open for the season. Kathy Kelley, who is over Group Sales (and also Marketing Director Tim Bryant’s assistant), informed us, “It’s just not been quite cold enough to make snow here yet. Where most of the other resorts saw an inch or two of snow, we just had a dusting.” She added that they have an eye on the warm weather trend coming in over the weekend and feel that the December 8th date is a more likely target date to get open. She did add that they would begin making snow as soon as they see a consistent opportunity.
For those unaware, Wolf Ridge Resort has really invested in a ton of upgrades, new lifts etc… and you can see many of their new features by clicking here .
You may also want to click on EACH of the ski area links on the front of the site as we have included a “What’s NEW at” box on each of the resort pages.
Stay tuned for more news…and also check out those pages on www.SkiSoutheast.com to see more about the rest of the ski resorts in the region.
Until Next Time…
For more information about ALL the ski resorts of the Southeast and Mid Atlantic…visit www.SkiSoutheast.com
THINK COLD – THINK SNOW!
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