Winter Perfectly Times MORE COLD coming in as NC Ski Areas begin to Show Some Thin Coverage!

Today should be the last mild day we will see for the next four or five days at least.  Here is yet another example of how TIMELY a winter this has been in terms of keeping decent to great conditions on the slopes. Regardless of whatever huge numbers are being inflated regarding base depths at some ski areas there ARE some thin coverage and bare spots shining this morning.  In North Carolina , the best snow today will be at Appalachian, Hawksnest and Cataloochee from what we can see on the LIVE CAMS this morning and from eyewitness reports. (We’ve included a Live Cam Capture of Ski Beech and Sugar this morning.)

Appalachian’s conditions will unquestionably be the best today. Clean, white snow, packed and groomed.  It will loosen a bit as they day goes on, but they are in good shape today and snowmaking returns at least by tomorrow.

As mentioned Cataloochee and Hawksnest look very nice this morning.  The groomers were doing their thing as we watched LIVE on the cams this morning.  As the day wears on and skier traffic plays into the mix things will be loose and variable but plenty of good conditions at those two.

Ski Beech is looking fine…but they do have some thin coverage areas and a few bare spots showing this morning.  Thankfully COLD air hits tonight and particularly over the next several nights.  Conditions will be variable and wet, but pretty good Spring-like ski conditions for today and better with cold temps and snowmaking for the weekend.  MEN SKI FREE TODAY at BEECH!

Both Ski Beech and Sugar Mountain dropped their base depths by two inches.  However Sugar’s 29” minimum base depth and apparently some of the 76” of maximum have a translucent quality to them because we are seeing thin coverage and bare spots on some of the main trails this morning.  There’s plenty of good, Spring-like conditions and side to side coverage, but we thought we’d let you know that there are some thin and bare areas since that’s not being reflected in their reports.

One On-Snow reporter who works at one of the High Country’s ski areas wrote us this morning, “Appalachian’s 24-60” of base SURE looks a whole lot better than Sugar’s 31-78”!”  Hey, we report – you decide!

Wolf Laurel is holding up well.  As of this morning they have a little discoloration in some areas, but all in all decent conditions.  It will be Spring Skiing Conditions there as well.

WE TOLD YOU GUYS…SAPPHIRE VALLEY IS CLOSED FOR THE SEASON – As we forecasted earlier in the week after looking at the weather forecast for Sapphire and the calendar…They HAVE indeed closed for the season.  That is not being reflected on other regional and national ski websites.  However they have told us that they will not be reopening until DECEMBER.

In summary, conditions will be pretty doggone good for today.  Expect variable to loose granular conditions no matter where you go today.  There may be a thin coverage or bare spot or two at most of the resorts, but NOTHING you can’t simply ski around with TONS of good skiable terrain open at ALL resorts.  The GREAT news is that the TIMING is good yet again such that COLD air is infiltrating the region tonight and even more so Friday night and through the weekend.  Snowmaking and grooming will make for what should be VERY, VERY NICE conditions across the state.

Until Next Time!

Be sure to check out www.SkiSoutheast.com  for more news and stories for all of the Southeast’s ski areas.

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