Our Photo of the Day today is compliments of Appalachian Ski Mountain. As they posted, “No words needed”.
We’re seeing sunny skies now this morning – looking out my window – in Sleepy Hollow.
This weather might drive some to drink…and you can do that AND raise money for a great cause at Beech Mountain tonight. Check out:
https://www.skisoutheast.com/beech-mountain-winterfest-beer-festival-today/
To be honest, after getting back from my own Holiday ski getaway, I have been so busy at work that I barely looked up to see how things were going at the resorts. Let’s just say that we are in dire need of some cold air and snow. Right now we have too many ski areas closed and a couple others very close to it. This last week or so has been crazy wet even though the temperatures themselves haven’t been crazy mild.
I was looking at the rain gauge at Appalachian Ski Mountain and to show you just how wet it has been – they have seem SOME measurable rainfall on TEN of the last TWELVE DAYS! In that span, 4.33″ of rain has fallen. It is amazing that Appalachian and other ski areas have the good base coverage that they have! (By the way, App has 33″+ base depths and great side-to-side coverage on 9 of 12 trails.)
As I looked around at the cams this morning, it was raining pretty steady early at Canaan Valley and as of 8:30am they were getting some wintry mix with snow. They had a nice day on the slopes yesterday as our David McCue was up there making some turns with Justin Harris.
CRAZY WEATHER DIFFERENCES ACROSS THE REGION
As I toured the region this morning, I saw sunny, blue skies at Cataloochee (after 1″ of snow fell), wintry mix at Canaan Valley, light rain at Massanutten and Ober Gatlinburg and WINTER at Snowshoe.
It is crazy how a slight change in latitude and elevation makes that much difference from one mountain to the next.
For another look at the base of Snowshoe…click the Basin Webcam
Where Snow Fell and How Much
Trace at Appalachian
1.5″ at Beech Mountain
1″ at Cataloochee Ski Area
Mix Precip at Canaan Valley
Angie Caroway from up at Sugar Ski & Country Club (CLICK HERE FOR LODGING AT SUGAR) shared that they had a wind-blown one to two inches of snow atop Sugar Mountain. The wind was howling this morning with gusts over 50 mph so you will be hard-pressed to find 2″ of snow anywhere. A wet 1″ of so is on the ground.
About 20 minutes later (just as I was about to post) Angie updated her snow report with 2-3″. Shad Clark from up at SugarTop reported 1-2″. We’ll stay with 1.5″ but that shows you how hard it is to judge with the wind! Thanks Angie, Shad (and all our snow reporters!)
Temporarily Closed Ski Areas…
We detail all of the open ski areas next, however we are getting a LOT of emails asking about closed resorts. There are SIX ski areas in the region that have suspended operations, awaiting cold air.
Ober Gatlinburg.
They wrote:
Due to unseasonably warm temps and heavy amounts of rain, the slopes at Ober Gatlinburg will be temporarily suspended January 5th. We are hoping for more favorable snow making temps in the near future.
Oglebay – They have YET to open this season.
Sapphire Valley. They wrote
DUE TO WARM AND WET WEATHER SKI SAPPHIRE VALLEY IS CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE! COLDER WEATHER RETURNS NEXT WEEK SO WE HOPE TO OPEN FRIDAY JAN 11 …. PLEASE CHECK BACK OFTEN
(Not sure why they were YELLING. Haha. I feel the same way though!)
Omni Homestead – Closed until cold air returns
Timberline Resort – Awaiting the next round of cold air
Wolf Ridge Resort – Awaiting cold
The OPEN Ski Areas!
Frustratingly Close Temps for Snowmaking Everywhere…but Alas…Not Yet
Appalachian Ski Mountain – 32° – Yet the wetbulb or something is keeping them from being able to make snow. Open with 9 trails that look p-r-e-t-t-y doggone good this morning. .86″ of rain fell on Friday and overnight last night and yet the slopes look good. They don’t even have that “January Thaw Creeping in Look”.
Beech Mountain Resort – 27° – 1″ of new snow has fallen overnight and they are Making Snow! They only have 3 slopes open today. Crossover, Freestyle and the Play Yard. The tubing park is closed while making snow as well. Beech DOES have a lot going on OFF the slopes tonight. See: BeerFest
Bryce Resort – No Snowmaking as temps are at the 39° mark this morning. They are still hanging in with 7 trails and a good base with good, side-to-side coverage on the slopes. The sides are “creeping in” a bit.
Canaan Valley Resort – 36° and no snowmaking happening this morning. They are dodging some wintry mix this morning but they are open with 19 of 47 trails.
A GREAT VIDEO FROM CANAAN VALLEY!
Justin posted:
Today the Mountain Report is all about skisoutheast.com. Our friends from North Carolina sent Dave McCue up to hang with Justin, catch some turns, and talk all things winter at CVR! The boys got out early this morning with the groomers and nabbed first tracks for the day. Click play and check them out on the slopes, where conditions continue to hold strong! And don’t forget to like @skisoutheast on Facebook and Instagram. #MountainReport #Skisoutheast #canaanvalley
Cataloochee Ski Area – It is 39° now (8:30am) but Cat made a little snow overnight AND Marketing Director, Tammy Brown shared her own take on 1″ of SNOWn that fell. She wrote, “I so ❤️ that word! Second favorite to snowmaking which we are also doing. So 1″ new snow, currently making snow on top, and 9 slopes open today with a base of 36″-66”. Come on cold!
Cat is now looking BEAUTIFUL this morning with blue skies and pretty snowy shots from BOTH of their new cams.
Massanutten Resort – 40° no snowmaking, but they are hanging in with 5 trails and terrain park. They also have 9 lanes of tubing open. Massanutten’s marketing peeps wrote,”
Well its the 4th consecutive Friday with liquid precipitation but, the there is light at the end of the tunnel. This wretched weather pattern is forecasted to turn around midweek and bring winter back to our side of the country. We’ll be skiing and riding on all 1,110′ of vertical drop with 5 trails for all levels of ability and we’ll be open today from 9:00 pm – 9:00 pm. Terrain park features set up on lower Nutten-To-It. Minimal grooming took place overnight due to the soft snow conditions.
Snowshoe Mountain – 28° – and they are making snow and even though they are not officially reporting any snow yet (as it began to fall after their early morning report), they have .5″ so far and they are open with a region-leading 47 trails for day sessions, snow tubing and night skiing.
It looks like WINTER there!
Wintergreen Resort – 35° and 10 trails open.
They wrote:
Hanging Tough
Amazingly enough conditions are holding. Highlands will have a delayed opening this morning as Roger needs to continue to work his magic before Highlands opens for the day. It’s a big puzzle and he’s out moving snow, grooming and putting the pieces back together.
Clouds are moving and starting to break up. The sun is peeking through and we should have full sun this afternoon. It’s a beautiful sunrise. Come see what fun you can have today on the slopes!
Our Crystal Ball
Looking into next week snowmaking temperatures are returning. Boy, is that good news. Next week we should have periods of round the clock snowmaking and you know we’ll be pounding out the good stuff.
Thanks for your support. We hope you agree that any day on the slopes is a great day!
Winterplace – 35° and that means no snowmaking. However they are holding on well with 14-30″ base and 8 trails open. Snowtubing is closed awaiting cold air.
Wisp Resort – 32° – Looks a little wet this morning and no snowmaking happening so temps are just above where needed. However, Wisp is playing on 14 trails, terrain parks, tubing, mountain coaster, ice skating and more. What more do you need?
Still LOVING this view:
http://www.resortcams.com/webcams/deep-creek-lake-wisp-resort/
You get zoomed looks at the terrain park, the tubing hill, the lake, The Face and Squirrel Cage and more. Pretty cool!
That will do it for today.
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[final-thoughts]