100% OPEN! For the first time this season we are able to use those words! While Appalachian with its 10 trails and Sapphire Valley with their 2 runs can say that…we DO have a couple of ski areas actually 100% open today. others like Sugar have opened more terrain and they and others are still making snow like crazy in an effort to open even more over the weekend.
Most ALL WEEK we have included snow and cold in the updates and today is no exception. 1 to 3" of snow is possible in the mountains of North Carolina, with the lighter accummulations over the High Country’s ski areas (App, Hawksnest, Sugar and Beech) and the possibility of the heavier snow over towards Wolf Ridge, Cataloochee and maybe even Sapphire Valley.
The National Weather Service has put out a "Snow Advisory" for the mountains, but did state that the areas near the Tennessee line (the High Country) would see the lighter accummulations.
In addition to the snow we should see a high Saturday of around 29° and a low of 6° tonight. Sunday’s high will be near 19° with another 6° low Sunday night and then Monday should be 30° or so and lows near 22°.
The MLK weekend crowds will love the conditions as they are at their VERY best of the entire season right now – no matter where you go and this weather and conditions could not have been better timed.
Here’s a breakdown of who has what open today:
<Appalachian is 100% open
Appalachian Ski Mtn. – 26° – App is proud to be skiing on 100% of its terrain for the MLK
weekend. Drew Stanley writes, "We were greeted with some natural snow this week, making conditions great, and the roads have had time to clear completely, so there are no problems getting up to the mountain, so be sure to take advantage and join us for the fun this weekend!"
App has ice skating, two terrain parks and all trails open, including the last two to open (black diamonds) Thin Slice and Hard Core.
Cataloochee is skiing and snowboarding on 70% of their terrain which is 10 of 15 trails. They have some great terrain park features such as their Mailbox, Flat Box, Flat Rail and C Box that will be available for you to ride at the top of Over Easy, right down from the Snack Shack, accessed by the Easy Way Triple Chairlift. The Cat made snow last night.
Cataloochee’s popular Tube World will be open as well.
<Good attendance began showing up Friday night at Hawksnest
Hawksnest Ski Resort is at 23° this morning and they have 8 trails of 11 open and 6 lanes on their great snow tubing hill. The only slopes not open today are Merlin, Old Blue, Narrow Gauge and Sock Em Dog (Terrain Park).
Their signature run that was added a few years back, Top Gun is OPEN! Justin Grimes and their crew want you to know that, "The roads are clear, come on up and enjoy the snow!"
With the heavy crowds of MLK weekend, we’d suggest Hawksnest as a good choice for somewhat less crowds.
Sapphire Valley is open (actually 100%) with both of the ski trails and their Frozen Falls Tubing area.
Scaly Mountain’s Tubing area is open this weekend with it’s one massive "lane" of tubing fun for your enjoyment.
<Ski Beech was doing some last minute grooming this morning!
Ski Beech is at 20° this morning and they have the best conditions of their season thus far on 10 of 15 trails and they are making snow in selected areas, which means they may open more terrain soon. Beech is offering ice skating and their village shops and bakery are all open.
Sugar Mountain – The low was 18° up at Sugar and they continue to make snow. Sugar writes, "With cold temperatures hovering, snowmaking continues to increase the existing base on open slopes. Other slopes like The Terrain Park, Bouldardash and Sugar Bear are scheduled to open soon."
Sugar also is taking some care of their guests by aiming the snowguns away from guests as much as possible during ski sessions.
Thanks to Phillip Sisco who plows snow around Tynecastle and Sugar Mountain for writing us and advising that Sugar Mountain saw 5" of snow Thursday morning. We reported 5" as well, but remarked that when we went over their mid-morning that there was maybe 2-3" left on the ground and not 5" of fluffy white snow that Sugar was still reporting. We didn’t mean to say they didn’t GET the snow, just that it wasn’t still on the ground so that visitors wouldn’t be disappointed at so much less than 5".
Phillip wrote, "I plow snow on sugar….there was 5 inches(actually it was more like 6 inches) of new snow thurday am before it rained for an hour compacting it….just thought you would like to know."
We did…but thanks Phil.
<WCNC NBC 6 Sports Reporter and TV Anchor Ira Cronin will be up at Sugar Ski & Country Club doing some slopeside broadcast this evening!
Sugar has 16 trails open today (the most in the area) and we heard from Ira Cronin, the Sports Reporter and Anchor for WCNC TV (NBC) in Charlotte that they are going to be LIVE from the top of Sugar Mountain doing some interviews with some of you guests, so if you’re up on Big Red around 6pm you may get on the air. Hey guys! How about yelling SKINC on the air for us!
Thanks to Tabitha up at Sugar Ski & Country Club for giving WCNC an assist. It seems that they can only get a satellite signal from the top of Sugar and an overlook over at Blowing Rock!
Wolf Ridge has not updated their report since Friday morning but we called and were told that they are open with 7 trails and 4 lifts, terrain features and snow tubing. They are making snow on the upper runs trying to get more open as quickly as possible and remember that they may get a bit more snow than most of the Western North Carolina mountains over that way today!
CLOSING NOTES:
A lot of people have written to ask us "what the normal temps are for this time of the season" and we can tell you that this entire last week has been much colder and snowier than normal. Normal highs for this date are 40° for the high and 23° for a low temp. Today’s high of 30° or so is 10° below normal and tonight’s forecasted low may be 17° colder than normal!
Enjoy your day…
Until Next time…
Be sure to visit www.SkiSoutheast.com for more news from the rest of the Southeast and Mid Atlantic ski areas!
Send your snow photos, videos, comments or emails to: [email protected]