Today will be a mild day, prompting thoughts of tennis and maybe a round of golf. The highs in many areas of the Southeast and Mid Atlantic will reach into the low and then mid 50s. We’ve seen the last of the snow making days and nights until Saturday night and that’s okay because there is a TON of snow on the slopes of all of the ski areas. One resort operator from around the region emailed me yesterday challenging whether or not "some of their resort brothers" ACTUALLY have the snow that they are saying they have. It’s always kind of funny that yours truly takes a little heat from time to time when we report that some of the base depth numbers seem irrational or inflated. Old Jim Cantore of THE WEATHER CHANNEL caught some heat from me and a few others a month or so back when he reported on national cable (THE WEATHER CHANNEL) that some of the North Carolina resorts were over inflating their base numbers.
…and then I get an email from one of our resort’s admins asking us if XYZ resort really has "X" inches of snow. Jeesh!
Back on point – no matter WHAT the base depths are across all of the slopes and trails – the number IS a big one and these very few mild and rainy days ahead will do very little to affect those bases negatively. After a mild day today, it appears that we have some slight chances of rain today, and increased chances of that pesky "underdeveloped snow" for tonight, Friday, Friday night and into Saturday. (All bummers…)
Saturday night gets "v-e-l-l-y i-n-t-e-r-e-s-t-i-n-g" as we could see anything from a light snow event like many of the ski areas have had an abundance of this season – to a good, old-fashioned snow storm – like many of the West Virginia and Maryland ski areas have seen many of". Meteorologist Matthew East began talking about it last weekend but stated that we’d need to get a little closer to the weekend to be able to get a true picture of what to expect out of this one. Well, we are days closer now, but all of the weather gurus that we know are still playing this system close to the vest feeling that there are too many ways that this thing could go.
Let’s THINK SNOW and hope for a good, old-fashioned snow storm…
THANKS TONS TO SUGAR MOUNTAIN FOR AN AWESOME SHOW OF HEART…
Last weekend those of you who attended the SkiNC / Ski Beech Summit knows that as a last second idea, we decided to auction off the Ski Getaways that we normally GIVE AWAY as a means of raising funds for the Helena Jolly Educational Fund. Thanks to some very cool people in the form of Donna Horbury of Blue Ridge Vacation Cabins, Bill Leonard of Ski Country Sports, Ryan and John Costin of Ski Beech, Brad Moretz of Appalachian Ski Mountain and Louise Anderson of Sugar Mountain Resort Accommodations – we were able to package some very nice ski getaways that included ultra nice, expensive lodging options, sweet ski rentals and lift tickets from Appalachian and Ski Beech. Since this was a last moment idea we figured we’d throw in (4) lift passes to ski or ride at Sugar Mountain for the two vacations ON SUGAR that was a part of the mix.
We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to Kim and Gunther Jöchl, Kevin Lawrence and Group Sales Manager, Will Mitchell of Sugar Mountain for displaying the heart of champions by extending an offer to us of providing those four lift passes to those who "won" those two trips and helped raise nearly $8000 for a little eight year old girl – at Group Sales pricing.
Man that was sweet of them. Kim Jöchl writes, "If you would like, you may purchase the eight lift tickets at the group rate the Thursday before each giveaway weekend (four per weekend for a total of two weekends). Please see Will Mitchell, Director of Group Sales. -Kim"
It is no wonder why so many people are endeared to Sugar Mountain’s leadership. That was so sweet of them. Thanks again Sugar. You guys rock!
MOVING ON…
I see that Meteorologist Matthew East just updated his weather video forecast for the next few days. So let me get to the quick updates this morning and we’ll go have a look at that, get it posted for the rest of you guys and post more news later in the day.
SkiSoutheast.com / Snowshoe Summit Update…
We are at 102 people attending the Summit / Ski Party next weekend, March 6-8th. It promises to be a blast and we’re predicting that we’ll have a bunch more coming on board over the next 2-3 days. If you’re interested in skiing, riding and hanging out with a bunch of fellow snow enthusiasts, getting $100 OFF any Snowshoe Mountain lodging, AND A FREE LIFT PASS FOR SUNDAY SKIING (Gosh we’re up to 102 FREE LIFT PASSES BEING GIVEN AWAY) then get on over to the Summit Page and sign up to join us. Look for more information coming online today!
Click here to Join Us at the SkiSoutheast.com / Snowshoe Summit March 6-8th!
Check the SLOPE REPORT page for all the details today.
Send your comments, photos, videos and trip reports to: [email protected]