It’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and it’s a bit hectic out there on the slopes.
There’s an inch of fresh snow that accumulated at Cataloochee overnight, and the ResortCam shows that it’s still coming down this morning.
Timberline and Canaan Valley Resort are the big winners today, with 4.5 inches of fresh snow overnight to add to the ski areas stellar season. Snowshoe got another 2 inches, and Winterplace landed an inch as well. So go brave those crowds: maybe you’ll get lucky and the long-weekenders will filter out around lunch time to get a head start on the drive back home (Which I assume is Florida).
Mike Doble covered the FirsTrax for me yesterday while I ventured over to Appalachian Ski Mountain. When I sent him a text asking for help, his response made me chuckle.
“I can take Sunday,” he said. But as for skiing on Sunday, are you sure?”
I was sure. I’m headed to Florida for a weekend to visit my grandparents soon, and so it was a bit of now-or-two-weeks-from-now situation. And there was no way my mental health could handle being off snow or two weeks straight. So into the madness I went.
And…yeah. It was busy. The lift lines were long, the longest I’ve ever experienced at App. One unique thing about a holiday Sunday at App, I thought to myself, most ski areas in the northeast close around 4:30 p.m., so as it gets to be around 2 or 3 p.m., the crowds clear out, and the lift lines thin out. That‘s not the case when your ski area is spinning lifts until midnight.
I do have to say, if you ever plan on getting a lesson (maybe if you’re a skier who wants to learn how to snowboard, or the other way around), a crazy busy holiday weekend like this weekend might be the time to do so. When taking a lesson, you get to hop in the ski school line with your instructor, bypassing most of the crowds. When you do have to stop and wait, you’re talking with your instructor the entire time, getting pointers, and giving your muscles a break. And nothing will teach you to link your turns like maneuvering around a yard sale of skis, poles, mittens, and goggles splayed out across the trail. It’s a built-in obstacle course: a prerequisite for smashing gates in giant slalom.
As for myself, I knew I wasn’t going to leave the terrain park for the majority of the day. I know. You regular readers are probably not surprised in the slightest.
But my thought process was this: the lift lines were crowded. The parks were not. And I would rather hike up it over-and-over again to session some terrain park features than stand around and do nothing. So that’s what I did. I hiked the terrain park, talked to the parks crew, and gave some pointers to some rookie snowboarders on how to hit a rail.
Without any further delay, let’s get into what you need to know throughout the southeast today.
Timberline
There’s an entire iPhone’s 4’s worth of fresh snow on top of packed, machine-groomed snow on Timberline’s open terrain today. The Drop is still closed for snowmaking. That should change soon.
It’s chilly today at The ‘Line. A low temperature of 14 degrees ahead of the massive cold-front headed across the country.
Just a heads up, goggles and neck gaiters should be considered a must-have, not a could-have out there today. Parking crews will be helping out in the lots, and a shuttle service will be available until 9 p.m. today.
Snowshoe
It’s still snowing at Snowshoe.
There’s 2 inches of new snow, and that means there are three new open trails at the ‘Shoe. There have been 3 inches of fresh snow over the course of the weekend, and all of the lifts are spinning.
“Make your way over to Silver Creek for wide open turns and minimal lift lines! Bear Claw will be on a delay for race training,” the snow reporting team said. “Snowmaking may be in progress on some select open terrain today.”
Beech Mountain Resort
We’ve got all the lifts open but one at Beech today. Same goes for the trails.
Adaptive Ski Week starts tomorrow at 8 a.m. The Beech Mountain Race Series begins January 18.
Canaan Resort
There’s some terrain expansion at Canaan.
The resort has opened four new trails, for a grand total of 17 this morning. It’s still snow showering in the valley.
Massanutten
There’s some fresh snow at Massanutten! The Virginia resort is the recipient of 1.2 well—deserved inches. There’s a winter weather advisory today, so more snowfall is expected during the day.
Need a refresher on the skier’s responsibility code? Look no further:
It’s Monday Night Madness today. Get a lift ticket for 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. for just $35. Rentals are just $25. A portion of tonight’s proceeds will benefit the Elkton Area United Services.
Bryce
There’s a machine-groomed surface with a 12-30-inch base. Snowmaking started back up again after the resort closed for night skiing, and the resort got a half inch of natural snow overnight. Flakes are flying on the ResortCams this morning.
X Games
Something to put on your radar: the Winter X Games will be held in Aspen, Colorado from January 26-28.
Waynesville’s own Zeb Powell has been invited back to compete in the Snowboard Knuckle Huck competition. This will also be the first year that the women will have their own Snowboard Knuckle Huck competition. Jamie Anderson, Mia Brookes, and Anna Gasser are among the invitees for that one.
And just in case you haven’t seen Zeb’s monster gold medal-winning Knuckle Huck run from a few years back: enjoy.
MLK Day
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, take some time out of your day to read this feature from The New York Times about The National Brotherhood of Skiers. The group advocates for Black athletes in winter sports, and last year, celebrated its 50th anniversary with s’mores, parades, skiing and snowboarding. You can read that here.
The first Black Ski Summit was held in 1973. A year later, NBS was founded, and grew to have chapters in Los Angeles, Oakland, Chicago, Detroit, and New York City.
“There’s something special about this week and the way we all gather here,” 72-year-old Michele Lewis, a member of Philadelphia’s Blazers Ski Club, told Times reporter Tariro Mzezewa from atop the summit of Vail Mountain. “When I started skiing, I didn’t know that so many Black people skied, but here we are.”
The Rest
Don’t forget: Clear your calendar from February 9-11. That’s when Massanutten and SkiSoutheast will host team up to host our summit. It’s a great way to meet like-minded, snow-loving people, and possibly make some lifelong friends in the process.
Thanks to everyone that has already joined us on Discord.
Think snow!
Think cold!
Click here to join us on our new SkiSoutheast Discord channel. It is a great way to meet new snow loving friends and shares experiences, ask questions, and more!
And as always, email me at [email protected] with your thoughts and photos.