Good Morning! Man, it’s cold outside! Wind chills are below zero in many locations. I did not want to get out of bed this morning but I woke up this morning around 6:30am and poked my head outside and boy it looks like a winter wonderland. Snow is continuing to fall around the region and resorts are still taking advantage of the cold temperatures. Snowfall totals are increasing as well.
Just a little side note–I was in Asheville, NC over the weekend with a wonderful group of friends to attend the 22nd Annual Warren Haynes Christmas Jam that was being held at the Asheville CiviC Center. It’s a wonderful collaborative effort of various artists each year who come together for this concert which benefits Habitat for Humanity. This year several wonderful acts were there including Steve Miller Band and Umphrey’s McGee, and more. The reason I tell you about how much fun I had over the weekend is that although I knew the weekend would be fun, I was a little nervous about getting back to town from Asheville in the midst of all these Winter Storm warnings and watches being issued by the National Weather Service as far back as Friday for the storm that didn’t come until the wee hours of Sunday morning. I did, indeed, make it home, but Asheville got a few inches of the white stuff.
North Carolina…
Appalachian Ski Mountain – 10°- The entire mountain is open! All of the slopes are open including the three terrain parks which are packed with fun features! As of Friday morning’s Terrain Park Report, there are a number of tabletops and rails for your skiing and riding enjoyment. The ATP crew has been on it for you guys from day one, look for feature additions and changes! Appalachian has received 5.2 inches from this current storm!
Beech Mountain -2°- Beech Moutain is open today on 12 of 14 slopes for both day and night sessions. Snowmaking continues up on Beech and more natural snow is continuing to fall! Beech has gotten 10 inches of snow from the current storm.
Cataloochee – 13.3°- Cataloochee is open for the day session only today. Starting tomorrow, December 14, the regular operating schedule pf day, twilight and night skiing will commence. Cataloochee has seen 8 inches off the last storm.
Sugar Mountain -7°- Sugar is open today with 16 of 20 trails open. Sugar is requiring hats and gloves today to ski or snowboard because there is a frost bite warning. About 10 inches of snow has fallen from this last storm up on Sugar.
Wolf Ridge Resort – 13°- Wolf Ridge is CLOSED today due to extremely high winds, blizzard conditions and poor road conditions. Wolf Ridge plans to re-open tomorrow and has received 13 inches from this storm system, with 9 of those coming in the last 24 hours!
Virginia is for Lovers…
Bryce Resort – 28°- The weather up around Bryce is simply WINDY. It’s cold enough for snowmaking through the overnight, but their website isn’t reporting any actual snowmaking ops going on. They are open today with 6 trails and 3 lifts open.
Massanutten Resort – 25°- Massanutten is open with 10 of 14 trails and all of their lifts running. Night sessions will begin on Friday, December 17. Expert trails Diamond Jim and ParaDice are both open. There is no report of snowmaking. The snowtubing park is also open!
Wintergreen -13°- It’s blustery! Round the clock snowmaking up at Wintergreen means more terrain! Open for the day session only and night sessions begin on December 17th. Tubing will reopen on December 17th. TERRAIN PARK UPDATE: "Until we open our regular parks, we have a mini park set up on Upper Dobie. The Progression Park should open 12/18 and the Advanced Park should open early next week. Keep checking this report for updates. The mini park includes: progression fun box, 20 ft fun box, progression rail, 20 ft rail."
Wild and Wonderful…
Canaan Valley – 10°- Closed this week for snowmaking. Will reopen on December 18!
Snowshoe – 18°- I’ll let Snowshoe’s Mountain Message for today speak for itself, quite frankly, I don’t think I could have said it any better than our Snowshoe Gal Laura Parquette has:
"We’re starting off the morning with 4" of fresh snow and almost a FOOT AND A HALF of additional snowfall is expected before Tuesday. That means the next two days have been declared POWDER DAYS at Snowshoe! In addition to the snowfall we do have some strong winds and blowing snow creating impressive drifts. Those high winds may cause some lift delays this morning, so please pay attention to Snowshoe personnel and signage. We will get our intended 23 trails and 5 lifts open just as soon as possible. With some very low daytime temperatures predicted (great for making a powdery, light snow), we will be making snow on limited open terrain. If you’re out enjoying the powder today, be sure to bundle up and layer appropriately. Windchills will dip to near 20 below, so be sure not to have any exposed skin, wear proper non-cotton base layers and don’t layer socks. Be sure that your hands and head are appropriately covered, and with snowfall and some snowmaking, goggles are probably a must today. But if you dress properly, it should be a great day, as snow is expected to fall for at least the next 24 hours. We have begun making snow on Cupp Run, and our expert, dedicated team will work around the clock this week as we push for a weekend opening–one of the earliest openings in Cupp’s history. All of this new snow will also set us up nicely for Silver Creek’s opening on Friday. With that comes the start of our night skiing and tubing operations for the season. In addition to the slopes at Silver Creek and CUPP RUN, we do intend to open additional basin terrain before the end of the week, with up to 50 trails possible by Saturday. December is giving us hope we may see another season like last year, and you don’t want to miss out on some great conditions."
Timberline – 10°- Open today on 14 trails with 4 lifts plugging away. Timberline and the other WV ski areas are set to receive bucketloads of snow over the next 24 hours, so check back for updates.
Winterplace – 14°- Open with awesome conditions! Snow is forecast through the day! Open on 14 trails with 4 lifts on powder, packed powder, and groomed surfaces. Check out the New Hickory Terrain Park!!
Merry-Land…
Wisp Resort – 13°- Open today from 9am to 5pm! The Mountain Coaster as well as ice skating are open for business, too. The snow report on Wisp’s website isn’t reporting any new natural snow, but the forecast reads snow showers and blowing snow with total accumulation of 3-7 inches possible! Conditions up at Wisp are AWESOME!
The only Ten-I-see...
Ober Gatlinburg – 19°- The amazing team down at Ober Gatlinburg is reporting 7 inches new snow! Great conditions continue on 5 of 8 trails and 4 lifts. There are terrain features set up on Castle Run for your freestlye pleasure and tubing and ice skating are open as well.
Annnnd, that’s all folks. It’s 10:44am, yes I know I’m a little late, and it’s still snowing like crazy outside!!!
THINK COLD! THINK SNOW!
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