– Story by Will Mauney
Well I must admit I was a bit skeptical last night around seven o’clock while making a few turns on my local hill, that a blizzard was indeed bearing down on us. Conditions on the mountain couldn’t have been better last night. The snow was perfect for carving, crowds were non-existent and the wind was calm. It was hard to imagine that within a few hours we were to going to get slammed with high winds, more snow and white out conditions. It started snowing around eight o’clock at Sugar Mountain last night and with temps around 30°F you couldn’t ask for a better night of skiing/snowboarding here in North Carolina.
Temperatures dropped drastically overnight. Highs at Sugar, Beech and App were around 35°F yesterday and this morning it is 3°F with wind chills well below zero! The drive into work was very fun. It kind of felt like driving down a ski slope with all the snow guns turned on. There were definitely a few “white outs” that occurred with all the blowing snow and I passed by a few fender benders this morning already as well.
We’ve received a bit of snow this morning in the NC Mountains, but the big snowfall occurred yesterday at Canaan Valley and Timberline Resort each receiving over 12 inches of snow to add to their already impressive totals for this season. Wisp received another 8 inches and Snowshoe another 4 inches. Massauntten got around 6 inches and Bryce Resort another 4 inches as well. Winterplace, West Virginia also received 8 inches of new snow.
WOW
What a great time to be working at or visiting one of the Southeast and Mid Atlantic resorts during this epic winter season. I know there are some folks in Colorado, Utah and Vancouver scratching their heads wondering where all their snow is. Well, we’ve got it. Maybe we’ll start to see a few of those massive helicopters fly over pick up a few of these 15 foot tall piles of snow and fly back to Canada for the Olympics.
So if you’re brave, have the proper gear, love to ski or snowboard and don’t have to work or go to school today get out of the house and into your ski or snowboard boots. It’s a bit windy, but the snow it waiting. You can expect little in the way of crowds at most resorts, it is a Wednesday after all and oh there’s another blizzard as well. This is no different than one of those cold windy days early in the season with snow guns blasting. Fortunately there’s not a lot of snowmaking going on today, but I’m sure it will feel that way with some of these high winds blowing snow around. Anyway, be safe and hunker down or get out there and enjoy.
We’re on day 74 and there are 63 more days of opportunities to enjoy the snow for the 2009-2010 ski and snowboarding season!
That’s it for today. Go enjoy the snow! Check out the Snow Report at https://www.skisoutheast.com/skireports.php and please send us your favorite ski photos, ski videos, trip reports and comments to [email protected]