Wahoo! It’s finally Friday, I got my motor runnin’ for a wild weekend! But seriously, it’s Friday! It’s going to be a great weekend! COLD weather is back with a vengeance and along with it are some pretty serious winds, with gusts reaching well over 40 mph. I drive a toaster oven (Honda Element) and I could feel some serious blasts of wind driving in to work, so I am certain skiers and snowboarders will be a little windblown today as well. But, wind aside, it’s nice to see SNOWMAKING friendly temperatures return to North Carolina!!
With the exception of Sapphire Valley ski area in Transylvania County, all the North Carolina ski areas saw at least a TRACE of new snow from the current Arctic Blast raging across the region!! Beech Mountain saw the most amount of snow and it was just shy of an inch. Most ski areas are either making snow or made snow overnight, so slope and trail conditions should be excellent this morning.
The weekend weather is shaping up to be prime 
time for skiing and snowboarding as well. We’ve got a new forecast from our Snow Weather Guru Brad Panovich to share with you. The gist of the forecast? COLD WEATHER this weekend! Some areas of the NC Mountains will see wind chill values below zero!! Saturday night shows the chance of northwest flow snow, although no more than an inch or two. Sunday night into Monday and Tuesday usher in the chance for another winter event, Brad’s forecasting several inches of snow in the NC Mountains and says the highest elevations up around Snowshoe could see an additional 6-10 inches of snow! Brad hits the nail on the head in this video, he says, “this has been one of the best packed powder seasons I’ve seen here in the southeast.” We agree, this season has been incredible, and it’s only January!! Too see Brad’s entire forecast…click here.
Tomorrow is the big day you’ve all been waiting for…the 2011 SkiNC Summit at Beech Mountain! I spoke with Talia up at Beech yesterday, and it’s shaping up to be a pretty nice little Saturday. Live music has been booked in the Beech Tree Bar & Grille including bands The NATIVE SWAY and The Enemy Lovers. The music will kick off around 4pm. In Beech VILLAGE from 4pm-6pm will be a BEER TASTING…for just $5 you will have the chance to taste 15-20 really delicious brews. Inside the Beech Tree will be other fun activities and the bartenders will be running some BEER SPECIALS as well!!
We’ll be arriving first thing tomorrow morning to set up shop in the MIDDLE parking lot. We’d love 
to turn it into a giant tailgate of sorts, so as we’ve previously mentioned, bring a grill if you’re capable! Around mid-day I’ll be walking around in the tailgate fun-zone getting some video footage and talking to you guys, so if you see me, don’t be shy!! I’ll be wearing black pants and a lime green Arc’Teryx jacket, so scream at me and PLEASE introduce yourself!!
We have over 160 confirmed guests joining us tomorrow for skiing and riding, socializing and having a great time overall!! Don’t forget to print out your coupon and have it ready for tomorrow, just bring it to ANY ticket window to get your SkiNC discount. It’s going to be A WHOLE LOTTA FUN, can’t wait to see you all!! Meteorologist Brad Panovich advises to dress warm and bring all the appropriate gear! It’s going to be very cold, but the wind will die down mid-day, and the sun will be out with just a few passing clouds, so things are shaping up to be AWESOME for us!!
As for what’s going on at your SKI AREAS…
Appalachian Ski Mountain is open today on 100% of the mountain and made snow overnight!
Beech is open with just under an inch of snow and they are also making snow!
Catalooochee is open on 100% of the mountain following overnight snowmaking! Today continues Military Appreciation days! With ID military personnel both active and retired and their families will receive some great discounts!
Sugar Mountain is open with just over ½ an inch of new snow, snowmaking is not currently in progress. Frostbite warning is in effect…HAT and GLOVES required today.
Wolf Ridge Resort is open this morning with 16 trails and 2 lifts. This afternoon look for more terrain and the Upper Lodge to open as Wolf gets geared up for the weekend!!
THINK COLD! THINK SNOW! SEE Y’ALL AT THE SUMMIT!
Fore more information all the southeast and Mid-Atlantic ski areas check out www.skisoutheast.com! Also have a look at our sister websites www.highcountryweather.com and www.highcountrywebcams.com!!
If you’re on the snow this weekend take some pics or video and send them my way! We’ve had great response and contribution from our On-Snow Reporters, but there’s no such thing as too many pictures… [email protected] or [email protected]!