January is National Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month. Ski areas across the country will be offering all types of specials and programs to encourage people to get out and learn something new. With the motto "Humans Were Never Meant to Hibernate" at the helm of this campaign, resort associates in 34 states participating by offering free or affordable ski and snowboard lessons during the month of January. This is an effort to get children and adults outside during the wintertime.
Resorts in the Southeast Ski Areas Association’s (SSAA) five states, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee are offering programs. Ski West Virginia is also offering programs. Call any of the ski areas we cover for package information, group discounts, and other fun promotions related to National Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month! I will gather information over the next few days and try to let all of you know what type of lesson programs and deals are being offered at the areas we cover.
To give you some ideas about the scope of skiing and snowboarding in the US, and how many people are involved- whether through being employed by an area or by just being a participant- National Ski Areas Association Statistics show between 10 and 12 million skiers and riders in the United States and in the last year those riders and skiers made over 59.8 million visits to ski resorts. WOW!!
I think it’s a great idea for anyone to take a lesson. I’ve been skiing for a long time, and even so, I know I could use some improvement. Grab a friend, sibling, relative, parent, coworker, or someone else who doesn’t know how to ski or snowboard and take them to the hill with you. There are people who might love snowsports but who wouldn’t do it without a nudge, or people who would really love to go, but couldn’t necessarily justify spending the money. Times are tough, folks, so January is the perfect month for people to learn all about skiing and snowboarding at an affordable price!!
If you can’t tell, I think the initiative is a great idea. It really opens up a whole new sport to people all over the country. Now that I’ve promoted that to death, I’ll briefly talk about the weather. It’s snowing. End of story, and it’s supposed to continue well into tomorrow. Time will tell if Brad Panovich’s forecast snow totals were correct, and I am positive Mike will talk about that some over the weekend. Keep your eyes peeled for the next Skier’s Forecast, which will likely come over the weekend or Monday, because if you’re anything like me, you’ve overthunk the current storm to death and now all you want to know about is the Possible-Tuesday-Motherload-Delivering-Big-Snowstorm!!
Here’s a look around…
North Carolina…
Appalachian Ski Mountain – 23°- Open today on 11 of 12 slopes on a 69-97 inch base. In addition to bombing the slopes with snowmaking, App has received a total of 1 inch from the current storm and those totals are certain to climb! AppalJack Terrain Park is closed today in preparation for Fresh Friday, which will showcase a bunch of fun features!! Tomorrow night, January 8th is Ladies Park Night!
Beech Mountain – 19°- With another 1.5 inches of new snow in the last day, Beech has cleared the 70 inch mark for the season. They now sit at 70.5 inches and 3.4 total from this storm! They are open on 15 of 15 slopes today and gearing up for Winterfest this weekend!!
Cataloochee – 28°- Open today on all 16 slopes and trails. Cataloochee can add another half inch of snow to it’s total for the season, that’s 1.7 inches from the current system and 43.7 total. Cataloochee is still making snow and conditions should be great for day, night, and twilight skiing. Tubing is also open!
Sapphire Valley – 31°- No new natural snow today, but as evidenced by the picture I posted earlier in the week, snowmaking ops keep the place is good condition!!
Sugar Mountain – 21°- Sugar is pulling down more snow from this storm than any of the other NC areas except for Wolf Ridge Resort. CoCoRahs is reporting another 2.1 inches in the last day, that’s 4.7 inches from this storm!! Sugar’s season total so far is 63.1 inches. Sugar is open on 20 of 20 trails and slopes with 7 lifts running! Conditions are going to be great all weekend!
Wolf Ridge Resort – 30° – Wolf Ridge tops the totals in the last day for new snowfall in NC at 3.6 inches. That’s over 6 inches of snow from the current storm, 6.1 to be exact is being reported from the official CoCoRahs weather station in Madison County. Wolf has opened up a bunch of new terrain for the weekend, and has 17 of 20 trails open and 4 of 5 lifts. Upper slopes including Ridge Runner and Ski Through Tunnel.
Virginia…so every morning I close out the report with Think Cold, and Think Snow…well let’s send some of our snow and cold vibes to the Virginia Ski Areas, who have gotten next to no natural snow this year. You don’t have to send all the vibes up there, but let’s share.
Bryce Resort – 30°- (Only 2 inches of snow this year)Open today with 7 trails and 7 lifts. No new snow to report, but hopefully they’ll get some snow from this storm or the next!! Tubing is open!
Massanutten – 27°- (Only 6 inches of snow this year) Open today on all 14 slopes and trails. It’s College Day again at Massanutten, get your lift for $30 and rentals for $20 for an 8-hour session! Tubing is also open today!
Wintergreen – 18°- (Only 4 inches of snow this year) Tons of overnight snowmaking on the whole mountain!! Open today on 25 of 26 trails and conditions are excellent!! Ski and ride from 9am-10pm and tubing is also open! TERRAIN PARK: The Progression Park is open with: small and large propane tank rails, small battleship, small flat down rail, 2 small jumps, medium jump, 2 progression fun boxes, 10ft rail, 15ft rail and 2 progression tables. The Advanced Park is open today with: propane bonk hip, big table top, mid table top, gas tank rail, down box rail and a 30ft flat rail. Keep checking this report for updates.
West Virginia…where all the snow falls.
Canaan – 10°- 5.5 inches of POWDER!!! Canaan is getting absolutely bombed with new snow!! 82.2 inches of natural snow has been dumped on Canaan this season! Canaan is open with POWDER conditions on 11 trails with 2 lifts! This weekend you can learn to airboard with extreme athlete Alicia Monahan. Happy 75th to the Ski Club of Washington, DC.
Snowshoe Mountain – 13°- Open today with 2 new inches of snow! That’s 68 inches on the season!! Snowshoe is open on 52 trails with 12 lifts running. Tomorrow Snowshoe hosts the WV Open Slopestyle, so all this snow should make for great conditions!! Spruce Glades Terrain Park is closed in preparation for the Open, and Mountaineer Terrain Park is closed for concentrated snowmaking. There are some fun features in the Powdermonkey Small Park and Robertson’s Run at Silver Creek. Everything but Lower Shay’s was groomed overnight, before the snowfall, so there should be plenty of fun powder out there!! To sum up what’s going on terrain wise at the Shoe I’ll "Leave it to Laura"–
"In other news, our snowmakers have been working around the clock at the Silver Creek area, and they should be rewarded tomorrow with the opening of Bear Claw, Buck Saw, Laurel Run and Little Spruce. Following some final snowmaking on Bear Claw and Mountaineer, we’ll move the guns over to Flying Eagle. Mountaineer will remain closed through the weekend as we target early next week for a large terrain park build. We will continue to take advantage of cold daytime snowmaking temperatures on limited open terrain today. That snowmaking should be shut down at about Noon. We have an exciting weekend ahead, and Mother Nature is only adding to it!"
Timberline – 10°- Buried under 5.5 inches of new snow!! Timberline is going to be great for skiing and riding the powder all weekend! Open for day and night sessions on 33 of 39 trails and slopes! Rail Jam goes down tomorrow, so be sure to check that out! Timberline, Canaan’s neighbor, has also gotten over 80 inches of snow this season. It just keeps getting better…
Winterplace – 22°- Open today on 26 of 28 trails and slopes! Snow is falling at Winterplace and this weekend is going to be nothing but great conditions!! Open to the top of the Mountain…there’s something for beginners and experts!!
Maryland…
Wisp Resort – 17°- Open today with 5 new inches of snow!! It’s a POWDER day at Wisp!! Open on 31 of 32 trails and all lifts for day and night sessions! It’s Hero Day at Wisp, where they are giving away 1-day lift tickets to our Nation’s Heroes! Wisp is also fun for the whole family and is open for tubing, ice skating, and that crazy cool Mountain Coaster!
Tennessee…
Ober Gatlinburg – 30°- Only a Trace of snow is being reported on CoCoRahs but I feel certain that will change as the day progresses and the snow keeps rolling into the region. Open today on 7 of 9 trails, Ober is open for day, night, twilight sessions, and tubing, too!!
That’s what’s going on around the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic Ski Areas. Keep checking back for snow total updates and new forecasts! Have a great weekend guys and gals, and I’ll be back on Monday!!
THINK COLD!! THINK SNOW!!
Be sure to check out our awesome sister sites, www.HighCountryWeather.com and www.HighCountryWebcams.com …you won’t regret it!!
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