The BIG NEWS this morning is the weather! SNOW to be exact and a bunch of it! More on that in a sec. First, Kathy Doyle wrote yesterday that somehow I messed up misreporting that only a portion of Bear Run was open. So since I messed that up, we’ll start today’s report by focusing on Ober Gatlinburg.
They have had their struggles making and keeping snow on their Smoky Mountain ski area. All of the Southeast and Mid Atlantic resorts have had their share of problems before this wonderful two week long trend of cold weather; however Ober had it a bit tougher as temps were often just out of the snowmaking range even when others like Cataloochee in Maggie Valley were able to make it.
Ober Gatlinburg finally was able to get to their current status of five open trails this past week and with great temps and snow in the forecast, look for them to open more terrain soon!
Kathy Doyle reports, “All of Bear Run is Now Open!!! Slope sessions on Sunday is 9am – 7pm with $43 Lift Ticket. Join them Monday & Tuesday for Special Olympics Tennessee Winter Games. Their huge Ice rink will be closed until 5pm Monday & Tuesday to accommodate the Games.
The forecast for Ober today is for a 40% chance of snow this afternoon and a high near 35°. The low tonight should drop to 16° !
…and now the rest…
Sunday is another travel day for me as I am headed back to the High Country from Wisp at Deep Creek Resort in Maryland. It began snowing hard (I really mean hard) last night and from 8pm until 11pm they received close to 2” of snow and as of this morning update at 7:20am it is still snowing although total accumulations thus far is about 3”. On our way in on Thursday they saw 7” of snow and SNOW is in the forecast ALL Week at Wisp Resort and they appear to be getting DUMPED ON with as much as 8” of snow in the forecast through Monday. Still more is in the forecast all week!
I’m headed out for some first tracks on that sweet powder and then I’m destined for the High Country of North Carolina where I should be welcomed home by – MORE SNOW! Maybe I can influence this Maryland snow that way as well!
I have a ton of photos, videos and more to share with you guys but it will have to wait until I get back home because my internet connectivity here is not allowing me to post larger format images. Be sure to check back later this evening for some great photos of the day sent in by readers all across the region!
The Coming Week Looks Snowy and Frigid!
Thanks to God and all of the PMA (Positive Mental Attitude) on the part of our “Think Snow and It Will Come” efforts. Some people have written us about the affects of resurrecting my yard, snow angel. My wonderful mother also told me that she had appealed to a secret friend named “Agnes” who had connections and THAT was the reason for this cold and snowy trend of weather. (I’ll save the story of who “Agnes” is for another day, but suffice to say that “Agnes” is a cloth doll (sorry mom!) that someone special gave to my mother years ago and “Agnes” travels with her, etc.) Regardless of who (or what) gets the credit, I thank God for what has been a miracle of winter weather recently.
That cold and snowy trend keeps on keeping on for the week ahead. Some areas into West Virginia and Maryland may see another 8” or more snow this week as ski areas further south see slightly less. Highs in the 20s and 30s as well as lows in the single digits and teens will blanket the region and that means more snow making as well. More snow making means more open terrain. Funny how that works!
That should make it such that more resorts go to 100% of their slopes open!
Check the slope conditions page for all of the details, but here are the quick summaries (Not all resorts provide their early morning update early enough for me to get before first tracks today!) So here’s what we know. For the slope openings not shown, visit the Slope Conditions page.
Wisp Resort – They have seen 23" of snow in the last 6 days and more is on the way! They are at 23° this morning and as I am watching out of my slopeside room it is snowing like crazy. They have powder conditions on 30 open trails today.
Timberline and Canaan Valley have received snow but we have no morning update to be able to provide you with that information until later in the day. They are receiving substantial snowfall at this time.
Snowshoe Mountain – We have not been able to get to their website for three straight mornings. I don’t know if it’s the fact that on a slow internet connection the site dies or if they are having web issues. We will update you with their snow totals when I get back to my office. They too are receiving substantial snow this morning with 49 trails open according to the SSAA. (My connection has been cooking for five minutes with no website coming up for the 3rd straight day.)
Winterplace Resort – Reporting NO new snow this morning however they are making snow and they’ve increased their open slope count to 20 trails available today!
All of the Virginia Resorts reported snow making and they remain status quo with open trail counts. There were no reports of new snow as yet.
Appalachian Ski Mountain – Trace 32° – 100% Open!
Cataloochee Ski Area – No Report on Snow – 33° – 11 of 12 Slopes Open! – Tammy Brown Reports, “We are now open on more terrain than ever before in Cataloochee history, including the newly widened with snowmaking Lower Snowbird Trail, which last was open in 1979. We will continue to make snow on the Upper Snowbird Trail as temperatures permit in order to open on 100% of the mountain in the upcoming days.” Cataloochee is open today for Day Skiing Only.
Hawksnest Resort – At 5am reported no new snow and 29° – 9 slopes + Tubing Open. Top Gun is Open!
Ski Beech Resort – Trace of New Snow and the forecast is for snow and falling temperatures. At 6am it was 28° and they were making snow. Beech offers 10 trails today, including Robbins Run.
Sugar Mountain – Trace of New Snow and 27° – They will have 17 trails open as well as 5 lanes of their tubing hill.
Wolf Ridge Resort – No Report of Snow as Yet – They added (3) open trails and now report 15 trails plus tubing for today!
Until Next Time…
THINK COLD AND SNOW!!!
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For more information about the ski resorts of the Southeast and Mid Atlantic visit www.SkiSoutheast.com
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