Boy, what a difference a day makes. When I was updating the snow reports yesterday we were seeing temperatures of 55 degrees at Sugar and even up to 61 degrees at Ober Gatlinburg. Today, however, Sugar is at 32 degrees and Ober is at 31. A drop of 30 degrees in 24 hours at Ober, talk about a shock to the system.
The weather is always a hot topic of discussion for those of use who prefer our recreation in the outdoors and there is a lot to talk about right now for sure. But before we get to that, let’s take a look at the big resort news for the day.
Canaan Valley Resort is open for the season today! It is 26 degrees up there this morning with light snow. They are starting the season off with a 12-24 inch base on 8 slopes being serviced by 1 lift. You can ski and ride Canaan today from 9am-4:30pm. Value rates are on with an adult lift ticket going for $35 and a junior ticket for $25.
Canaan Valley Resort
Canaan, and much of West Virginia, is under a Winter Storm Watch for Sunday with more than a 1/4 inch of ice possible along with 1-3 inches of snow.
The Winter Storm Watch that was issued yesterday for the North Carolina High Country has been lifted and replaced with a Winter Storm Warning. Yesterday’s watch started Saturday night and now the warning takes effect Sunday morning (4am). Looks like we can expect a combination of sleet, ice, and snow on Sunday.
For a more complete look at the weather, take a look at Kenny’s (aka theKENDOG) very in-depth look at the weather on the forums.
The Skiing Weatherman, Herb Stevens, also provided us with an update yesterday for the West Virginia mountains. You can check out his report here.
The area resorts need the cold temps in a pretty bad way. We were blessed with some great conditions when the resorts opened which allowed them to lay down a good base – record breaking for many. This enabled most of them to make it through the warm, wet week we had but the slopes are starting to show wear. Beech, Ober, Cataloochee, and Sugar all lost another 2 inches of base in the past 24 hours while Wisp is reporting a loss of 4 inches. Wisp, our northern most resort, started their guns up last night and Sugar has selectively turned on their guns this morning to make up. You can rest assured that the other mountains will too as soon as possible.
This is not to say there is no good skiing & riding to be found, just that we’re starting to get to that cusp.
Beech Mountain Resort
Sugar Mountain Resort
Before I sign off for today I should mention that a few of the resorts are suggesting that you check with them tomorrow morning before heading up the mountain as the ice has the potential to delay operations. We will of course let you know more as soon as we do.
Tim Bahlke
Drop me an email at [email protected] to let me know what you think or with suggestions on what we could be doing better.