Here are some alternative headlines that I thought to use this morning:
SKI BEECH MAKES SNOW – AT SUGAR MOUNTAIN AS WINDS TAKE ALL MANMADE SNOW OVER TO SUGAR MOUNTAIN MID-DAY SUNDAY!
SNOW WAS SEEN FLYING AROUND BEECH, SUGAR AND HAWKSNEST ON SUNDAY…BUT ALSO SEEN FLYING WERE LEAVES, TWO DOGS, A SMALL COW AND REPORTEDLY THREE SUVs ATOP SUGAR MOUNTAIN!
TWO SNOWBOARDERS BROKE NORTH CAROLINA RECORDS BY SKIING MORE THAN TWO MILES IN ONE RUN ON SUNDAY. EYEWITNESSES SAID THE TWO WERE SEEN SKIING OFF THE TOP OF UPPER SHAWNEEHAW, DOWN LOWER SHAWNEEHAW (at Beech Mountain) AND THEY FINISHED UP COMING DOWN UPPER AND LOWER FLYING MILE AT SUGAR!
One more…
ALL THE LITTER ALONG HWY 105 and 184 WAS CLEANED UP — BY THE HIGH WINDS! THE BAD NEWS IS NOW SOUTH CAROLINA HAS MORE LITTER THAN EVER! (More on the litter comment in a sec.)
The winds were THAT bad on Sunday. SO BAD, that Hawksnest made the decision to close for the day! They announced earlier on Sunday morning that they were going to try and open around noon or so, but then made the decision not to open for skiing as winds gusted to nearly 50 mph around 1pm.
I was out feeding my horses at the foot of Beech Mountain and I can tell you that anyone out skiing on Sunday WANTED IT BAD!
According to our weather stations and the ASU Energy Initiative Wind Gauges our area had winds on Sunday afternoon that topped out at 65 and 70 mph and sustained winds in the 40-50mph range!
NOW ON TO WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY…
Thankfully the winds have died down and it is COLD out there!
Here’s a quick tour:
Appalachian – 14° – They made snow overnight and still were as of 8am and conditions will be great and they are 100% Open with two terrain parks and ice skating as well. Appalachian announced a great incentive to buy your 2008-2009 season passes now and you can ski free February 19-March 30th, 2008! You can check out that deal by clicking here> Appalachian Ski Mountain Season Pass Deal!
http://www.appskimtn.com/information_detail2.php?id=62
Season passes are a huge deal at Appalachian because they keep some of the best conditions in the region, they have some of the best amenities, clean lodge, restrooms, rentals, etc…and you KNOW how long your season will be at App as they always announce their opening and closing dates way ahead of time. Finally, they have the best terrain parks in the area, hands down.
Cataloochee – 15° – They are open for day skiing only on Mondays and they made snow overnight and were in the midst of grooming while we watched this morning. They have 11 trails of 14 open today and their popular tubing park is closed until Thursday under their normal mid-week operating schedule.
Hawksnest – 7° – They have 9 of 12 trails open today and their popular tubing hill. They made snow and will have some sweet conditions for Monday.
Ski Beech – 8° – They look GREAT this morning after nearly a full day of snowmaking and continued snowmaking this AM. Beech has stated that they will make snow as long as temps allow. They have 12 of 15 trails open today, their new terrain park and ice skating.
Sugar Mountain – 7° – They made and still are making snow this AM. They have 19 trails open, tubing, terrain parks and ice skating. Sugar is in GREAT shape for Monday.
Wolf Ridge – 18° – They are making snow and have 9 of 20 trails open today. They announced, "02-11-08 Top of the mountain will be closed to concentrate snowmaking in that area. Will possibly reopen for evening session. Get out and enjoy! Think Snow!"
TIME FOR ENVIRONMENTALIST TO QUIT RUNNING THEIR MOUTH AND GO TO WORK…
Has anyone else noticed HOW MUCH litter lines most all of the High Country’s roadways?!? I began seeing it quite a bit last winter and questioned where in the heck the road cleanup crews were. This winter is even worse. I have complained about it to MANY of my friends and staff…and I can not speak to how things look across all of the state or the mountains of Western North Carolina, but I CAN speak to how things look along Hwy 105, 184, 194, 221, etc. They look horrible with a massive amount of trash littering both sides of the roads.
Do we just have more idiots than ever dumping their bottles, cans and trash than ever before? Is it that our cleanup crews have not been doing their job?
Some people have suggested that there is more construction going on and therefore that kind of trash is flying out of the back of trucks. However, that doesn’t explain all of the plastic bottles, beer cans and assorted fast food bags, etc that line our roads.
I am hereby challenging anyone who SAYS that they love Mother Earth, to get out and bag up this trash and take it to the dump! Anyone who sends me a photo showing that they’ve bagged up at least five trash bags full…I will send them a free SkiNC tee shirt of hoodie while supplies last.
So quit TALKING THE TALK…and WALK THE WALK.
Enjoy your day…
Until Next time…
Be sure to visit www.SkiSoutheast.com for more news from the rest of the Southeast and Mid Atlantic ski areas!
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