Hi guys and gals.
(Interesting little preface) – Instagram and Facebook were down as of this post, so I’ll check back later to update our social media audience.
I definitely want to pass along Happy Thanksgiving greetings this morning. We’re thankful to see (5) resorts open and providing skiing and snowboarding today. I saw several reports over the last couple of days – as Matt Laws was handling the FirsTrax news – where some of the slopes at various ski areas were looking a bit warn and in need of some snow making. I had to run to Boone round lunchtime on Tuesday and was shocked to see the temperature was 66°.
However, later in the day the winds began to howl, signaling the ushering in of a colder mass of air that has obviously dropped temperatures into the 30s and lower at some mountain locations this morning. Those temps are allowing resorts to re-crank their snowmaking equipment and those efforts will put a nice layer of fresh, manmade powder on the slopes and trails. That and some “snow farming” (grooming and pushing around that new snow) will make for vastly improved conditions.
Here is our Photo of the Day today…showing some of the snow farming…
As I looked around the area, the winds were even buffeting some of the cameras, so it is still pretty windy out. As of this update, we’re seeing wind gusts up to 55 mph and much stronger on top. As I mentioned, those winds are pushing some colder air into the region. In fact, we could see some natural snow Sunday night into Monday.
So this morning we are thankful to have some resorts open and providing us with some trails to ride. We are thankful for the colder air mass that is allowing for snowmaking crews to go to work AND we’re very thankful to those hard-working souls that ARE WORKING on Thanksgiving morning to generate those conditions.
You can see the FULL SNOW REPORT here:
https://www.skisoutheast.com/snow-reports/
We’re also very thankful to our viewers. We have seen a HUGE uptick in visits to the website and even more so over on Facebook where we’ve seen a 10093% increase in pageviews and a 7962% increase in page likes over the last couple of weeks. You guys rock.
I’d also like to welcome some of our newest reporters to SkiSoutheast. Brian Dix and Steve Skarupa both provided some good intel this past week. We put feelers out to attract more contributing writers and we heard from a lot of peeps…and we WILL be getting in touch with more of you.
However, Brian and Steve were among the first to hit the slopes of the region and report in from Snowshoe Mountain and from Beech Mountain. Great stuff guys…and we’re glad to have you on board.
Also, if you’re just visiting us for the first time ever, or this season, Rudy Ryback provided a great story on James Niehues and Rad Smith who are artists who are responsible for the painting of ski resort trail maps worldwide. They also have produced ski maps for Cataloochee, Massanutten, Snowshoe and Winterplace here in the Southeast. If you missed that story, you can check it out here: Ski Map Artists
You Guys Are Stuck With Me…
I will be taking over the steering wheel here at SkiSoutheast.com for the long, Holiday weekend and actually from today through Tuesday of next week as our FirsTrax, snow reporter, Matt Laws is on a short, late Fall vacation. It looks like I will get to share some news about a bit of NATURAL SNOW that is within that forecast period, so I am thankful for that as well.
I am guessing that by now you guys are seeing a bit of a trend towards how “thankful” I am for all things snow, and ski resorts and you guys.
Let’s get to what YOU GUYS want to know about.
22° Beech Mountain Resort – Making Snow. Beech is playing on 5 slopes for day sessions. Beech reported some thin coverage areas yesterday, but those will be SOOOOO YESTERDAY.
29° Appalachian Ski Mountain – Appy is open with 8 slopes for day and night sessions. They were not able to make snow as temps were just borderline enough to do so. They look great this morning.
30° Cataloochee Ski Area – Making snow and we caught a nice shot of Chris Bates doing his grooming thing. Cat is open for DAY SESSION only on Turkey Day with 5 slopes and trails.
23° Snowshoe Mountain – is being Snowshoe Mountain. Let’s see – 11 slopes and trails open (most in the region), 55″ base (the most in the region). 23° (the coldest in the region). Great snowmaking going on as well. If all of that isn’t enough for you – how about the fact that they are also offering their 4th annual Turkey Clay Shoot today at their sporting clays range.
24° Sugar Mountain – they are making snow and looking quite great this morning with 7 slopes and trails open (the most in North Carolina). However, TODAY they are reporting 2″ of snowfall in the last 24 hours (a mistake we presume) and 2″ from the last ‘storm’ which was not a storm (previously reported that as a TRACE) and 5.2″ of natural snow on the season (also not accurate). In fact, one of our snow spotters reported up at The Reserve on Sugar Mountain an official 0.7″ of snow on the 24th and 2.9″ on the season.
They are also reporting their conditions as “Manmade and Natural Powder and Loose & Frozen Granular”. I’m not sure who’s taken the reins on morning reports this season, but I can assure you there is no NATURAL POWDER on that mountain this morning. It was 60° yesterday. Of course the winds were blowing so hard last night and this morning, that it COULD have blown in some of that TRACE of natural snow that fell last night at Canaan Valley. Hmmmm, maybe.
Here’s a Nice Wintry Video From Sunday, November 24, 2019
I know how much you guys love snowy videos with the trees all covered in rime ice and snow. So I shot this one on my drive up to the top of Sugar on Sunday. Enjoy…
Honorable Mentions….
26° Canaan Valley – they are not planning to open until December 13th, but it is worth mentioning that Davis, WV saw a TRACE of natural snow overnight and they are making snow as of this post. They have now seen 8.9″ of natural snow on the season.
41° Bryce Resort – they have been open and their snow report still reflects (2) slopes open, however we called over there and they are closed today and plan to open this weekend.
39° Massanutten Resort – They have BEEN open and plan to reopen Friday, weather permitting,.
34° Ober Gatlinburg – The ARE offering SNOW TUBING right now and have made snow with their unique snowmaking plant. They plan to open for skiing and snowboarding in early December.
I’m headed to a feast of Thanksgiving to enjoy with my wife and four daughters and their children. I hope that your day is a blessed one.
Here are some other image shares…
Until Next Time…
Feel free to email me at [email protected]
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