Good Morning Ski Southeast family. It’s Thursday! Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve! The year is almost over. I know I’ve been talking about it all week, but I’m pretty excited to celebrate! I have a really good feeling that 2011 is going to be a great year!
I woke up this morning feeling a little under the weather. I think there’s some kind of “funk” going around and I can feel it creeping in on me. So, I’m getting straight to the point today. I’ll let you in on the details of what kind of New Year’s parties and festivities are going down!!
I am signing off for the week, Mike will be back tomorrow. I feel certain he will have some pretty exciting stories about his Canadian adventures to share with you!! I hope that all of you have a wonderful New Year’s celebration! So, I will “raise my glass and toast” to a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year!! Cue…Auld Lang Syne…
North Carolina
Appalachian Ski Mountain – 32°- All 12 slopes open today with a 69 to 97 inch base. Appalachian has put on an exciting New Year’s Eve every year and this year is no different. The New Year’s Eve Extravaganza includes a torchlight parade, a fireworks display and moonlight ice skating from 10pm to midnight. The restaurant will be serving up breakfast items from 9pm-midnight. I’ve had the biscuits and gravy, so if they’re on the buffet, be sure to try them!!
Beech Mountain -35°- Open today with all 15 slopes open and a 45-80 inch base. Beech has been exceptional this year, and I think that can be attributed to over 66 inches of natural snowfall combined with killer snowmaking ops. Beech is ringing in 2011 with live music in Beech Tree Bar and Grille and ice skating until midnight!
Cataloochee – 37°- It’s gonna be a scorcher today at Cataloochee…it’s 37° at 7:45! Rain is in the forecast, but with a 57-91 inch base, they should be in excellent shape! Cataloochee is offering several tubing sessions today in addition to skiing until 10pm.
Sugar Mountain -35°- Open today after overnight snowmaking on 20 of 20 slopes! Sugar is celebrating tomorrow night with a torchlight parade at 11:45, fireworks at 11:55 and live entertainment by the Johnson Brothers from 9pm-1am. Champagne toast will be served in the bar.
Wolf Ridge Resort – 36°- Open today on 17 runs for skiers and riders and 4 lifts! Conditions couldn’t be better at Wolf Ridge!! Be sure to check out Old Breakaway slope now known as Nature Trail where you can ski through the tunnel and choose from three trails to the bottom!
Virginia
Bryce Resort– 27°- Open today on seven trails with all lifts running! Bryce is offering up some great conditions on a 30-65 inch base! Bryce is open for day and night sessions and also offers tubing all afternoon!
Massanutten– 27°- Open today on 14 of 14 slopes with all lifts open. Massanutten is bringing in the New Year with lots of fun! The Monster Band will be in the Encounter’s Lounge. For $20 you can have a rocking good time with live music, party favors, and a champagne toast! The Tubing Park will be open for fun until 10pm!
Wintergreen– 32°-Open today on 26 slopes with 5 lifts for skiing and riding from 9am to 10pm. The Plunge Tubing Park is open today from 10am to 11pm. For celebrating the incoming year Wintergreen has all kinds of fun for the family including live entertainment from soul music to rock and Latin all leading up to a midnight toast!
West Virginia
Canaan Valley -27°- Open today on the whole mountain with packed powder conditions!! Ice skating, tubing, cross country skiing and snowshoeing are all open as well!! Canaan is ringing in the New Year in style with family and adult parties that include dinner, live entertainment, party favors and more. Listen to the Brother Short Band and celebrate with a midnight champagne toast!
Snowshoe Mountain -27°- Open today on 54 slopes with 13 trails running. A little freezing rain this morning will lead to a delayed opening of some trails…and now, I’ll “Leave it to Laura”… “**Due to a little bit of freezing rain overnight, Soaring Eagle, Ballhooter and Western Express and all slopes leading to those lifts–Camp 99, Widowmaker, Sawmill, Lower Hootenanny, Whiffletree, Lower Ballhooter, Grab Hook, Shays and Cupp–will have a delayed opening this morning** **Sawmill and Choker will have a delayed, NOON opening today to allow for patrol inspection. Please pay attention to Snowshoe personnel and signage to ensure your safety.** It’s hard to believe another year is coming to a close. We’ll end the year with 66 inches of natural snow this month, and we’ve had almost continuous snowmaking throughout the month. That does come to an end today with the start of a brief mild period. Light drizzle is falling this morning and is expected throughout the day, but it isn’t expected to be anything more than drizzle, and total rainfall of the day will be less than a quarter of an inch. Our snowmaking and grooming managers explained to me yesterday that because the snow we’ve been getting is light and fluffy, there are plenty of "air pockets" for the rain to fall into. That means it won’t damage or run off the surface of the snow, but rather be absorbed into the snow and just create a denser, wetter surface across our slopes. That’ll get packed down with skier traffic and should be a great carving surface over the next few days. Just grab that waterproof outer layer and goggles and you can still easily enjoy the region’s most open terrain! And it’s not all doom and gloom today; we are expanding terrain with the addition of Sawmill and Choker. Both slopes are expected to open at Noon today. That gives expert skiers and riders tons of room to play across the mountain. Lower Shay’s continues to be left ungroomed and there are some fantastic bumps over there! We have 100% of our beginner terrain open and our groomers have been laying down some SWEET corduroy all season!" For the New Year there will be entertainment for all ages, including champagne toasts at 21 and over venues!
Timberline– 27°- Open today on 37 trails and a 42 to 68 inch base so there’s tons of terrain to explore! Timberline’s New Year’s extravaganza kicks off at 5pm and runs until 2am with live music, djs, and champagne toasts!!
Winterplace – 34°- Open today on 26 trails for skiing and riding! Awesome conditions on a 24-68 inch base. A little rain is in the forecast but Winterplace is still looking great! The Tubing Park is also open today!
Maryland
Wisp Resort – 33°- Open today on all slopes and all lifts! Great conditions continue at Wisp today. You should really be sure to check out the Mountain Coaster!! It’s crazy cool and lots of fun! Wisp is ringing in the New Year with free entertainment from the Déjà vu Band from 8pm to midnight and will put on an exciting fireworks show at midnight as well!
Tennessee
Ober Gatlinburg-40°- Open on 7 of 9 slopes and trails for skiing and riding from 9am to 10pm! With a 32-57 inch base Ober will have no problem holding up against this brief warming period. Ober is offering tubing and ice skating as well today!
CHEERS!!!
Think…COLD and Think…SNOW!!!
Send us questions, photos, comments, videos…whatever! [email protected] or [email protected]
Be sure to check out our sister websites www.HighCountryWeather and www.HighCountryWebcams.com !