The conditions today will be quite nice no matter where you go, with perhaps a little natural snow to delight visitors to all of the ski areas. Yesterday we wrote that we noticed that base depths had not dropped even though there has been no snowmaking of late, and we’re now seeing those tallies dropping some…which is as it should be. No snowmaking, milder temps and skier traffic SHOULD reduce depths a bit. Not to worry though, as there’s TONS of snow base on the slopes and the groomers do a GREAT job of pushing it where needed to reduce potential thin coverage. Right now, if the base depth figures are accurate, we shouldn’t see any discoloration or thin areas as base depths are still impressive.
It’s 38° at Cataloochee this morning and they dropped their base to 28-75" of snow (that’s more than 2-6 FEET) across all nine trails with five lifts in operation serving the holiday crowd. Cataloochee reminds you that they have special plans to kick the New Year. Enjoy your favorite Bowl Games along with free popcorn in the bar or visit their Morning After Repair Center for their New Year’s drink specials.
It is 29° at Ski Beech and they were already seeing some light snow falling this morning. They have a nice 24-36" base of snow, variable conditions on 14 of 15 trails. They had begun to make snow on the Oz Run and they may get to do more tonight so we’ll watch for the Oz Run to open. That’s always a great sign for a great season when Oz opens.
Hawksnest is reporting that they made snow on their website, but we’re not sure about that. Regardless, there’s plenty of snow (24-44") and Groomed conditions on 10 trails…and they have their terrain park and tubing running. We’ve gotten a lot of great looking pics from up at The Hawk lately so things have never looked better up there. If you haven’t skied at Hawksnest in a while…pay them another visit. We think you’ll like what you see.
Sugar is already reporting a Frozen Granular and Natural Snow Surface condition this morning. We’ll leave it at Frozen or Variable Granular just now. There’s a chance to see some natural snow on the base, but right now you’d need a flashlght and some strong glasses. Light snow has fallen…but so is some foggy light drizzle so there’s not much in the way of snow on the slopes just yet. Sorry guys…nice marketing though. (I’ve been attempting to re-contact Sugar about working directly with us and this one’s not going to get me any convincing points is it? We call it like we see it though…regardless of the consequences.)
Wolf Laurel is the only ski area that didn’t reduce their base depth from the last few days. However they also reported that they made snow night before last so perhaps that’s accurate. Expect good conditions, although they are seeing much the same foggy conditions this morning. They have 12 trails operating and a base of 18-46". Their New Year’s Eve festivies include a torch run, fireworks, and a bonfire. Wolf Laurel Slopes and Zero Gravity will sponsor a terrain park competition on January 7th. Registration is at 10 a.m. Outdoor Exposure will be at the base of the mountain for demo day.
Appalachian is reporting 25-63" of base and all slopes open. It should be great there today and through the weekend!
We don’t know what to tell you about Sapphire Valley…as they have not updated any snow report for us, their own two websites or any ski association in EIGHT DAYS. When we get back from the ski getaway of our own, I’ll send out a search party for RJ or his staff to see if we can locate them within the avalanche of snow that HAS to have kept them from updating. Maybe a New Year’s resolution is on order?
Enjoy your holiday skiing and riding and be sure to check out our story on "The Diary of a First Time Snowboarder" which is a second story posted this morning.
Until Next Time!
Be sure to check out www.SkiSoutheast.com for more news and stories for all of the Southeast’s ski areas.
Be sure to email photos, snow reports and comments to: [email protected]