Imagine my surprise yesterday to look at the Massanutten cam and see some FAT snowflakes showing up! Here in Boone, things were pretty nasty outside. I was expecting it to be the same pretty much for everyone across the region. It was a rather depressing and dreary day to be outside so when I saw that snow on the cam, it definitely perked me up a bit. I think a lot of other people were looking at the same time because our servers were definitely running a little slow. Massanutten is reporting a trace of new snow this morning and Snowshoe is actually showing 2" of the white stuff. Awesome!
<<< The snow yesterday on the Massanutten cam was definitely a welcome site. Those flakes were HUGE.
Looking at the cams this morning, the weather yesterday doesn’t seem to have done too much damage to the ski areas. The worst of the underdeveloped snow was further south here in North Carolina. Things actually look better this morning than I was expecting. There are definitely some brown spots beginning to show on the cams, mainly here in NC. Coverage in general though is still not bad and there is plenty of snow to ski and ride on, especially up into West Virginia and Maryland.
Today should be a pretty decent day to get out there and ski or ride. It will definitely be spring-like with a good amount of sunshine at most places and soft snow. Much improved over yesterday. There will definitely be more cloud cover here in NC though. I’ll be heading out to Beech tonight, maybe App depending on what I see with the park setup.
The upcoming weather for the next few days doesn’t look particularly great, at least for tomorrow and the first half of Thursday. Some underdeveloped snow is forecasted and it will probably be heavy at times. Once we get through that though, the MLK weekend is looking great! I love reading the NWS forecast discussions in the morning and seeing the term “Arctic cold front.” That is always a good thing to read.
That Arctic cold front will move through late Thursday and keep things CHILLY for the weekend. We are looking at around the clock snowmaking for a lot of ski areas from Thursday night all the way to Monday morning. There will even be a little bit of natural snow overnight Thursday night. Right now it isn’t expected to be a lot, but it’s snow nonetheless!
I’m pretty excited because I asked Mike this morning about work on Monday. We will be closed here at Appnet which means I get to ride! I haven’t gotten to snowboard during the day that much lately, as most of my riding has been at night after I get off work. With the extended period of snowmaking that will take place at Beech this weekend and the bluebird day that is forecasted on Monday, I’m pretty stoked. It has the possibility of being the best day I’ve had on snow this year. Even Mike said he might come skiing.
The whole weekend in general is shaping up to offer good, not great, but good conditions at the ski areas. Like I said yesterday, don’t cancel your plans if you already have made them for this weekend! You’ll be bummed if you do when you look at the webcams on Saturday and Sunday.
SUMMITS?
Some people on the messageboard have begun to ask about the SkiNC and Ski Southeast summits this year. With the crummy weather in December and what not, we really hadn’t even thought about them until the last week or so. We’re still in the early planning process for them but as of right now, the tentative date for the SkiNC summit is February 4th at Beech Mountain Resort. The scheduled dates for the Ski Southeast summit are March 2nd, 3rd, and 4th at Snowshoe Mountain. Both places have been great to us over the years so we have decided to hold them there once again. Like I said, we’re still in the early planning process, so I don’t have any other details than that. Mark your calendars though!
Here’s a look around the region…
NORTH CAROLINA
App – They are open on 10 trails today and tonight with a base depth of 33-65”. The coverage looks excellent on the LIVE cam and I’m sure they have got a sweet park setup going, as they always do. Speaking of the terrain park, the ATP site has some cool pics and videos from the events this past weekend. Check em out!
Beech – Open today and tonight on 8 trails with a 12-40” base. They have lost Powderbowl and Meadows from their list of open trails which is a huge bummer, but most of the front side of the mountain still remains open.
Cataloochee – Cat is open to the top today and tonight with 15 trails. That puts them at 95% open! They are reporting some bare spots on Upper Omigosh this morning. Tubing will be open beginning at 4pm this afternoon. It seems as if Cat is the best option for skiing and riding in North Carolina in terms of both vert and open terrain.
Sugar – Open today and tonight on 12 trails with a 10-36” base. Ice skating and tubing are also open.
Wolf Ridge – They are open today on 5 trails with a groomed granular surface. They will be night skiing and the original tubing area remains open. I wish these guys would post some up to date pics!
Sapphire Valley – Closed for the next few days and will re-open on Friday at noon.
TENNESSEE
Ober Gatlinburg – Open today and tonight on 5 trails with a 6-10” base. Tubing is open as well. Ober’s base might be low, but from what I can tell on the webcam, coverage still looks pretty good. The forecasted colder temps will benefit them greatly.
VIRGINIA
Massanutten – As I already mentioned, Massanutten has seen a trace of snow in the past 24 hours. They are open today on 7 trails with a 20-30” base. Diamond Jim and the CMB Terrain park are open so they have a pretty good variety of terrain open right now. Tubing is open as well.
Bryce Resort – They haven’t updated their report yet this morning, but I’m assuming they will be skiing on riding on 7 trails again today. Tubing is open as well. Watch all the action on the LIVE cam.
Wintergreen – Open for day and night sessions on 8 trails with a 15-30” base. I really like how they have a BLOG that they update every morning that goes into a little detail about what’s going on.
WEST VIRGINIA
Winterplace – They are riding today and tonight on 20 trails. Winterplace continues to kill it so far this year as videos and pics I’ve seen up there from recently show great conditions. The LIVE cam was moved yesterday and now shows a view of both the slopes and the tubing hill. Once Warren gets back there tomorrow he will tilt it up so you can’t see the top of the housing. I have a feeling this will become our most popular ski cam.
Snowshoe – Open today and tonight on 45 trails, by far the most in the region and ¾ of the mountain! As I already mentioned, they’ve seen two inches of snow over the past 24 hours. Here are their morning comments…
“We received 2 inches of natural snow in the past 24 hours and will be skiing and riding on 155 acres of the best conditions in the region! Expansions over the last week have included advanced favorites such as Camp 99 and Cupp Run!
Coming up this holiday weekend we have tons of activities for the whole family, and we will continue to bring you our FREE insider programming, Snowshoe 4 U. See how our snowmakers make and perfect our conditions, get a local’s tour of the mountain or learn the proper way to tune and take care of your equipment.
The Progression Session Park is open with fifteen features, including four jumps. Robertson’s Run is open today as a small park and will close for a build tomorrow, January 11th. Spruce Glades and Timberjack are open as intermediate trails.
Groomer’s Choice is Bear Claw.”
Canaan Valley – Open on 12 trails today with a 12-24” base. Tubing and ice skating are also open today. They have midweek ski packages right now starting at $49 per person/double occupancy. That’s cheap!
Timberline – Open on 22 trails today. That’s second most in the region! Not sure how accurate their stated 48” average base is, but the LIVE cam is showing great conditions regardless.
MARYLAND
Wisp – They are open today and tonight on 21 trails, third most in the region. I am loving their single number and honest average base depth of 15 inches. Lift tickets are only $29 today. Tubing and ice skating are open as well.
Enjoy your Tuesday, I’ll talk to you guys tomorrow.
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