Mark McKelvy Reports from Appalachian 1-18-06 night session
Since I skipped my regular "day off work snowboarding session" yesterday due to the weather, I had to redeem myself tonight. I got off work a little early to I could meet up with Snowbird and his brother Jon and head up to App. We didn’t see any snow on the way, up until we reached Boone, but the winds were whipping us around the whole way. It was very cold and windy tonight and a welcome change for the resorts. App was in full blizzard mode with the snow guns blasting. I was actually blown uphill by the wind a few times! Even though there was rain yesterday, there were not many signs of Ice. App has an amazing ability to cover the ground with new snow so I only heard an occasional scrape. This was one of the last warm up sessions for us before the Utah Summit and we had a real good time.
Tom Barnette reports from Sugar 1-19-06:
Sugar was in good shape and they did a nice job of grooming this morning. I was surprised to see some thin areas along the sides of trails, but with the weather we’ve had lately it is remarkable to see no bare areas to speak of. Later in the day there were a few spots where the Switchback trail merges down the Flying Mile trail, but only thin coverage and not something to fret about. I was impressed. No crowds, no lift lines and a great time. The snow was soft and plentiful.
Danni Ryder reports from The Homestead:
I had never skied here before and while the amenities are to die for, the slopes were unfortunately in pretty bad shape. In need of some cold and snow.
David Jeanerette reports from Canaan Valley:
I have only seen Canaan in better shape than they are right now during a dumping of snow a few years back. Granted I have only been here a handful of times, I was pleasantly surprised to see really nice conditions and no crowds and no lift lines. I must have made 30 runs and boy do my thighs tell me! I’ll be skiing again this weekend and will report and send photos.
Tamara Haden reports from Cataloochee:
This place has done such a great job of making everyone that skis or snowboard here feel that they want YOU to have a great time. I never skied here before but I mention SkiNC and everyone went on about how great your website is. I told them I was reporting and they said that several other people reported to you guys from here. That’s cool. Great job Cataloochee and SkiNC. Oh yes, the slopes were GREAT today!
On-Snow Reporters:
We will keep a log of the best reporter’s submission, photos and reports. Trust us it is way to time consuming to post every pic…but send them…because we are tallying the scores. The winner of the Best On Snow Reporter for 2005-2006 will win $1000 in cash, a FREE Getaway Vacation and more. The contest will run from now through March 1st and we will choose the winner. Our choice will be based on the following and IN THE ORDER of importance.
Quality of Photos
Quality of Reports (well written, informative, unbiased)
Number of Photo Submissions
Number of Reports
Extra points will be given for getting smiling faces in the photos and including names and cities where you can.
Extra points will be awarded for creative ideas.
We will choose the winner based on how helpful and informative the reports have been.
As of 01/19/2006 here are the top vote getters. (We will only document the top three to five here throughout the season…and we may begin posting the top ten, depending on how close results are.)
1. Mark McKelvy
2. Lorrie Tomlinson
3. Kent Jackson
4. Joe Harmon