Several Ski Areas are Planning Openings this Week!
We posted a bunch of new images and we’ll get to posting the videos today so check back for some updated Trip Reports and more.
Here’s what we found touring the resorts this morning!
<Wisp WAS making snow this AM. Image from one of their many live webcams!
27° – Wisp Resort – Contrary to a few inaccurate reporting services, Wisp indeed is making snow and has been almost all weekend. They are preparing to open and they will definately be open in time for Wisp’s 54th Birthday Celebration, which will be held this Sunday, December 13th and Monday, December 14, 2009.
I tried to catch a couple of contacts early this morning, but I did speak with Becky in DC’s Bar & Restaurant and she told me that they were hoping to open this Thursday, December 10th!
To celebrate their birthday bash they will offer $7 1-day Adult or Junior Lift Tickets, 1/2 price Rentals & Group Lessons on the 13th! They also have a great Lodging Special: Stay at the Wisp Resort Hotel December 13 or 14 for $59 per night*
*based on availability, limited quantities, prices are per night, reservations required, not valid with any other promotion, valid Sunday, December 13 & Monday, December 14 only. Call 301.387.4911 to book and tell them SkiSoutheast.com sent ya!
23° – Snowshoe Mountain – We received a few nice videos and photos from Snowshoe’s opening weekend and we’ve posted some of those via the photo gallery and trip reports. Remember that to view any ski area’s most recent conditions via our Photo Pages, simply visit that resort’s page on SkiSoutheast.com by clicking on the resort links at the top of the front page and then when you’re on that resort’s page, simply click "PHOTOS" at the top of the page. Here’s the latest Snowshoe Photos
Snowshoe drops to six trails open for today as they close up the Silvercreek side just during the week to prepare for another super weekend this weekend. Laura Parquette writes, "Wow, what an opening weekend! It was a long wait, but well worth it, as Snowshoe opened with some of the most extensive terrain on the East Coast, and powder conditions after 8" of snow fell on Saturday. Today we’ll be skiing and riding in the Snowshoe area only. We’ll continue to make snow whenever Mother Nature allows and look forward to opening additional terrain in the near future. This morning we have an inversion, with marginal temperatures on the top of the mountain, so limited guns are at work. The next few days have some up and down temperatures forecasted, but later in the week some great sustained cold temps, including overnight lows in the teens, return. Natural snow is in the forecast on and off this week, and whatever Mother Nature supplies will be the perfect compliment to what our snowmaking team can produce."
We can tell you that VERY COLD temps are in the forecast during the overnight hours this week at Snowshoe and the high on Thursday and Friday is only forecasted to be around the 22° range! Lows in the teens. Look for a great weekend ahead at The Shoe. They have some great deals for lodging right now and if you haven’t booked yet here you go> Snowshoe Lodging Specials
Canaan Valley looks great this morning via their live webcam!>
24° – Canaan Valley – They made some snow and look pretty sweet this morning with about 8" of snow depth still on the ground according to David Lecher of Tucker County.
Remember that Canaan Valley plans to open this Friday! Ditto the conditions at Timberline Resort and they plan to open Thursday!
21° – Winterplace Resort also is making snow despite reports to the contrary via a few reporting services around the region. One of these days we’ll get all these people in sinc. Anyway, we have you covered and Winterplace is looking nice for their hoped for opening this Friday as well.
23° – Wintergreen Resort is making snow at every opportunity and they too are making snow this AM. Anne Marie wrote, "Lots of snow! Saturday’s storm dropped 5-6 inches of snow across the resort and provided a great base layer for our snowmaking efforts. The resort looks fantastic all covered in white! The 09-10 ski and riding season is less than a week away with opening date scheduled for December 12th. Snowmaking efforts will continue around the clock as temperatures permit in an effort to get all of us sliding this weekend. Starting out, we are concentrating our snowmaking efforts on Dobie, The Plunge, Eagles Swoop and the cross trails."
20° – Massanutten Resort is making snow this morning and after 6.5" of snow on Saturday they look in great shape to open this week. They are looking to drop the ropes for the first time this season somewhere between Wednesday and Friday.
24° – Bryce Resort is making snow (again not being reported elsewhere). They plan to open on Saturday for the first time this season.
27° – Ober Gatlinburg – They are making snow as long as temps allow in preparations to open hopefully this weekend. We’ll keep you posted.
<Despite the inversion Beech was making snow this AM
37° – Beech Mountain Resort is experiencing an inversion in temps this morning as John Huffman of Fred’s General Store and Beech’s weather stations are reporting 36-37° but they are making snow this AM on portions of the mountain!
They are operating with Lower Shawneehaw and down this morning (3 slopes and 3 lifts). Beech is open for DAY SKIING ONLY today.
We expect that we’ll hear from Beech later in the week that they are open to the top!
App’s grooming the slopes this morning! Image captured via our new Tower Cam at App!>
23° – Appalachian Ski Mountain has really kicked things up a huge notch today with everything on the mountain open for skiing and riding for day and night skiing with the exception of "Thin Slice" and "Hard Core". That makes it NINE trails open with a reported base of 18-48" of snow. You think App can crank out some snow?!?!
32° – Cataloochee Ski Area is making snow and open on Monday from 1pm-10pm with 50% of their terrain open (8 trails). Cat held their Can-U-Ski Day on Sunday and Tammy Brown wrote, "All of the staff here at Cataloochee wishes to send out a big THANK YOU to the record number of folks who participated in our Can-U-Ski Food and Coat Drive today! And what a wonderful sight to see the the thousands of cans of food and hundreds of coats that have been donated to the special families in Haywood County here today. All donations will be delivered to Haywood Christian ministries to help ensure a blessed holiday for all! Thank you, thank you from our family to yours this holiday season!"
…and THANK YOU Cataloochee for doing that!
26° – Sugar Mountain – They are OPEN TO THE TOP of the mountain today with 6 trails serviced by two lifts. Things looked a little rough at the bottom of the mountain on Saturday and several people emailed that they made one run and called it quits. Many others emailed that they simply stayed up top where things were just better. Sunday after more snowmaking ops, things looked darn nice and this morning Sugar’s looking very sweet.
28° – Wolf Laurel made snow and is trying to open on Friday, December 11th!
You can check the snow reports for all of the ski resorts of West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee and North Carolina via https://www.skisoutheast.com/skireports.php as well as videos, photos and more.
Send your comments, videos, photos, trip reports and questions to: [email protected]