It is Friday and we are seeing a real mixed bag of tricks as far as the weather goes.
Snowshoe Mountain is advising people to grab a good waterproof outer layer if you’re planning to get out and make the most of the soft snow and non-existent lift lines. There is a chance of thunderstorms today which may temporarily impact lift operations. Spruce is open as a terrain park. Progression is open as a green ski trail. There is an 80-90% chance of rain today, tonight and Saturday at “The Shoe”. Sunday looks awesome with mostly sunny skies and temps in the low 50s.
Wisp Resort is looking a notch wetter with 100% chance of rain and showers today and Saturday and perhaps an inch or more of the wet stuff through the first half of the weekend. They are calling it quits for the season after Sunday’s session.
Sugar Mountain Resort looks GREAT for today, Friday with mostly sunny skies and a high near 73°. They have dropped a couple of trails, so check out the SNOW REPORT. The first half of Saturday could be a bit damp with 0.25″ of rain possible. So you can dodge the drops if you want.
Massanutten Resort is reporting (and inviting) fans come on out this weekend and make some final turns of the season! Massanutten Resort will reopen for skiing and snowboarding this Saturday, March 25 & Sunday, March 26, 2023 from 9 am – 5 pm! Now there is an 80% chance of rain, with an inch or more in the forecast for Friday and Saturday, but Sunday is looking awesome.
In terms of what will be open at Massanutten, as of this time: Creekside Quad, Ridge Triple, and the SunKid Lifts will be open servicing Upper and Lower Showtime, Southern Comfort, and Paul’s Way. The Peak Quad will not be open this final weekend as we have started the removal process for its replacement lift.
Massanutten Season Pass Holders will be offered a FREE buddy slope-use ticket to bring a friend. Show your Season Pass at the ticket window to receive your free-slope use ticket each day. (Rental equipment is not included) ADDITIONALLY, Season Pass Holders from any other ski resort, will receive a 50% discount for our slope-use tickets.
Be sure to check the SNOW REPORT for all of the details.
Bear in mind that Timberline Mountain is planning to reopen for Saturday & Sunday and we will report on those slopes offered on Saturday’s FirsTrax report.
Reader Input…
I want to thank our buddy, Bill Nabers for providing good content and input regarding Bryce Resort all season long. However, he went one step further over the last few days by sending us this report from Snowshoe Mountain. He wrote:
I hope Matt enjoys being “on assignment.”
Another very enjoyable day skiing at Snowshoe. I discovered that Snowshoe, like Bryce, gets inversions. It was 17 at the cabin in the ‘valley’ and 27 at Snowshoe Village. Little warmer today than the last two days. (Of course that ‘valley’ is located at a higher elevation than any of the ski resorts in Virginia.)
Snowshoe made snow again last night and did their usual fine job of grooming. Grabhammer was particularly enjoyable today, though it was good yesterday. Widowmaker has a couple of thin spots, but they are easily skied around. (I’m sure they will push some snow over those with the groomers.) On Lower Ballhooter they groomed then made snow, and that left a little fun layer to play on. The snowboards were enjoying jumping the mounds they left. It is now skied out, but still a fun run. Camp 99 and Sawmill are open but there are some very thin spots (ie brown) to maneuver around. But they are both black diamond runs. Coverage is still good and wide on the rest of the slopes. I hope to squeeze a few more runs in the morning before heading back home.
Bill
PS – One of the pictures I am sending is off the top of the Soaring Eagle Express lift. The last two days the lifties have put out plastic flowers instead of cones to guide disembarking the chairlift. I thought it was a nice homage to Spring.
Here are those photos:
Snowshoe’s conditions have really been quite nice all week.
This next one is to the right is the full scale version of the one we are featuring as the Photo of the Day up top.
As Bill shared, this photo shares a cool, sense of humor from the staff of Snowshoe Mountain as they used plastic flowers to mark the route to disembark the lift house up top.
Leave it to Snowshoe, right?
The Weather for the Week Ahead…
As far as we know right now, we are expecting there to be two, lone resorts still operating for skiing and snowboarding after Sunday’s sessions. Those would be Sugar Mountain in North Carolina and Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia. There is a chance, according to some reports, that Timberline Mountain may extend their season one more weekend.
We took a peek at the forecast for mid-week, next week and things look a bit drier and that should allow for snow grooming crews to work their magic. If there is a sudden, announced closure, we will let you know.
You Don’t See This Everyday.
A few readers sent me this photo from early this morning. The photo was taken by Tyler Penland and provided by our friends at Watauga Online, who share many of our ResortCams.
The photo was snapped via an iPhone in low light so it is not the best, but it is of:
The Aurora Borealis from just north of Deep Gap on the Parkway last night. “Not very bright ones but still a rare sight.”
Speed Skiing Record Broken Wednesday, March 22, 2023 at 158.76 mph!
Did you guys see that bit of news? That is “ONLY” about 100mph faster than I have ever skied! Good Lord!
Congratulations to French speed skier Simon Billy who broke the world record for fastest skier on Wednesday, at La Forêt Blanche with a blistering speed of 255.5 km/h (158.76 mph).
Cheers to Simon, the fastest skier in the history of the world!
I thought I was “on the edge” of disaster when I came close to 60mph. Could you imagine what a fall might feel like? Yikes.
Check out the video below of the record breaking run!
If you are out and about today or this weekend, drop me an email with your report and photos to [email protected]