Pain is driving past five different ski areas in 24 hours and not stopping to snowboard at a single one of them.
I am back in North Carolina this morning, after a drive back from New England that brought me directly past the exits for Thunder Ridge Ski Area in New York, Montage Mountain in Pennsylvania, Massanutten and Wintergreen in Virginia, and even the Liberty Snowplex carpet-skiing slopes.
This short week means one thing: the weekend is already almost here. And thankfully, as always, meteorologist Brad Panovich has us with the forecast for the first few days of the new year. And disclaimer: the rest of this week is a wild ride. His words, not mine!
There are snowmaking windows on Wednesday and Thursday at night throughout the region, with a chance in West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland for about 1-2 inches of natural snow. But marginal temperatures will cause a rain and ice mix on Saturday and into Sunday in North Carolina and Tennessee.
Good news: there are tons of low pressure systems moving across the country, and if cold enough air moves east, the whole region will be in good shape.
In North Carolina and Tennessee, there is a good chance that there is some rain or ice mixed in with the snow Friday, though. So be prepared if you’re making the long trek into the mountains. That means check your car’s fluids, make sure those tires have enough tread on them, and carpool with people who have four-wheel or all-wheel drive! Powder panic is real, and makes people do crazy things. Don’t be one of those people!
Let’s get into what you need to know around the southeast:
Winterplace
Snowmaking is back on at Winterplace. What a beautiful sight to see.
It looks like the second Winterplace Family Festival is going to be on February 20-21. That festival will feature family races, a mini big air contest, face painting, prizes, and more.
Beech
Despite the low visibility leading into yesterday, it shaped up to be a beautiful day at Beech. Discord user Rob McLaughlin reported larger crowds than expected, so prepare for a longer wait in the lift line if you’re headed there today.
It looks like the Beech adult race league starts next week, on Jan. 11. Co-sponsored by your friends right here at SkiSoutheast and Root Down Hair Studio, teams of six compete on Thursday nights for five weeks of competition in a giant slalom format. Each night ends with a raffle and a social in the Beech Mountain Brewing Taproom. Look for more information here.
Appalachian Ski Mountain
Tigerprowl2112 hit App Ski on New Years Day, and reported snow guns firing and little crowds. It must still be winter break for App State students!
App will kick off its Signature Shred for the Cup Series Sunday, January 7 with its rail jam. It is the first event in a series of three disciplines – rail jam, big air, and slopestyle. Smith Optics and Dakine are presenting sponsors, and you can register for that here.
Canaan Valley Resort
Treetops are dusted with snow yet again this morning, as Canaan Valley Resort got a trace amount of snow last night. It’s sticking around, thanks to temperatures in the 20s for the early part of today.
There are three lifts spinning and 10 trails open. Snowmaking is in process.
Snowshoe
It’s the calm before the anticipation of the storm.
“As our excitement builds for the snowy weekend ahead, we think we’ll take things slow and easy today,” the snow reporting team said. “Appreciate these mountain views we sometimes overlook when we’re ripping it up on a good powder day.”
There are 10 chairlifts spinning and 31 open trails.
Timberline
Snowmaking has been in process since Monday on both open and unopened terrain (not that there’s much terrain unopened at Timberline right now). That will continue today. Easy Does It will be closed for snowmaking, as well as Upper Almost Heaven and The Drop.
Watch Now
I told you I wanted to watch more ski and snowboarding films as a part of my 2024 New Year’s Resolutions, and oh boy, do I have a film for y’all.
Pro rider Antti Autti dropped Kaettekuru: A Freeriding Documentary on his YouTube page. And it looks amazing.
The stofy is about Autti’s journey through the snowy landscape of Hokkaido, Japan, a place where he was first introduced to freeriding. It just came out yesterday. Give it a watch.
Don’t forget: Massanutten Resort Summit. February 9-11. Be there. Sign up here.
Thanks to everyone that has already joined us on Discord.
Think snow!
Think cold!
Click here to join us on our new SkiSoutheast Discord channel. It is a great way to meet new snow loving friends and shares experiences, ask questions, and more!
And as always, email me at [email protected] with your thoughts and photos.