I was a bit delayed this morning in compiling all of the data as several ski areas had not updated either any of the reporting services or in many cases – their own websites. So when that happens we go to the telephones and those conversations have me a bit behind this morning so I will be combining the morning report to encompass the entire Southeast and Mid Atlantic. …and to mix things up a bit I’m going to skip around and report highlights in no particular order. We’ve also had several good questions come our way overnight and we’ll address those as well, so here we go…
The winter storm that is bombing portions of the extreme Northeast has spread a mixed bag of winter precip across the region. As I was beginning to compile the data this morning (around 7am) it was already snowing here in the High Country. This morning’s temps here in between Banner Elk and Boone started out in the upper 30s and by 8am the temps had already nosedived to the upper 20s. The temps are headed further down and snow is in the forecast for today (maybe 1-4”).
The BIG WINNER today in the snow business is Wisp at Deep Creek Resort where they have seen 5” of snow and it’s still snowing.
The low reported at 4am this morning at Appalachian Ski Mountains was 43° and by 8am it was already down to 32°. It will continue to drop and snow will kick in as the temps drop to 13° overnight tonight and Thursday and Friday will be frigid again!
It’s 24° at Hawksnest this morning (told you we’d be hopping around!) and they saw a quick burst of snow and awaiting more. We watched as one of their staff (we presume Lenny Cottom or Vance Duggan) was grooming the hill. Hawksnest wrote, “If you are looking for a bit more action, the park has the battleship dropping into a nice vertical which slides into a box at the top of Sock ‘Em. There’s a monster kicker coming into the bottom with a soft landing.” If you want a great day of skiing, today you can have much of the mountain to yourself!
While the North Carolina Mountains have only seen a light dusting of snow so far, many other areas into Virginia and West Virginia have had to deal with Freezing Rain. The Virginia ski areas have seen a mixed bit of precip.
Bryce Resort is reporting 2-3” of new snow, but Massanutten Resort’s Steve Showalter told us this morning that it is 24° and they picked up 2” of what Steve described as “something”! He said that they have had a good mix of sleet and snow.
Just over at Wintergreen Resort in Virginia, the winter storm is playing a bit of havoc with trail openings We called and spoke with Joe at 8:20am and the reason that they dropped from 25 trails on Monday to 12 trails today is due to the fact that they have received freezing rain. Joe said, “We can not run the detachable lifts when there’s freezing rain so we’re going to wait for a bit and see what we have this morning and go from there.” Expect good conditions, but the possibility of 12 trails.
All of the North Carolina Ski Resorts and Ober Gatlinburg in Tennessee are in fine shape this morning with most everybody at or near 100% openings and what should be very nice conditions across the board. Check the SLOPE CONDITIONS page for all of the details.
Seems that the weather is delaying a lot of people this morning as we had to call and speak with Trudy at Canaan Valley to get a report from them as well. Its 30° and they have received 1” of new snow and she said that it was still snowing.
WE SALUTE TRUTH IN ADVERTISING!!!
Want to hear a great snow report for today? Not so much for the content, but for the “truth in advertising”!
Snowshoe Mountain normally gets the coldest temps and when its not snowing anywhere else, it’s snows at their 4848’ elevations. However that didn’t happen overnight! After 2” of snow on Tuesday, it became a freezing rain and icy precip. Snowshoe is reporting “Groomed Hard Packed and ICY conditions” this morning. When is the last time you saw a ski area tell their potential guests that it was icy? Way to go Snowshoe. I say reward them with your business. They do a great job of grooming (check out the photo of the day on SkiSoutheast.com today) and snow is on the way. Here’s what Lindsay Kutsko had to say, “We are expecting to get snow today and tonight, accumulating on the slopes as the temperatures drop. All trails were groomed overnight except for Knot Bumper, Choker and Lower Shays. All 57 trails are open today and be aware that the Ballhooter Lift, Soaring Eagle Express and Western Express will open late today. The Grabhammer Lift will run until 11 am. This afternoon at the Silver Creek Ski Area, Cascade will close at 4:30 p.m. and Mountaineer will run in its place from 4 – 9 p.m.”
Like Canaan Valley, Timberline Resort received 1” of snow and the current temp is 30°
As mentioned earlier, The BIG WINNER this morning is Wisp at Deep Creek Resort in Maryland. They have remained a cold spot of the Southeast and Mid Atlantic over the last couple of mornings. They are at 20° this morning and they have seen 5” of new snow (71” on the season now) and it is still snowing! Snow is in the forecast today and Thursday with highs today around 25° and single digit lows!
SNOWY AND COLD THROUGH THE PRESIDENT’S DAY WEEKEND…and then what?
The great news is that the 5-week long cold spell that has provided a fair amount of snow across the entire region – and FRIGID, well-below-normal temperatures – has provided great opportunities for all of the ski areas to build up base depths that some say will last them all the way to the end of March, no matter the weather ahead. THAT IS GREAT NEWS!
The cold spell continues with chances of snow and cold temps through Monday. Highs Thursday through Sunday in the High Country will be in the 20s and lows will be in the single digits tonight and Thursday and low teens through Sunday night. Monday will be in the low 20s.
THEN WHAT? Forecasters pretty much across the board are saying that Tuesday and next week will provide a return to normal temps. Some are calling it a mild-up, but in reality what we’re seeing is a return to normal highs and lows of highs in the low 40s and lows in the mid 20s. With the right timing of moisture we’ll see some nice snows over these last six weeks or so.
DAY TRIPPING RAVES… by Dave McConnell
For those that grew up in the 60s, we are NOT talking about the kind of “day tripping” that the Beatles made famous! We’re alluding to the BEST way to enjoy the slopes of the region. Be sure to take a moment and read Dave McConnell’s rave about “day tripping”. CLICK HERE TO READ HIS STORY!
GROOMING AT IT’S BEST!
A lot has been written to us (and from us) about grooming this season…particularly which resorts are good at it and which ones could use some improving. Want to see one of the sweetest groomed trails of this season? Check out the photo of the day from last Tuesday at Snowshoe on the front of www.SkiSoutheast.com – That was sent by Snowshoe’s Lindsay Kutsko!
SPREADING SOME CONGRATULATIONS AROUND!
Congrats to Jake Parrish! Jake is one of our SkiNC Sponsored skiers and he wrote to inform us that he has had a pretty good season to date!
Jake stated, “I had my first USSA race at Sugar back in January and I got 2nd place in the GS. This past weekend I was able to do 2 High Country races and I placed 1st in both of them. This coming weekend I will be going to Timberline for the SARA Championships (Southern Alpine Racing Association) I hope to get some pics and possible even some video and if I do I will make sure to send it to you.”
We also want to congratulate Dakota Bauer for her 1st place showing at the HCRA races at Sugar Mountain this past weekend. “Cody” is the 12 year old daughter of Len Bauer, the longtime Ski and Snowboard Director at Sugar Mountain. Cody is also one of my “Little Dots”, which is an AppNet Soccer team located here in the High Country, AND a great friend to my daughter, Carrigan! Congrats to a feisty little athlete!
Until Next Time…
THINK COLD AND SNOW!!!
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For more information about the ski resorts of the Southeast and Mid Atlantic visit www.SkiSoutheast.com
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