We’d be remiss of our duties of providing the biggest news of the day, if I didn’t begin today’s column with some kind of header entitled “What a difference ONE DAY makes!” Another appropriate title could be, “Hard working, snowmakers work all night to provide open terrain!”
That is one of those things that go unnoticed a lot of times. Most of us look at the snow report each day to see if our favorite ski area made snow and let out a quick “YES!” when we see that they have. However, little thought is given to the countless overnight hours that are put in by dedicated snowmaking crews – while the rest of us are getting sleep so that we can hit the slopes early and enjoy them. So, we’ll start today’s column by saying “THANK YOU GUYS for your hard labor last night!”
Temperatures allowed for snowmaking most all day on Monday in some areas of the Southeast. Others had to wait until last night, but as far as we can tell, most or all of the resorts across the region made snow – and plenty of it – in the last 24 hours.
The “Other” Big News – SNOW!
We’re getting some reports this morning of some measurable snow thus far. Canaan Valley is reporting ½” of snow so far and 2-5” is expected. Snowshoe Mountain is reporting 1” so far and certainly more will fall there today! Wisp Resort in Maryland is also reporting 1” of snow.
2-5” of snow is forecasted for most areas from Maryland down to North Carolina and on top of that we are looking at optimal snowmaking temps that will make for very nice conditions for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
(We’re still looking at some under-developed snow on Saturday, but it should not be a day-killer. We’ll update as we get closer.)
Let’s hope that the NWS “misses” this forecast and that we get more snow than called for. Yesterday afternoon, Brad Panovich of WCNC NBC 6 in Charlotte emailed me that we could see substantially more. We’ll see if we can get an update from him asap. Our SkiNC Weather guy, Marcus Lynch is calling for 2-5” from noon Tuesday through tonight. We’ll see!
Resort Notes…
Bryce Resort made snow, despite the fact that some reporting services including the SSAA says that they didn’t. We spoke with Frank and Horst up there and they were still making snow and preparing the Red Eye slope for opening today. They will have three slopes open.
We also spoke with some of the crew at Massanutten this morning and they are still not certain when they will be resuming ski operations. They did make snow and hope to blast tonight and throughout Wednesday. They were not ready to commit to any re-opening day just yet. They do have tubing going.
Wintergreen Resort is reporting 25° and they have been blasting the slopes to resume ski operations soon. They remain “closed” for ski operations on Tuesday to focus on dedicated snow making ops.
Canaan Valley Resort is reporting 24° and snowmaking. They are reporting ½” of snow thus far with 2-4” expected today and tonight. They have a 10-24” base and 5 trails open today.
Snowshoe Mountain is reporting 19° which is optimal for snowmaking ops. They also picked up 1” of snow thus far and will be skiing on Groomed, Packed Powder on 24 trails for Tuesday!
The SSAA is reporting 10 trails open at Timberline Resort. They actually are playing on 5 trails today. They are focusing on snowmaking today and along with ½” of snow thus far and more snow on the way – the forecast is for SMILES across that part of West Virginia today.
Winterplace is picking up some snow this morning and they too are blasting the slopes. Today they will ski on three slopes.
Wisp Resort at Deep Creek in Maryland has picked up 1” of snow so far and they too are blasting the slopes. They offer 5 trails today as they are focusing on snowmaking and will reopen more terrain soon.
Ober Gatlinburg in the Smoky Mountains began making snow last night and they are pouring it on and we’ll reopen soon!
Appalachian is blasting the slopes and readying themselves for a great re-opening of skiing operations on Wednesday.
Cataloochee Ski Resort began making snow at 7am Monday morning and you can expect pretty nice conditions on the five trails that they are operating on Tuesday. We have already received two emails since posting the early slope conditions report asking about other sources claiming that Cat only has three trails open. Our response? Why the heck are you guys even LOOKING anywhere else? Cat is enjoying 5 trails today and they added 4-6” of manmade snow in the last 24 hours! Tubing operations should re-open on Thursday!
Hawksnest has been blasting the slopes since Monday morning and one look at this morning’s live camera view tells us that they will be looking p-r-e-t-t-y sweet by Wednesday resuming of ski operations.
Ski Beech has made the most amazing 24 hour turn around! They were closed yesterday and we provided you guys with an early photo as they cranked up the snowguns early am. Today they are OPEN with 4 trails, including Lower Shawneehaw and they have 4-10 inches of base. Expect some thin coverage, but that is being repaired with snowmaking all day today and over the next 24-48 hours!
Sugar Mountain reopened five trails and now have six being offered for today with snowmaking in progress. Expect a few thin areas, but again those should be gone by Wednesday am.
We spoke with the guys at Wolf Ridge. They have STILL not updated their own website which says that they are open with three trails. They are STILL closed. They have been making snow and are “discussing” reopening either Wednesday or Thursday. Stay tuned.
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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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