It’s Friday, and we have a Zeb Powell sighting at Beech Mountain Resort.
The resort’s marketing team posted a video on the Beech Mountain Instagram story – which you can watch here until about 4 p.m. today – of the son of Waynesville, North Carolina riding down Upper and Lower Shawneehaw.
He rides switch, he nose butters, he throws a backflip, he does typical Zeb Powell stuff on a snowboard, and it’s awesome to see him riding in his home state for the holidays again.
If you’re reading this report, you almost certainly know who Zeb Powell is. But if you don’t, simply, he’s the most exciting snowboarder on the planet.
This video from Hume Supernatural (an all-natural skincare company that is one of Zeb’s sponsors) just dropped, and it takes you through a day-in-the-life from an early-season trip to Trollhaugen, a small ski area in Wisconsin.
Snowmaking temperatures are back in a big way throughout the southeast. It’s in the 20s and 30s this morning in North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. Even Ober Mountain, which has opened up despite battling temperatures as warm as 60 degrees this December, was 27 degrees this morning.
Snowshoe
The Kendog reported some gnarly lines yesterday at Snowshoe. Lower Ballhooter, in his words, is the best run right now.
And Matt Laws is among the contingent of SkiSoutheast team members at Snowshoe this week. He reported some really playful snow with pretty solid coverage. He brought his 6-year-old son out on the slopes for his first turns ever. Not a bad place for a kid to catch the ski-bug. Read the rest of his story from yesterday here.
Here’s what the team at Snowshoe had to say:
Today’s forecast calls for cloudy skies and a high chance of good times. The stoke is building as cooler temperatures make their way in and 2023 prepares to bow out with grace. Seeking a quick slope-side bite to eat so you can make the most out of your slope time? Look no further than The Burger Bus, located just off of Skidder Slope next to the Big Top.”
Sugar Mountain
Be aware of Easy Street: Discord user Filardito reported a few pile-ups at the top of the trail, so be on high alert for others. It looked crowded on the ResortCams yesterday, but not nearly as much this morning, so be patient out there.
The snowmakers are back on at Oma’s this morning.
Timberline
From pouring rain to trace amounts of snow. Timberline had some dust on crust out there for you if you were early enough for first tracks. There were the typical holiday lines at Timberline yesterday, but as Discord user JohnBooswald reports, it was moving pretty quickly.
Here’s what the Timberline team reported this morning:
Temperatures have begun to drop, and Timberline Mountain saw a light dusting of snow overnight. Night skiing is available this evening. Summit terrain will close at 4:30, with night skiing terrain available off the mid-mountain quad lift. Surface conditions are fast and granular, and all open terrain has been machine groomed. Snowmaking mounds remain on Thunderstruck for a more advanced terrain option.”
Cataloochee
Temperatures are dropping, and snow guns are firing.
All five lifts are spinning, and there are 10 trails open, including Upper Omigosh, the CAT Cage Terrain Park and Rock Island Run.
The team at Cataloochee is highly encouraging skiers and snowboarders to prepurchase tickets online, to ensure a day on the slopes and speed up the process. Purchases can be made up to 14 days in advance.
Appalachian Ski Mountain
If you’re headed to App Ski, your best bet is to buy tickets in advance. The ski area sold out of daytime tickets yesterday. I’m not sure if the same could happen again, but avoid finding yourself in a situation that involves killing time, and purchase those tickets now.
There is a base depth of 35-59 inches right now, and the snow guns were on last night. Appaljack, Appal Jam, AppalTop, and The Highline are all open.
Ski the East
It was a soggy Thursday for me at Loon Mountain Resort. We still got 12 runs in though, and it beat sitting at my desk all day.
For Sale
Did Santa bring you a new ski or board setup for Christmas, prompting you to sell your old gear for lift ticket money? Well, the SkiSoutheast Discord channel has a #ForSale channel that might be able to help.
It’s pretty simple. Post your gear on the channel, and sell it Craigslist-style. There hasn’t been a ton of activity just yet, but perhaps that will change with a surge of gear becoming available for re-selling after the holidays.
Reminder: Don’t make any plans for February 9 through 11.
For the first time since 2020, we are hosting a SkiSoutheast Resort Summit. This one will be at Massanutten Resort. The weekend is an opportunity to meet up with like-minded snow sports lovers from all over the southeast.
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.