We just got back to Raleigh from a pretty decent 3 days at Snowshoe. There are already a few really good threads on the message board about Tuesday’s conditions, so I’ll stick to the other 2 mediocre days of our trip.
We arrived 10am Sunday morning to sprinkles and temps in the 40s. To my pleasant surprise we were allowed to check-in early (probably an early season perk)! The previous trip we stayed at the Inn which was okay, but time consuming and cumbersome going up & down the mountain (especially in inclement weather) for a multi-day trip. So I decided to splurge a bit this trip and booked a room in Rim Fire (highly recommended): a) near the slopes, b) parking garage, c) storage locker, d) direct entrance to Starbucks, e) private hot tubs & sauna & f) pretty darn clean & comfortable. While checking-in and unpacking the sprinkles turned to a steady rain, so the parking garage upgrade was already paying off.
Even though it was rainy, we were still eager to make our first turns of the season. The slopes were in decent shape, but a thick fog set in after lunch so we called it quits early to dry out the gear and visit one of the many Central Village watering holes 😉 Foxfire Grille was the Sunday favorite.
Monday morning brought SNOW and lots of it ALL day long ļ It was also quite windy… I mean, small-child advisory windy! The trails had been groomed the night before and froze, but the new powder quickly covered the terrain. Skidder was probably in the worst shape since it’s up at the top and most affected by the wind, but all-in-all Monday’s open terrain was starting to look good after lunch. Monday’s lunch was at The Junction and then back to Foxfire for MNF and a few frosty beverages.
And of course, Tuesday was friggin’ Awesome! 1-2” of powder is the best I’ve seen in my mere 2 seasons on the snow, so Tuesday’s 6-8” totally blew me away! Luckily we were able to get a late check-out for 1pm (probably another early season perk), so I was able to ski the morning and loved every minute of it. Spruce Glades was a lot of fun, but proved to be a little challenging for a novice (that’s used to skiing on ice) since there were piles of snow everywhere… especially after it had gotten chopped up by mid-morning. The falls were a bit softer, but more difficult getting my butt out of the deep powder.
So what started off as the worst conditions I’ve seen, turned out to be the best conditions that I’ve seen and all within 72 hours of each other. When we arrived on Sunday, the only trails with coverage where the 7-11 that were open; the others had no coverage at all. By Monday afternoon all trails had a few inches of snow and by Tuesday afternoon most trails looked like they could open soon… keep your fingers crossed!
(Click here To see all of Drew’s Snowshoe Mountain Photos of the Day submissions in enlarged views!)
(Editor’s note: Drew sent this on the 5th of December. Great report Drew and we had some glitches or we’d have posted sooner. We’ll be faster next time!)