It’s a mix bag of on snow offerings for Sunday across the Southeast. In North Carolina two more resorts close and await the snowmaking temps that should hit Sunday night or sometime Monday that will begin the healing process to get the slopes ready for the all-important, fast approaching Martin Luther King, four day, Holiday weekend. Ski Beech closed after Friday’s day session. Hawksnest and Appalachian Ski Mountain decided to close yesterday and will make snow and reopen Wednesday. Sugar SHOULD be closed today, but decided to remain open with three slopes that offer some very narrow and thin accesses from top to bottom. Cataloochee is the pick of the state, although they are reporting “encroaching sides” on the 5 trails they are skiing for day sessions only on Sunday.
Some heavy rain is in the forecast for Sunday around noon and afternoon…then SNOW and cold should enter the picture overnight, Monday and Tuesday. More importantly snow making temps COULD return Sunday night, but will at least make it by sometime in the day on Monday and then offer around the clock snowmaking ops for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. That WILL make for a very nice product to ski and ride on!
Sugar is open for day skiing only today. We were over there on Saturday and it isn’t pretty. They are charging weekday rates ($38) for skiing and riding today ƒ¼ I KNOW they are fighting to remain open, but $38 for the product that’s out there? I suppose some will choose to do it. Hats off to Sugar for the fight, but Appalachian looks better and they are closed til Wednesday.
I don’t know that it matters much which resort gets the pick on Sunday as rain (and a lot of it) is forecasted for most of Western North Carolina. Some forecasters are saying that some locations will get as much as 1-2” of rain. So expect more closures on Monday…until the snowmaking ops come in. Actually there IS a slight chance that temperatures behind the rains of Sunday will make for natural snow and maybe even snowmaking tonight as they should drop to around 34°.
The Virginia Ski Resorts Are Hanging in There…
Massanutten closed up days ago, but Bryce Resort, The Homestead and Wintergreen Resort continue to provide something to ski and ride. We haven’t had any first hand reports on conditions across the state lately, so we can’t really say definitively, however since temps have been slightly warmer…
Wintergreen is the pick of the state and they should begin making snow on Monday evening AT LEAST. They will only be day skiing Monday through Thursday of the coming week, as they want to concentrate every spec of snowmaking powder on the trails when they have optimal temps.
West Virginia is offering the best choices for skiing and riding in the Southeast right now…
Canaan Valley is day skiing only today, but is offering 7 trails and of course thin coverage. However it doesn’t look TOO bad.
Snowshoe continues to offer the most and best terrain in the Southeast and Mid Atlantic. They closed down one slope and a lift since Saturday, but still have 27 trails and pretty good coverage. There are some thin coverage areas and bare spots but all in all not too bad of conditions. GM Bill Rock and his staffers HAVE to be excited about the weather forecast for the week ahead. Cold temps are hitting on Monday and highs should be in the 20s and lows in the teens and low 20s Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, which will allow for optimal snowmaking ops. Additionally NATURAL snow is in the offing for Monday through Wednesday and the way that their 4848’ elevation can wrench snow out of limited moisture, they SHOULD get some nice snowfall out of this system.
Timberline Resort has ten trails open today and they too look pretty decent for Sunday.
Winterplace is hanging in there with 6 trails and 4 lifts running today.
Wisp Resort in Maryland has dropped a few trails and is playing on eight slopes today.
The GREAT news is that our snowgirl is beginning to work (see Saturday’s story) as forecasters are now saying that we should see some snow flurries early on Monday and then 2-4” of snow could come on Tuesday and Wednesday. More importantly snowmaking temps will be on tap almost around the clock for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. That will have the resorts looking VERY nice by mid week and ahead of time for the all-important MLK weekend.
We’re not going to talk about the forecast for MLK weekend just yet, because the snowgirl has got to do some whammy work on it just yet. Stay tuned and we should know more by Monday or Tuesday.
I’m connected via a dial-up internet connection this morning, but I will be posting some photos and more information later on Sunday…so check back.
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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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