Southeast Ski Resorts have a LOT of FUN Planned and Nice Conditions to Play On!

Here we are ever deeper into Spring and so far Old Man Winter is bullying into Spring’s territory and as far as we can tell nobody is complaining.  Snow fell again last night across the High Country and other parts of the Southeast.

Appalachian Ski Mountain did make a little snow last night and then Mother Nature took over and dropped an inch of natural snow on the mountain.  That takes App to 37” of snow on the season, which pales in comparison to the 350 hours of snow that the snowmakers made snow in December alone, which is a personal record for Appalachian Ski Mountain!  When we were talking with General Manager, Brad Moretz he said that those 350 hours of snowmaking was sometimes what Appalachian would run the snowguns during a weak season!

Brad also said, “Just let your visitors know that we’re not making snow in order to stay open; we’re making snow so that people can have the best conditions up until the end of the season.”

You KNOW there’s going to be some crazy, zany fun to be had at this weekend’s Meltdown Games taking place at Appalachian Ski Mountain this weekend. Word has it that Dave McConnell, AKA “TeleDave” on the messageboard, will be tele-skiing down App’s slopes on Saturday wearing a hula skirt and bra. That would normally be a sight to behold, but with SNOW and temperatures in the 20s and 30s forecasted…I may just have to see that in person! Sounds like several of the messageboard crew are planning on being there and with all sorts of fun races, an 80’ pond skim, trashbag races and more planned…YOU SHOULD BE THERE TOO!

At least Nine events will take place during the games that will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on both Saturday, March 25, and Sunday, March 26. Embarrassment will kick things off as skiers and snowboarders attempt to skim across an 80-foot skimming pond that Appalachian has created at the base of the mountain.

There will also be a Big Air Contest in the terrain park, a Tug-of-War over the skimming pond, a ski and snowboard slope style competition, a dual slalom, a Cardboard Derby and a Trash Bag Downhill Race.

Check out the messageboard and you’ll see that a few of the guys are throwing something together at the last minute that we’ll be an attention getter. Don’t be surprised to see “SkiNC” painted on some kind of contraption!

They also have some kind of mass-start, Chinese Downhill planned as well. To enter the Meltdown Games, participants only need to buy a lift ticket. And even though late-season rates are already in effect at Appalachian, even nicer looking deals are available through the Learn-to-Ski packages. By reserving a day early this weekend, skiers can receive a lift ticket, ski rentals and a lesson for only $33, compared to $77. And snowboarders can receive a lift ticket, snowboard rental and a lesson for only $45, compared to $86.

Mark McKelvy snapped a nice photo of the new 31-foot by 1-foot Rollercoaster Rail. The rail was installed last Sunday and it has already been a hit according to all who have lined up to try it.

Also in North Carolina , Cataloochee Ski Area is also joining in the fun for one more full weekend of skiing.  They have 80% of their mountain open, good conditions and they will ski from 1pm to 10pm today and then Saturday and Sunday.  They will closed all next week and then reopen for ONE DAY ONLY next Saturday, April 1st. As an added bonus to close out a great season, Cat is going to let everyone ski from 8:30am to 4:30pm with RETRO lift ticket pricing from back in 1961 when they opened and allowed skiers to hit the mountain for a whopping $2.75!!! So ski next Saturday, April 1st for less than $3.00!!!

MOVING NORTH TO WINTERGREEN RESORT IN VIRGINIA – They have their SUPER SAVER RATES IN EFFECT ! ! Just a few days left . . . the end of the 05-06 season is just around the corner. There’s still time to get some Spring skiing and riding in this season. Wintergreen Resort will be open for day session skiing and riding through Sunday, March 26th at 4:30pm and then will reopen for our Wicked Huge Park Party April 1st and 2nd. Today, they have 15 freshly groomed trails with a machine groomed surface and 4 lifts will be running.

Mark your calendars for their annual WICKED HUGE PARK Party April 1st and 2nd. Wintergreen will transform all of Upper and Lower Dobie into one mega park for skiers and riders. Great food, music, contests, pond skimming and more. Check out www.WintergreenResort.com  for additional details.

Not long ago Wintergreen Resort was featured on The Weather Channel segment showing that March is an ideal time for the exclusive “morning ski/afternoon golf” offer at Wintergreen Resort. You can enjoy great slopes atop the mountain and a Rees Jones-designed golf 3,000 feet below in the valley all in the same day!

(For the record…we’ve received some emails from people over in Maggie Valley, North Carolina who have been skiing at Cataloochee and playing golf all in the same day.  I’m going to have to try that sometime!

WE’LL COVER THE WEST VIRGINIA RESORTS NEXT!

Speaking of Golf — Canaan Valley has a nice golf club as well and one look at their website will tell you that they are ready to throw in the towel on skiing this season.  We looked all around their website and other than finding a bunch of pages that were dead, we couldn’t get anymore details on the skiing part of their operation.  They have a beautiful, but HARD to navigate website!  So, we did what we do best – we called. We were told that Canaan IS gearing up for spring and summer activities, BUT there is ONE more weekend of good skiing left at Canaan for the 2005-2006 season.  They will offer 24 trails with variable conditions today, Saturday and Sunday before parking their skis and snowboards and breaking out the golf clubs!