One of our staff skied at Sugar on Sunday and reported that things were quite nice considering that the snowguns were blasting away and that they were closed just days earlier with no snow on the slopes. It is indeed crazy how much snow our resorts can throw down in one night these days.
Just three mornings ago there was no snow at Sugar or Cataloochee and this morning Sugar is reporting a 6-20" base of Manmade snow.
We’re showing that it is 28° at Blowing Rock (as of 8am) but the snowguns are off over there. It looks like a winter wonderland at Appalachian Ski Mountain this morning and we’d bet that they COULD be open if they wanted to however many ski areas are no doubt looking at the forecast for today and into late Tuesday and electing to wait and see how much rain falls.
November has been a very dry month, but forecasters are predicting that we might pick up a fair amount of rainfall today and especially on Tuesday. Most of the precip isn’t expected to come in until later Monday evening and according to the weather peeps out there – rain will be heavy at times Tuesday afternoon and Tuesday night.
After a weekend of snowmaking temps that nearly every ski area took advantage of, it looks like there will be little to no snowmaking once the temps rise a bit later this morning until sometime on Wednesday when things are forecasted to turn much colder.
That’s pretty much been the forecast for a few days now and it seems to be holding steady so look for the snowguns to be blasting away again beginning Wednesday as temps are expected to drop back to overnight lows in the 18° range Wednesday night around Banner Elk and Beech Mountain as well as Snowshoe and the WV ski areas.
Thursday and Friday could be nearly around-the-clock snowmaking days and nights. If this forecast holds as expected we already know that Appalachian Ski Mountain will be opening this Friday. They reported, "If the weather forecast holds true, this means a projected opening day of Friday, December 3rd. ASM will be open for both day and night riding from day one. As always, the first 100 tickets sold will be FREE!"
Ice Skating will begin on a regular schedule beginning Saturday, December 4th.
Cataloochee Ski Area would NORMALLY be opening this week as part of a normal season opening schedule, but they too have elected to cease ski and snowboarding ops for the week after skiing all this past weekend, and they plan on reopening on Saturday, December 4th. Tammy Brown writes that they will be concentrating on bombing the slopes with manmade powder.
Ski Beech made snow all weekend and they look pretty good via their base cams. They were not making snow as of 8:20am this morning as temps are now showing around 36° there and fog has set in. We haven’t heard from Beech, but we’d guess they will be blasting the slopes as soon as temps return on Wednesday with an opening probable for Friday or Saturday of this week and we’ll update you as soon as we know.
Sugar Mountain – the guns are off now (as of 8:22am) but Sugar IS OPEN for day sessions on 2 slopes and one lift. A full day of fun on the slopes will cost you $30. Ice skating is operating as well.
Wolf Ridge Resort – They made snow all weekend and right now the guns are off, but they will be making snow whenever possible with plans to open this weekend, December 4th.
Bryce Resort – No word as yet…but at last report they were hoping to open the first or second weekend in December so we’d imagine they will crank up the snowmaking plant this week.
Massanutten Resort – It’s 27° there this morning however they have been experiencing temps that have been just a bit too mild to make snow and like much of the region there is some rain forecasted for Tuesday into Wednesday. Wednesday night things turn cold at Harrisonburg, Virginia and if the forecast holds Mass will be making snow to open ASAP either this weekend or the following one. We’ll update you as soon as we get more input.
The Homestead – They had their usual HUGE Thanksgiving activities at the Hot Springs, Virginia four season resort. Skiing and Snowboarding activities are scheduled to begin around mid December and we’d expect The Homestead to be making snow mid week this week as well.
Wintergreen Resort had previously set December 10th as their opening day and with the cold arriving mid week we’re certain they will be blasting away when the cold temps hit Wednesday.
Canaan Valley Resort – They are displaying 33° this morning at 8:49am but they made snow over the weekend and will be at every opportunity to get open on the previously announced opening date of December 11th.
Snowshoe Mountain – 26° and making snow this morning. I say it all the time but these guys report the way that we do. They simply talk to their readers/viewers. This morning Laura Parquette posted, "Thank you Mother Nature! We’ve had great weather since the Thanksgiving Holiday, and we’ve had almost 60 hours of snowmaking completed this weekend, and the guns are still working hard this morning. We’ll probably have to turn them off shortly, and they’ll likely stay off for the next day or so, as we have a mild night, followed by a rainy Tuesday ahead. But on Wednesday we do another 180, as cold weather returns, with natural snow in the forecast. Another overnight with temperatures in the teens should allow us to really push the snow out, and we may see up to 3 days of round-the-clock snowmaking! We know everyone is anxious for a new opening date, and we’ll make that announcement just as soon as possible. It will be important to see just how much rain falls on Tuesday, and then how quickly we’re able to get the guns back on on Wednesday. But keep your fingers crossed and hopefully we’ll have good news to share by the end of the week! Think Snow!"
Timberline Resort – They are making snow at every oppportunity with intentions to open December 9th at last report.
Winterplace Resort – We haven’t spoken with Terry or Missy yet, but we do know that they have been making snow. It is 36° at Flat Top this morning so they too are awaiting the colder temps to hit mid week. We’ll get you an opening day announcement ASAP.
Wisp Resort – 30° this AM. They started making snow on Friday afternoon and got a lot of snow blasted on the slopes over the weekend. They are keeping an eye on the rain moving in and will begin making snow mid week and they will be announcing an opening pretty soon.
Ober Gatlinburg – They made some snow over the weekend. The guns are off right now and hopefully they’ll make some snow mid week with plans to open as soon as possible thereafter.
We’ve updated most all of the resort’s "What’s New for 2010-2011" information and you can check those out by clicking on YOUR CHOICE of ski area links from the front page of the website.
We’ll update you guys with more news as we get it. In the meantime –
THINK COLD! THINK SNOW!
We urge you to visit:
www.HighCountryWebCams.com
www.HighCountryWeather.com
www.SkiSoutheast.com
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