Before I get too deep into our morning update, Appalachian Ski Mountain WILL BE OPEN DAY and they are OFFERING FREE LIFT PASSES TO ALL COMERS TODAY!!! Go get them. They are open for DAY SKIING ONLY for the first week. The front page of their site says, "opening soon" so don’t be fooled…they are open. (We had a couple of emails asking about that. Heck, the Southeastern Ski Association, and most other national sites are reporting App as CLOSED so as usual you can depend on SkiNorthCarolina.com and SkiSoutheast.com to be YOUR dependable source of updated snow conditions. The resorts all met off-season this year and one of their meetings discussed accurate reporting and it seems that we’re the ONLY source that gets it right all of the time. Heck, sometimes we update several times a day! Okay enough bragging!
Another resort debuts today! Snowshoe Mountain in West virginia opens today for the 2005-2006 season with 5" of fresh snow, 9" in the last couple of days and already 19" on the season! SNOWSHOE MOUNTAIN OPENS TODAY WITH THE MOST OPEN TERRAIN IN THE ENTIRE REGION! 8 trails and 3 lifts will be open for some early season skiing and riding. Best of all, you’ll be making those early season turns in 9" of new natural snow. Look for cold temperatures to remain in place at least through the next five days which means around the clock snowmaking will continue.
I am up and at it early this morning. There is something about seeing the snow on the ground, with only the small marks of God’s creatures creating their own unique art, that makes it worth getting up early after a snowfall. It’s quiet, as if the snow insulates you from all outside sound sources. You seem only to hear the crack of tree limbs as they waver under the extra weight of the snow; or the scampering of wildlife hunting for food sources. It’s just a great time. True snow lovers understand. This is one of those mornings.
The snow fell exactly as meteorologist, Brad Panovich forecasted – in squalls. At times it snowed sideways, at times moderate to heavy and at times in a fine powdery snow. Many areas saw only a dusting to about four inches of snow. Cataloochee Ski Area, in Maggie Valley reported 5" from this most recent storm, while Ski Beech and Sugar Mountain are reporting 6". We’re off to a great start to the season of 2005-2006 when you look at the season started early, and on top of that the North Carolina ski resorts have already seen from 7" to 13" of natural snow so far and we’re still in November! (Ski Beech has seen the 13" thus far and Sugar Mountain is just a bit less than that with 10" so far. Hawksnest, Cataloochee and Appalachian are all an inch or so under that, so everybody’s getting in the snow act, and temperatures have been great from snowmaking, other than Sunday and Monday’s rainy period.
Temps this morning are C-O-L-D. Beech Mountain is reporting 14°, Sugar Mountain 18°, Banner Elk 20°, Blowing Rock 20°, and Boone 22°. It’s 12° further north at Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia, where they have received 5" of snow thus far from this storm, and 19" so far this season! While the storm has left the North Carolina mountains, it arrived a bit later up that way and is still lingering a bit today in West Virginia.
Ski Beech dropped from five to four trails open today as they focus snowmaking on the Powder Bowl and other trails in an effort to open up more terrain by Thanksgiving Weekend. Ski Beech will begin NIGHT SKIING on Friday night!
Sugar Mountain opened more terrain today as they now ski and ride on five trails (up from two yesterday) and one lift. Sugar and Beech have seen about seven inches of snow since Monday night. The Yellow lift will be operating today servicing North Ridge, Switchback, Load Off, Upper and Lower Flying Mile trails at Sugar.
In West Virginia, Canaan Valley reported one inch of new snow and they now plan to open Saturday for the 2005-2006 season.
So with each passing day, more trails and more resorts will open. This Thanksgiving Day Week and weekend should be beautiful no matter where you choose to go. The forecast is for more snow possible this afternoon and into Thanksgiving Day with another 1"-3" of snow across the region. Then the weekend is looking picture-perfect for skiing, riding or for coming to the mountains to pick your Christmas Tree and do some shopping! Friday, Saturday and Sunday are looking sunny with highs in the teens and 20s and lows in the mid teens. Saturday’and Sunday’s highs should be in the mid 30s. Things just couldn’t be better. So keep thinking SNOW!!!
Until Next Time!
We are consolidating reports on both SkiNC and SkiSoutheast until next week, however be sure to visit www.SkiSoutheast.com for more information, articles and choices…and please email photos, snow reports and comments to: [email protected]