Another burst of snow blanketed the High Country overnight or early this morning. It was a quick burst that left no more than a dusting in some places to about an 1" at the mountaintops. We’ll see a lot of those over the next few days in a row. We also have a very good shot at another 4-6" of snow in some areas…to another FOOT of snow on the mountaintop over Friday and Saturday. That sets up THE PERFECT ski weekend. If you haven’t made plans for this weekend as yet…you should because the mountaintops have seen almost 28" of snow in March and conditions are remarkable for ANY time of year…much less in mid March! The lift lines will be non existent and conditions will be out of this world. With more snow on the way for each of the next couple of days it is only going to be even better!
Ski Beech is making the effort! – We previously alluded to the fact that Ski Beech was making sounds of staying open longer this season than they traditionally do. We have posted the anticipated closing dates on the ski report…and we’ll stand by that. Ski Beech’s Gil Adams told me the other day that the official word is that Ski Beech was committed to staying open well into March. That’s a very political sounding statement that leaves the door open for them to close on a moment’s notice…and let’s face it, they’ve done it many times in the past. However, the fact that they cranked the guns up on each of the last two days and made snow sure gives credibility to their statement for staying open LONGER this season. How much longer? We’ve received many emails from people speculating that they may remain open into April. DON’T COUNT ON THAT…IT WON’T HAPPEN. Our contacts up there (including Gil Adams) have a date of March 20th or March 27th as a more likely closing date. Most lean to the 20th date.
You would think that with as much snow as they have already AND with MORE natural snow coming over the next few days…that they would have plenty to make it to the 20th without doing anymore base building. When was the last time you saw Ski Beech MAKING SNOW this late in the season? Even with an inch or so of natural snow last night, they are also making snow and they’ve increased their base depth by 2" in the last couple of days of snowmaking. Base depths continue to CLIMB even this late in the season. So the March 27th date isn’t out of the question. We can hope!!!!
Note: – We have had several people asking and speculating that other resorts may stay open longer. However, if you’ll check the ski report page…those that have announced a definative date WILL BE CLOSING ON THOSE DATES.
I’m in a GOOD mood, but… – Look…I’m a reasonable guy. I’ll sit back and keep my mouth shut as long as I can (it’s H-A-R-D!) when I see weird anomolies on the conditions reporting. I’m going to TRY to be VERY diplomatic when I say the following. (Let’s see if I can do it…)
We’ve watched for several days now and MOST of the base depths have not MOVED ONE FRACTION of an inch at MOST of the resorts across the Southeast. Seems that the Virginia resorts know how to keep a base dead on the same measurement for weeks…and a few of them with NO snowmaking for a week now. I know we’ve ALL had cold and snowy weather…and HEY, I’d take a movement UPWARDS…but NO movement whatsoever just looks weird. The West Virginia resorts (all except Snowshoe) have all remained the exact same for a couple of weeks now. No increase or decrease in base depths anywhere except at Snowshoe, which has inched their base up slightly…and with 52" of snow in March alone…you’d have to figure an increase of 20" in the base depth as reasonable…especially when they’ve made snow up there as well.
The North Carolina ski areas have actually been VERY active in plussing and minusing depths. That’s to their credit. Over these 10 days of March, we’ve seen almost every resort moving up a few inches…and down an inch or so…then back up the last day or two. That’s the good news…and for the most part the base depth measuring seems to be "at least relative and semi-reasonable"…but does anyone out there believe that one of our southernmost Southeast Ski Areas has an AVERAGE of over 11 FEET of snow base across all of their trails? Just asking! Things are great out, so I’m in a good mood…but come on.
SKI BEECH – DON’T FORGET that the KING OF THE DISCOUNT SKI RESORTS is offering FREE SKIING to all of the guys on this beautiful, snowy…perfect Thursday.
SEE YOU GUYS ON THE SLOPES!
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