Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone! Here’s hoping that on this day that YOUR sweetheart will remember to do a little something special for you.
Mother Nature is my sweetheart right now as she’s created some fantastic conditions for snow lovers right now! Conditions were great out on the slopes yesterday. As my good friend Joe Stevens says, I did a little product evaluation of my own yesterday. I was up at Ski Beech for a few hours with some friends and family. The snow was pretty deep in spots and the conditions were great. Only two things took away from it being a perfect day. One was the fact that Beech was making snow up top and on White Lightning. We really appreciate the snowmaking teams at all of the resorts, but it sure seems like they could have given the day after a huge snowstorm to enjoy the perfect conditions without the snowguns. The other “negative” was the fact that the crowd there resembled a weekend crowd. I have never seen that many people at Beech on a non-holiday Monday! As a couple of our On-Snow Reporters suggested, maybe it was because of the combination of Ladies Day, the day after a 16” snowfall and a lot of schools from counties around Beech were out yesterday. Add to that mix, the excitement that the Winter Olympics is creating and I guess the result is huge crowds!
With all of the snow we have received I failed to mention that it snowed a good bit of the time we were at Beech yesterday and everyone seemed to have a great time, despite the crowds. Lift lines were in the 15-20 range for most of the day.
I want to go on record right now – here on February 14th saying that several Southeast Ski Areas will break single season attendance records. I am certain that there’s a few that may not, but I have been sent more photos this year of huge lift lines on non-holiday weekends, and I have been on the slopes on a few mid-week days where the slopes have been swamped. We’ll see how it all plays out, but I’m betting that this will be a record breaker for many resorts.
Don’t forget that today is “Two for Tuesday” day at Ski Beech. Kind of neat that Valentine’s Day hit on a Two for Tuesday day. Two people ski for the price of one today. The OZ RUN is open today! Missed it by one day! Get out and enjoy that popular trail. That being open will also help to disperse some of the crowd this coming President’s Day Weekend.
Here’s some notes from around the state:
Hats off to Appalachian Ski Mountain. They have great conditions as do all of the ski areas and no snowmaking except overnight. 100% open and more than two feet of base and packed powder conditions.
Tammy Brown has been strutting around like a proud mom lately and rightfully so as Cataloochee Ski Area has the best conditions on the state right now if you are a natural snow lover. They added 4” of snow in the last 24 hours and that put them over the 20” mark for the storm which ended yesterday. Tammy said, “ Cataloochee must be Cupid’s favorite because there will be skiing and riding on the High Meadow Run again on Tuesday for as long as conditions permit and you gotta love that!” Cat is open for night skiing as well.
Hawksnest Resort is in primo shape today. These guys might be our pick of places to ski for the upcoming President’s Day Weekend. 12 slopes and trails open with packed powder conditions.
We mentioned it the other day, but it deserves another plug. This coming Thursday Hawksnest is putting on a benefit for the Watauga Education Foundation. Thursday February 16th. Hawksnest will be donating the proceeds from lift tickets, rentals and snow tubing tickets to the Watauga Education Foundation. Night lift tickets will be discounted to $12 and snowtubing will be $15 for a 1 hour 50 minute session. Snowtubing sessions will start at 3pm, 5pm and 7pm. They will also be having FREE beginner lessons for skiers or snow boarders at 6:15pm and 7:30pm. Go out and show your support for the WATAUGA EDUCATION FOUNDATION!
Ski Beech opened the Oz Run without even announcing it on the website. The popular trail has been the subject of many an email and messageboard post. Well…you guys…it’s open. That takes Ski Beech to 100% open for the first time this season. Perfect conditions for today…and today is Two For Tuesday day at Ski Beech.
Wolf Laurel picked up some more snow yesterday before the storm subsided and that took them to 31” of natural snow on the season and perfect conditions. We saw a few emails from people who love hitting The Wolf when it’s in the shape it is right now and today will be a stellar day there. Twelve trails, lots of snow and crystal blue skies. What could be better?
So, take advantage of these phenomenal conditions right now and send us some sweet photos!
Until Next Time!
Be sure to check out www.SkiSoutheast.com for more news and stories for all of the Southeast’s ski areas.
Be sure to email photos, snow reports and comments to: [email protected]