Two Days Until the Official Start to Spring – But there’s a LOT of Snow on the Slopes!

If you saw our report yesterday it is pretty much "ditto" for today. Check the slope conditions page or read Monday morning’s update for the details.

Monday was supposed to be a sunny day and it stayed cloudy pretty much all day until later in the afternoon but it was a great day to hit the slopes. I did just that at Appalachian for an evening session of fun. I was not surprised at all by the fact that there was a ton of snow on the ground over there. App has done a fabulous job of making snow when needed and they have certainly maintained it well. Just prior to the 6pm session they groomed nearly every square inch of the mountain into corduroy.

What I WAS a bit surprised by was how heavy the snow was. Spring skiing always provides a soft base to ride, but the conditions at Appalachian on Monday evening skied more like a heavy "powder" than I was expecting. As the evening wore on my skies were cutting deeper into the thick granular and it really made you carve your turns as I found myself riding IN the slope more than on top of it. Needless to say I was amazed at just how good the conditions were.

All ten trails were in great shape and I think I hit all ten just to say I did. The crew I took with me included my wife and four Valle Crucis students. The kids are all very good skiers, but used the trip to get in another day of snowboarding. I’m never one to "wish my life away" but I do think that it has to be cool as heck to be as young as these kids and so good at skiing AND snowboarding. That certainly has to add to their enjoyment on the snow.

Thanks again to App for making for a great evening on the snow.

It’s cloudy this morning and there’s some "underdeveloped snow" in the forecast. I don’t want to be misleading to our "uninformed visitors" so I always feel the need to explain that I am using a "glass half full" description for what is actually RAIN. It should be on the light side later today (the first half of the day looks good.) Wednesday is still looking stormy with possibly heavier rain in the afternoon and even a chance for thunderstorms.

That has some prognosticators thinking that some ski areas might rethink their March 30th closings and actually opt to end their snow sports seasons on Sunday, March 23rd. We received more than a few emails to that effect yesterday. What many of you guys may not be taking into consideration is that there is A LOT of base snow on the slopes. While there are some thin areas at many resorts…there IS still plenty of snow for the resorts that want to play longer.

…and THERE’S SNOW in the forecast! That’s right – snow. Thursday may be the first official day of Spring, but the forecast includes some good chances of snow going into Monday. Lows will be in the mid 20s even down into North Carolina and highs for Monday are forecasted to be in the 30s. So the call HERE is that the resorts that planned to closed Easter Sunday – will…and there will be several including at least Appalachian, Cataloochee, Snowshoe, Timberline and Wisp that will ski on until March 30th and perhaps beyond that. (Cataloochee and Timberline STILL maintains that they are going to keep me working for one more week until April 6th.)

Having stated the above – the number one question of Monday was – "Can you tell me which resorts will be open next week?"

That information is ON our Slope Reports page…over in the remarks column. However since you asked nicely I will detail the specific closing date information below:

Wisp Resort – March 30th

Appalachian – March 30th

Cataloochee – April 6th *

Sugar Mountain – March 30th **

Bryce Resort – March 22nd

Massanutten – March 23rd

Wintergreen – March 23rd ***

Canaan Valley – March 23rd

Snowshoe Mtn – March 30th

Timberline Resort – April 6th

Winterplace – March 23rd

* Cataloochee may close Sunday, March 30th and then reopen for the following weekend and close April 6th

** Sugar has not announced a proposed closing date so this may change…depending on skier traffic.

*** Wintergreen had previously announced that they would be open until March 30th, but now say they will most likely close Easter Sunday, March 23rd.

If all goes according to schedule that means that we have (11) ski areas to play on until Easter Sunday (although Cataloochee will be closed for Easter Sunday) and then (6) ski areas open for one more week until March 30th – and then TWO ski areas are planning to ski on until April 6th.

In closing, closing dates are determined more often than not by a lack of skier traffic…not a lack of snow so get out and hit the slopes one more time if you get the chance. The conditions are better than you think and you can literally run laps at your favorite resort with no lift lines and wide open terrain.

Until Next time…

Send your snow photos, videos, comments or emails to: [email protected]