What an AMAZING DAY this should be on the slopes of the entire region! Beautiful skies, great temps that should be in the mid 40s to low 50s and conditions due to some snowmaking and natural snow in the last couple of days that will make everything beautiful and near mid season form! If you’re reading this – why not act young and impulsive (even if you aren’t) and get some gear thrown into your car and head to the mountain of your choice. There’s snow laying around and plenty of it on the slopes and skiing and riding will be sweet today.
The way things were looking this past week with the heavy rains and yucky weather…who knew that things were going to cooperate weather-wise to provide at least one more weekend of great conditions here in mid March!
There’s some RAIN in the forecast as we’re looking ahead for late next week so there’s no guarantees of how great things will be NEXT weekend. However they look damn fine for today and Sunday so head to the mountains and enjoy another winter-like, gorgeous day on the hill!
SNOWMOBILING… 
<I had a blast hitting some of the deeper snow on the hill!
I’d mentioned a few weeks back that I had come across some old snowmobiles for sale and picked up two retro snowmobiles that both ran like scalded dogs! Since I bought them post the stupid groundhog’s prediction I kind of figured that I wouldn’t be able to play on them in earnest until the winter of 2011-2012. However the surprise 4" snowfall of the last couple of days prompted a few of us to head over to where snow goes to die after work on Friday. TheKenDog and his girlfriend and my family cranked up those bad boys and raced across the 16 acres or so of wooded and slopestyle riding for a couple of hours. It was AWESOME!!!
TheKenDog was playing hard on the snowmobiles and this four wheeler as well!>
Those bad boys can scare you they’re so fast! Kenny wasn’t on one but perhaps 30 seconds before he about flipped it. I climbed one crazy snowbank on the ridge where I was bracing the thing to keep from flipping. It wasn’t until I was headed DOWN a steep slope that I found out the one I was riding didn’t have brakes! Not good! We’ll have to get that fixed!
However we had a blast as part of the terrain up there had nearly two feet of snow and most of the ground was covered with at least a few inches of sweet fun!
That’s LIVING IN THE MOUNTAINS for you! You just never know when you’ll be blessed with some sweet powder to play on. It was plenty COLD up there as some of the girls had to go back to the truck to warm up! Here it is one day later and we’re expecting some 40s and 50s…with even warmer temps expected over towards one of the most gorgeous mountain lakes on earth in Watauga Lake. I’m headed over there for a weekend of fun and I’ll be updating Sunday’s report from the water. How’s THAT for technology!?!?!
Don’t forget that we LOSE AN HOUR of season tonight! Run your clocks and watches forward so that you’ll be on time for Sunday’s action!
Here’s the updates from across the region. Go. Enjoy!
<Appalachian Ski Mountain – 28° – 100% open for day and night sessions and l-o-o-k-i-n-g g-o-o-d for today! App made snow overnight last night and it looks like it! Our man, Kenny Griffin and his gal Betsy will be lappin’ it at App today. Look for an awesome trip report and some nice photo and video updates. App really looks in mid season form for today. All terrain parks and all slopes are open as well as ice skating.
Beech Mountain – 25° – They’re open with everything except The Oz Run for day sessions today. Beech Mountain Resort will remain open for the day session through Sunday, March 13th. TODAY, Beech Mountain Resort will host games and entertainment to celebrate a great season! The View Haus will host a cookout, starting at 12pm, accompanied by the musical sounds of The Harris Brothers, starting at 2pm. Remember, rates will remain at $20 for day tickets and $10 half day tickets through Sunday!
Sugar Mountain – 27° – They’re 100% and offer day and night sessions and ice skating as well. Sugar was looking oh so sweet yesterday and Saturday will be a primo day on the mountain.
Cataloochee Ski Area – They are closed for the season. TheKenDog had them marked as closed, however he was showing 5 trails still open. Hopefully that didn’t confuse anyone…
Sapphire and Wolf are closed for the season as well.
WEST VIRGINIA SKI RESORT REPORT:
Snowshoe Mountain – 24° – They picked up another TRACE of snow and that is now 15" of snow this week! It started with our crew up their for the Summit and it’s snowed several times this week and conditions will be awesome today on 59 of 60 trails and they offer day and night skiing and riding. However this is the LAST night of night skiing. Snowshoe’s Laura Parquette posted, "***Lower Shay’s Revenge is marked as ungroomed, but half of the slope was groomed over night. the other half was left to bump up.***"
Snowshoe looks GREAT for today and tonight!
Winterplace Resort – 24° – They are open for day and night sessions with everything open to the top of the mountain! That’s 27 sweet looking trails and snow tubing as well!
<Canaan Valley – 26° – Gracious these guys are looking SWEET this morning! How about 100% open and they are open for day and night sessions! Their live cam is showing some sweet conditions! David Lesher’s weather center up that way is showing 4" of snow on the ground as well. It will look and feel like mid season conditions at Canaan today!
Timberline Resort – 26° – They picked up another one inch of snow and look great on 34 of 39 trails for day and night skiing!
Wisp’s Snowtubing still looks pretty inviting don’t you think!?!>>
Wisp Resort – 27° – They are open for day and night sessions with 27 of 32 trails, terrain parks and snow tubing that looks great! Wisp has seen 8" of snow this week and look in mid season form for this weekend.
VIRGINIA SKI RESORT REPORT:
Massanutten Resort – 34° – They are 100% open and offering day and night sessions for today. They’re looking pretty good, with good coverage and 6 lanes of snow tubing as well. The grooming job looks GREAT this morning via their live cam!
<<<Wintergreen Resort – 31° – They look GREAT after some snowmaking the last couple of nights. They’re open for day and night sessions and offer 24 of 26 trails and tubing as well. They posted, "WE HAVE A LOT OF SNOW AND PLAN TO BE OPEN SATURDAY MARCH 26TH."
Bryce Resort – 43° – They open for day sessions on 6 of 8 trails and a base of 15-36". A look at their live cams shows pretty good conditions/coverage.
The Homestead is CLOSED for the season.
Drop me an email with your favorite photos, videos, and any comments to [email protected] . Also be sure to visit:
Our Sno!Forum Messageboard – http://www.skinc.com/messageboard/
www.HighCountryWebCams.com
www.HighCountryWeather.com
www.SkiSoutheast.com