I was about halfway through writing today’s First Trax post when I received notification that Canaan Valley has announced that they will open this Saturday, December 7th. The office will open at 8:30 with the lifts opening at 9:00. I’m excited to have another resort open this weekend.
Canaan's trail map to get your blood flowing – click for more…
Given that Bryce, Massanutten, Wintergreen, Winterplace, and Wolf Ridge (see below) all plan to reopen for the weekend means plenty of options available for you to get your fix.
As for what you can expect as you head to the slopes today. The weather will be mild throughout the region with temps ranging from the mid-50s in WV to around 60 the farther south you go. You should see partly cloudy skies and about a 20% chance of rain regardless of where you end up.
The slopes are holding up nicely for the most part. Sugar is reporting an inch of base loss and closed Big Birch today. Wisp also lost a run (Beaver?).
The press release we posted on Wolf Ridge’s new management resulted in a number of emails. We have been in contact with the new management at Wolf and I hope to get up there as soon as possible for an on the mountain report and a chance to speak with the new leaders. The responses I’ve seen range from skepticism that nothing good will come of this to jubilation and excitement as to what it means for the mountain.
Time will tell of course and we wish them much luck as they work to improve the mountain. An improved Wolf Ridge would not only benefit the skiers and riders who call Asheville and the surrounding area home, but will surely provide a positive jolt for the region’s economy as Peak Resorts spends money to improve the existing infrastructure, on new construction, and the impact the area restaurants and shops get with increased tourism. We will be closely watching Wolf this season and will keep you up to date.
I was just about to post this article when I received another notification, this time from 
Wolf Ridge announcing that they decided to close down for the remainder of the week and reopen this weekend. This is part of the dilemma we face as we try to get the First Trax out to you as early as possible. The resorts themselves are just waking up and it takes them time to get their reports updated as well as send out any notification. When I first checked on them around 7:00 this morning all was good.
The funny thing is that I first titled this post, All is Quiet on the Southeastern Front. WOW – that turned out to be flat wrong!
Tim Bahlke
Drop me an email at [email protected] to let me know what you think or with suggestions on what we could be doing better.