David Thomas reports from Appalachian:
Conditions were cold and breezy all day on Friday but with the proper clothing it was a great day to be on the slopes. Appalachian was making snow to beat the band last night and things were bone chilling at times. The surface was anywhere from PERFECT with manmade and some natural dusting of snow blowing across the slopes, to somewhat packed (but great) conditions. There were not many people out and that made for a sweet time to be on the mountain.
Donnie Hyman was at Sugar Mountain:
You guys are doing a great job on the “keeping the resorts honest thing” and I for one agree with what your poll voting is saying. Keep it up! Now to my report. Great conditions at Sugar today. There was a decent “crowd” at the mountain today, but I never had to wait to ski onto a lift. Timing is everything! Sugar was making snow and the areas of thin coverage that were showing only two days ago were gone! The conditions were very nice and I’ll be back on Sunday!
Tammy Miller was at Massanutten:
Great site guys! The conditions here at Mass are looking better now that some cold air is allowing for snowmaking. We were starting to look a little “worn” in spots. All in all the conditions are very nice with some thin coverage areas and a bare area or two. You are correct in your reporting that Mass needs to change their base. They certainly don’t have 20-40” across all slopes…side to side. However, as your Warren Miller dream said, there’s PLENTY of snow and nice skiable terrain here at Massanutten!
Tom Barton reports from Snowshoe:
Great reporting guys. Actually I skied here for the last few days and things are quite nice. There WERE some thin coverage areas beginning to show through and even a couple of bare spots, but those were few and far between! Snow began to fall today and the snowguns were blasting. No doubt those thin areas will have vanished by Saturday.
On-Snow Reporters:
We will keep a log of the best reporter’s submission, photos and reports. Trust us it is way to time consuming to post every pic…but send them…because we are tallying the scores. The winner of the Best On Snow Reporter for 2005-2006 will win $1000 in cash, a FREE Getaway Vacation and more. The contest will run from now through March 1st and we will choose the winner. Our choice will be based on the following and IN THE ORDER of importance.
Quality of Photos
Quality of Reports (well written, informative, unbiased)
Number of Photo Submissions
Number of Reports
Extra points will be given for getting smiling faces in the photos and including names and cities where you can.
Extra points will be awarded for creative ideas.
We will choose the winner based on how helpful and informative the reports have been.
As of 01/07/2006 here are the top vote getters. (We will only document the top three to five here throughout the season…and we may begin posting the top ten, depending on how close results are.)
1. Lorrie Tomlinson
2. Kent Jackson
3. Mark McKelvy
4. Dave McConnell