It’s a beautiful day to get in some midweek turns.
Particularly if you’re in the North Carolina High Country.
While West Virginia took the title of “best snowfall in the southeast” very seriously for the start of our ski and snowboard season, the Tar Heel State is doing its very best to catch up in the last few weeks.
Beech Mountain Resort has 6-inches of fresh snowfall to play around in this Wednesday. Sugar Mountain landed over 2-inches, and Cataloochee looks just beautiful this morning. Look at the amount of snow covering the Upper Omigosh sign.
App Ski also has some fresh stuff this morning. And it looks like there isn’t a line in site. It’s hard to go wrong this morning if you’re headed to the slopes in North Carolina.
Full Circle
If you are a frequent reader of the FirsTrax report, you might remember the name Trevor Kennison. He is a professional sit-skier, who made waves across both the skiing community and the internet when he launched himself into Corbet’s Couloir back in 2019. A documentary chronicling his spinal cord injury and his journey back to the mountains titled “Full Circle” was recently released, and this week, I learned that the movie is available to stream for on Netflix.
And if you want to learn more about adaptive skiing in the southeast, I interviewed Al Kaye, a recreational therapist who runs Beech Mountain’s Annual Adaptive Ski Week. If you missed it, you can read that interview here.
Airline News
Shredders in close vicinity to North Carolina’s Triangle will have a few more destinations at their fingertips on the cheap for the 2024-2025 season.
Breeze Airways just recently announced that it would begin nonstop flight service to Portland, Maine and Burlington, Vermont from Raleigh-Durham International Airport in May.
While Portland is along the coast of Maine and not in the heart of the mountains, it still puts you closer to ski areas like Sunday River, Lost Valley Ski Area, Mt. Abram Ski Area, and Saddleback Mountain than a flight into Manchester, New Hampshire or Boston would.
And if you choose to fly into Burlington, you’ve got a number of world-class ski areas under an hour’s drive. Bolton Valley Resort is just a 22 mile drive from the airport, and Stowe is just a 10 minute drive beyond that. Cochran’s Ski Area is a smaller local hill, just 21 minutes from the airport.
My Vermont snowboarding experience is limited to the ski areas outside of Burlington: Sugarbush (1 hour from the airport), Jay Peak (1.5 hours north), and Killington (1.5 hours south). But I love all those resorts dearly.These budget-friendly flights will have a significant impact on my decision whether or not ot buy an Ikon Pass for next year. If I can be at an Ikon- or Epic-affiliated resort within a few minutes of a flight that I take for under $100, it might be worth it.
Let’s get into what you need to know about the rest of southeast today:
Wintergreen
The slopes are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on 17 trails with 4 lifts. High temperatures will be in the 30s.
“Snowmaking continues to go strong and the team is taking full advantage of every second of cold temps,” the snow report says.
Snowshoe
No snow this morning at the ‘Shoe, for the first time in what feels like forever. There are snow flurries in the forecast though. Another 59 trails open for the day,. And 10 of 12 lifts are spinning.
“Go ahead and check Whimsical Wednesday off your 2024 bingo card because with the predicted snow flurries in the forecast we expect today to be nothing less than lightly fanciful,” the snow report says.
Timberline
Snow showers are expected at Timberline today, too. The low temperature is about 26 degrees, and there’s about a half of an inch of fresh snowfall to mix it up in.
“Colder temperatures have returned this week, and with it another half inch of natural snow this morning,” the snow report says. “This fresh layer of snow has groomed in nicely, creating a soft and granular machine groomed surface on all of our open terrain. The snowmaking mounds on both Off the Wall and The Drop have been pushed out and groomed.”
Winterplace
Snowmaking is back after the temperatures have dropped.
There are 27 trails open and five lifts spinning.
Saturday, Wintergreen is hosting its first West Virginia Craft Beer Showcase.
“This event will take place slopeside at the Mountain House so that you can enjoy the views while you enjoy the brews! No lift ticket necessary to attend this showcase. Some of our favorite breweries are bringing their best beer to the mountain.”
Video Of The Day
Sammy Carlson for Quicksilver. Alaska and British Columbia. Yup.
The Rest
Don’t forget: Clear your calendar from February 9-11. That’s when Massanutten and SkiSoutheast will host team up to host our summit. It’s a great way to meet like-minded, snow-loving people, and possibly make some lifelong friends in the process.
Thanks to everyone that has already joined us on Discord.
Think snow!
Think cold!
Click here to join us on our new SkiSoutheast Discord channel. It is a great way to meet new snow loving friends and shares experiences, ask questions, and more!
And as always, email me at [email protected] with your thoughts and photos.