Wow, I cannot believe it is the first of February. Time is flying by! It seems like it was just Christmas and now here we are, two thirds of the way through the meteorological winter, which consists of December, January, and February. Hopefully February will be much colder and snowy than the first two months were. We still have a good 6-7 weeks of skiing and riding left here in the Southeast though (hopefully!) as the resorts usually stay open until mid-March, so don’t put away your winter gear just yet.
Unless you were at one of the resorts yesterday, it probably was pretty hard to think about skiing and snowboarding for many of you. It definitely was spring-like weather as we saw temps generally in the 50’s at the ski areas across the region. I was out in Banner Elk yesterday afternoon scoping out the location for a new webcam we’re about to install and man, it was a perfect day outside for early March. The only problem is that it was January 31st. I want cold and snow still! 
<<< Yesterday was pretty gorgeous out in Banner Elk. I love winter but I can’t complain as nice as it was. This is one of the views from a new camera we’re putting in up there.
I’m looking at weather station data right now and it looks like a few resorts actually saw temps in the low 60’s. Sheesh. That’s not what I want to be saying at this point in the season. It’s too soon for that! It did make for a fun day though. The cams looked great and I saw a few pictures from yesterday that made me want to ride, so I did. I went up to Beech last night and got a few laps in during the night session. Once the sun went down the snow firmed up nicely and the combo of that and the fantastic grooming made for some really fast conditions. I liked it because I could comfortably hit the rollers with some speed. 
<<< It was pretty fun at Beech last night. Cornhole and live music in the View Haus was also very cool.
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It was also a fun day up at Winterplace. You can see from this pic that they have a ton of snow right now. Check out the latest vid that they posted over on the VIDEO PAGE.
While the past two days have been pretty fantastic, the next 5 days or so look to be…not so fantastic I guess you could say. If you look at the forecasts right now, the chance of underdeveloped snow is in there for 4 out of the next 5 days. This applies to almost every ski area, except for the Virginia ones. They look to see drier conditions than everyone else.
We’re not looking at any HEAVY precipitation, but it is a bummer nonetheless. Friday looks to be the best day to get out on the slopes, so if you can do it I would suggest it. Honestly, I’m a little worried about a few places and others not so much. The ski areas have been tested this season, that’s for sure.
Anyways, here’s a quick look at all the resorts:
Appalachian – 49° – 100% with a reported base of 40-70" which is not an overstatement, trust me.
Beech Mountain – 43° – 11 of 15 trails and ice skating. Collegefest begins this weekend.
Cataloochee – 44° – 13 of 16 trails. Things continue to look pretty good out there.
Sapphire Valley – 48° – Not sure what’s up with them. Their site hasn’t been updated in two days and says closed.
Sugar Mountain – 45.4° – 16 of 20 trails, tubing and skating open. Conditions looked pretty dang good when I drove by there last night.
Wolf Ridge – 43° – 10 of 22 trails open and tubing. Powder Hill and Whistling Dixie re-open today.
Bryce Resort – 50° – 8 of 8 trails open with tubing as well. They are the only resort in the region who can claim to be 100% open.
Massanutten Resort – 58° – 10 of 14 trails and 10 lanes of tubing are open. Check out the live cam showing good conditions this morning at: http://www.highcountrywebcams.com/webcameras_massanutten.htm
The Homestead – 51.4° – 5 of 10 trails open and tubing as well. I can’t wait to get the new camera installed up there as I’ve never really seen the place.
Wintergreen Resort – 46° – 14 of 26 trails and tubing open.
Canaan Valley – 37° – 13 of 39 trails open as well as tubing and ice skating. They have a special right now that is valid for this weekend and next. It’s called Fab February Weekends and it offers a rate $69 per person/per night (lodging and lift ticket, inclusive). That’s pretty good!
Snowshoe Mountain – 40° – 54 of 60 trails open on 211 acres. They continue to offer the best conditions and most open terrain in the region.
Timberline Resort – 37° – 26 of 40 trails open. Things look really good up there on the cam.
Winterplace Resort – 48° – 25 of 27 trails open with terrain parks and tubing open. They have done a fantastic job this year and conditions right now are pretty dang good, especially considering the weather this year.
Wisp Resort – 45° – 25 of 32 trails open. Ice skating, tubing, and the mountain coaster are also open.
Ober Gatlinburg – 52° – 5 of 9 trails open. Ice skating and tubing are open.
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