It’s mid February and today will feel like it. The highs around most of the mountain region will be in the low to mid 30s or so and sunny skies will dominate most of the area although some of the ski areas up in West Virginia and Maryland may see a little light snow accumulation and temps in the upper 20s. So today will be a cold one and feel very much like the date reflects on the calendar.
Tomorrow begins a trend towards highs that will reach into the mid to upper 50s and even into the 60s at some of our mountain locations by Thursday of next week. We’re seeing forecasts next Friday for Banner Elk that are predicting MID SIXTIES!!!! Oh my goodness! With mid 60s being forecasted for late next week can you imagine the Spring Fever outbreaks!
Here’s a suggestion…
We’re experiencing one of those weather scenarios that should make for an awesome getaway for the next week. There’s plenty of snow on the slopes and right now dusted all over the area. Of course the mild temps coming will melt the ambience snow from around some of the region although we’re seeing a lot of snow on the ground still at locations at or near each of the resorts. In other words there’s still going to be some snow around as well as DEEP SNOW on the slopes themselves. Yet we’ll have temps into the 40s, 50s and 60s for the week ahead with lots and lots of sun. That can only mean one thing – it’s time to break out that cool tee shirt and sweater you’ve been wanting to show off. Bring your sunscreen (yes you’ll need it) and your sunglasses (the glare is tough on your eyes) and you’ll probably see some peeps out in short sleeved shirts and shorts tearing up the mountain. This should be an awesome several days of soft snow and good conditions.
Some of the messageboard crew are wrapping up a great out west ski trip to Tahoe and several resorts in the area. By the looks of things they played hard, rode hard and had a great time. one of these days…
See some of their trip reports and videos at:
http://www.skinc.com/messageboard/showthread.php?t=13453
Today and this weekend will be great no matter where you head to ride. I’ve posted a tour from around the region below. Check it out…
Appalachian Ski Mountain – 23° – Made Snow – 100% Open with all slopes and all three terrain parks and ice skating.
Beech Mountain Ski Resort – 16° – They are reporting no snowmaking however we can tell you that from other reports they were blasting the slopes Wednesday and Thursday like crazy. Beech is 100% open with terrain park, tubing and ice skating open as well. Beech is celebrating College Fest this weekend.
Cataloochee Ski Area – 21° – Made Snow – 100% Open with all slopes and tubing as well. Cataloochee is rocking their new CCTP Progression Park with a 24′ Down Box, 24′ Up/Flat Box, 12′ OG Rail, 24′ Down Rail w/ Snow Staircase, 16′ Battleship Rail, 10′ Kid-Friendly Flat Rail, 16′ Kid-Friendly Flat Box, 8′ Jam Rail, and 18′ x 3′ Culvert. AND… in the Upper CCTP Park…A NEW SETUP! Along with the 30′ Step Down Gap Jump w/ 25′ to the knuckle and 5′ to the sweet spot! Thanks to the rockin’ CCTP crew for shakin’ up the house and making it happen!
Wolf Ridge Resort – 22° – Made Snow and 18 of 23 trails are open. They have their terrain park open (reportedly) and tubing as well. Wolf Posts, "THE UPPER LODGE WITH RIDGE RUNNER & THE NATURE TRAIL TUNNEL RUNS ARE OPEN TODAY AS WELL AS THE BOTTOM LODGE. IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY, COME AND EXPERIENCE THE UPPER STREAK "CANYON RUN". IT’S A BLAST."
We’d agree with all that. Wish they wouldn’t YELL though! 😉
Sugar Mountain – 15° – Made Snow – 100% open with all 20 trails and terrain park , tubing and ice skating. I kind of like Sugar’s post this morning. It’s the first time I think I’ve read some real marketing commentary on their site this season. They posted, "Today is another one of those crunch under your ski boot kind of days. You know when the mountain air is dry, crisp and cold and the sun is shining and the sky is our favorite Carolina blue color and when you walk from the ski lodge to the ski slope the snow under your boot crunches. That alone tells you that the skiing & riding is out of this world and you ought to be here.
Ray of Ray’s weather tells us that we should expect beautiful winter weather conditions throughout the weekend. You know what that means? Out of this world skiing and riding conditions will only get better. BETTER! Yup – better. So…. come on, grab your equipment and the kids and head to Sugar Mountain Resort. The sooner the better!"
Editor’s Note: Well DAMN! That’s good stuff and we’d agree, get the family and friends and head to Sugar as the conditions should be great today. It WILL be breezy with Northweat wind 10-20 mph with gusts over 30 mph…and the snow won’t be all that crunchy later in the day. …and conditions won’t be getting better and better and better because the temperature will be getting milder and milder and milder over the next few days. But great post though! …and the weather and conditions will be very nice. Not "out of this world" but nice.
Sapphire Valley – Temp not available – No Snowmaking – Both slopes open plus Frozen Falls Tubing Park is open.
MARYLAND AND TENNESSEE SKI AREA NEWS
Wisp Resort – 20° – No Snow Made – They are 100% open with all 32 trails, snow tubing, ice skating and mountain coastering. Garrett County looks very snowy. All of their live cams show some snowy white conditions across the entire mountain. They’ve seen some snow over the last couple of days and are now 37" over their average for the season (137").
Ober Gatlinburg – 29° – Made Snow Overnight – 100% open with all 9 trails, snow tubing and ice skating. The Anders family has enjoyed a GREAT season at Ober. One of the best in years and conditions should be awesome there this weekend. The live camera we partnered up there is showing some deep base at the bottom of the mountain as well as gorgeous conditions.
WEST VIRGINIA SKI AREA REPORT
Snowshoe Mountain – 13° – No Snow Made – Open with 57 of 60 trails. Only three trails on the Silver Creek side of the mountain are not open as they are hosting some Collegiate Racing. (So they’re technically 100% open!) Snowmobiling, tubing and all terrain parks are open and in great shape.
Snowshoe is playing with an expensive toy over the next few days. Laura Parquette posted, "Our existing snow surface got plenty of TLC from our grooming team last night. We’re currently demoing an amazing machine called a winch cat. This is a top-of-the-line groomer which allows you to push snow UP slope. When skiers and riders enjoy a great day on the slopes–especially when there are a lot of them out there–the snow surface naturally gets pushed to the base. This isn’t a melting process, but more like erosion. The winch cat allows us to take all of that snow collected at the base of a slope and push it back to the top and then groom it out; it’s almost like recycling snow! But however you think of it, it’s a great machine and we’re lucky to be testing it out for a few days. We had it out on Lower Shay’s last night, grooming and resurfacing that area which had been bumped up. Over the next couple days we’ll take it to other high-traffic steeps like Widowmaker, Ballhooter, Choker, Camp 99 and of course Cupp Run. If you’re interested in learning more about this and other grooming capabilities, be sure to join us in the Depot tonight for Snowmaking and Grooming 101. This FREE informational session will teach you the art and science behind making all this snow and keeping it looking so good! Everyone is welcomed! Our Snowmaking and Grooming manager hosts this fun event every Saturday night at 5pm at the Depot. Stop by!"
Editor’s Note: Sugar bought one of these sweet machines this past off-season. Sugar’s used a winch cat for years due to the steep terrain up top. This IS a pretty cool toy.
Winterplace Resort – 19° – No Snow Made – 100% open with 27 trails, terrain parks and great snow tubing!
Timberline Resort – 19° – Made snow on one trail – Open with 37 of 39 trails and terrain parks as well as cross country ski terrain.
Canaan Valley – 22° – No Snow Made – Open with 38 of 39 trails open and zip lining, tubing, airboarding, terrain parks and more. Great conditions! Ice skating is open as well as plenty of cross country skiing terrain!
vIRGINIA SKI AREA REPORT
Massanutten Resort – 22° – Made Snow – 100% open with all 14 trails, snow tubing and terrain parks. one look at that new webcam up there shows you some sweet, sweet conditions at the Nut!
Wintergreen Resort – 20° – Made Snow – 100% open with all 26 trails, terrain parks and tubing. They posted a great Photo of the Day today and we’ll share that with you guys shortly.
Bryce Resort – 36° – No Snow Making – 100% open with all 8 trails and tubing.
The Homestead – 21° – No Report but we assume they made snow and have 9 of 10 trails open.
That’s it for today. Shoot me some pics…
Enjoy your weekend people! Email me your thoughts, questions, comments, gripes, photos, videos, etc. Just email me at [email protected]