Okay this COULD look a little like a click-bait title, but it was appropriate to use this morning.
Two things stood out to me as I was checking out the slopes early this morning. The first was that many of the ski areas resembled snowglobes with the fan and snowguns blasting the slopes. The other thing that occurred to me was that our ski area mountain ops crews are a bunch of preppers and survivalists of the first order.
Preppers in the sense that they were all out grooming and prepping the trails with what will certainly be some awesome corduroy and survivalists because of how many times they’ve had to build and rebuild the bases at our resorts – just to survive this wacky winter!
I guess another reoccurring theme this morning was – damn we have some beautiful sunrises around the region.
Since I’m sharing awesome photos, let’s clear the queue this morning with these snowy shots.
SPEAKING OF RESORTCAMS
Not sure Matt Laws covered this news yesterday, but on Friday Kenny Griffin shared that we experienced our fifth highest ever – number of single day pageviews on ResortCams.com. Several television stations called the office requesting permission to use the LIVE STREAMS and we have a network of stations that have regularly used them over the years. It was a hugely busy day single day with 317,179 pageviews on ResortCams.com alone.
TODAY AND SUNDAY WILL BE AWESOME TO BE ON THE SLOPES
For the first time in what seems like a month I am not talking about a rebuilding of snowmaking and slope maintenance as we head into a weekend. This past week was pretty darn sweet with as much as 4″ of snow that hit the NC Mountains. Things were also VERY COLD and that allowed every ski area in the region to make tons of snow over the last 48-72 hours and THAT, my snow loving friends has things setup for what should be THE BEST conditions of the season for your skiing and snowboarding pleasure.
Come to think of it, that is the second straight weekend I’ve said that.
We certainly seem to (FINALLY) be in an improved winter pattern of weather.
HAVE YOU GUYS SEEN THE FORECAST FOR THE COMING WEEK AND SUMMIT WEEKEND!
As we head into next week, temperatures will remain seasonably cold but with some underdeveloped snow into West Virginia on Tuesday and Wednesday and then SNOW on Thursday with highs near 24° and lows around 14°. Brad Panovich is forecasting a chance for some significant snow Thursday and maybe into Friday.
The conditions at Snowshoe Mountain look awesome as we look towards next weekend,. Brad shared that there will be lots of high pressure creating COLD conditions and lots of sunshine with highs in the 20s and lows in the teens each day so we could not have timed this year’s Snowshoe Summit any better. (Okay maybe more snow…but things will be super awesome for the Summit!
Brad also shared that things look great for a colder March for Spring Skiing!
SPEAKING OF THE SUMMIT…
As of this morning, we are at 144 attending…and if you are reading this post, YOU should come and hang out with us.
Click here to see more intel and book.
TOO EARLY FOR A SPRING FLING?!?!?!
Ober Gatlinburg’s annual Spring Fling Event is happening today, Saturday, February 22.
Returning this year is a crowd favorite event, Pond Skimming, where skiers and snowboarders come down the slope to a pond and attempt to skim across without sinking into icy cold water. There will also be Giant Slalom and High Ollie competitions, as well as some other Terrain Park feature events. Top prizes include a Never Summer snowboard and products from Smith, Prinoth, and Dakine. This is a free event and advance registration will be available online at www.obergatlinburg.com/springfling. Participants can also register in person the day of the event. Everyone who registers will receive a complimentary Ole Smoky t-shirt.
OTHER NOTABLES…
APPALACHIAN SKI MOUNTAIN – 100% OPEN.
Ski Patrol Candidate Recruitment Days Feb 22nd
Interested in joining the Appalachian Ski Patrol? Register for one of the Candidate Recruitment Days, where participants can get a close look behind the scenes at what being a Ski Patroller is all about.
BEECH MOUNTAIN RESORT – RETRO 80s WEEKEND
Saturday, February 22nd:
All day – Retro skiing (wear ’80s apparel) @ Beech Mountain Ski Resort
9:00a.m.-10:30a.m. – Pancake Breakfast ($12 for adults,
$8 for kids 12 and under) @ Buckeye Recreation Center
10:30a.m.-11:00a.m. – “Let’s Get Physical” aerobic
workout and games – skip-it, twister, etc.
1:00p.m. – “Name That Tune” @ Beech Mountain Brewing Co. Taproom and Grill
5:00p.m.-7:00p.m. – Kids’ Karaoke and Kids’ ’80s Apparel Contest at Brick Oven
7:30p.m.-11:30p.m. – Cassette Rewind at the Beech Mountain Brewing Co. Taproom and Grill
9:00p.m. – Retro ’80s Apparel Contest @ the Beech Mountain Brewing Co. Taproom and Grill
11:30p.m. – Late Night Dance Party
Editor’s Note: Frances dropped by my office on Friday and it was great to see her. We got our wires messed up on Summit weekend dates and her crew will be at Snowshoe the weekend of March 6, 7 and 8 putting on what she is calling the SkiSoutheast Summit “After Party!”. I will be at Canaan Valley Resort that weekend but MAY try to swing by.
CANAAN VALLEY RESORT – Really ramped up slopes open to 26 today including GRAVITY! Day sessions 9am – 6pm, Tubing and Ice Skating open.
SNOWSHOE MOUNTAIN
Berming Man Banked Slalom. Evolution is open and ungroomed with whales galore. Over on Mountaineer, they’ve got a “family-cross” course set up so be sure to check that out!
Snowshoe’s “Ridiculous Pass” goes on sale. See: LINK HERE
WINTERGREEN RESORT
Love this post this morning
We had a great surprise last night with cold, cold, cold temperatures. The result was beautiful fresh powder and piles of it! Upper Cliff is ungroomed and filled with tons of snow. Even more good news, we’ll continue to make show – hopefully round the clock today, so Saturday and Sunday will have even better conditions.
We welcome the USCSA to Wintergreen on Saturday and Sunday. There will be 10-12 local colleges participating in the competition. The race will take place on Sunrise which will be closed to the public until the afternoon on Saturday and Sunday.
OUR OBLIGATORY SUGAR MOUNTAIN SNOW REPORTING BLOCK
| Sugar Mountain Snowfall 2019-2020 | |
| Reported Snow thru 2/22/2020 | 48.2″ |
| Actual Snowfall thru 2/22/2020 | 31.5″ |
That will do it for today.
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