…and a Happy Thanksgiving Day it is for skiers, snowboarders and snow-loving souls across the Southeast and mid-Atlantic. We have FOUR ski resorts open for the day with three of the four being in the state of North Carolina. Appalachian Ski Mountain, Cataloochee Ski Area and Sugar Mountain are all open, with App and Cataloochee offering night sessions tonight as well. Snowshoe Mountain Resort opens today as well, officially cranking things up for the West Virginia ski areas.
The photo of the day above is from a buddy of mine, Ron Kent, who seems to ski more days per year, the older he gets. The video below is a little “up and down” but worthy of sharing. Ron shot it while at Sugar Mountain on Wednesday.
Let’s Talk Turkey – day Weather
Temperatures are ranging from 32° to 47° across the region as of this posting and that means no snowmaking during open sessions for your turkey day fun. We heard from our own, Steve Skarupa from up at Snowshoe Mountain and he plans on covering today’s fun on the slopes. I mention Snowshoe here because they are the cold spot as of this posting at 32°.
A QUICK GLANCE AT THE WEATHER
Quite appropriately, TURKEY DAY looks like the pick of the week. Expect plenty of sunshine with seasonably pleasant temperatures for Thanksgiving Day. Clouds return tonight with a period of light rain changing to snow flurries before daybreak. Early flurries yield to a mostly sunny, but a cold and blustery Black Friday. Temperatures over the holiday weekend will be cool, but not as cold as Friday as generally tranquil weather will be with us.
Some areas like up into West Virginia could see as much as 1″ or so of snow, which will add to the Holiday weekend ambience. The high at Snowshoe, West Virginia for Friday looks to be around 23° so that means around the clock snowmaking to add additional open terrain. The way the temperatures are forecasted for the West Virginia mountains, they could make snow around the clock from tonight all the way through Tuesday of next week.
Our North Carolina mountains (and the higher elevations into Virginia) should get in on the around the clock snowmaking efforts, but it might be borderline cold enough at times with highs on Friday expected to be around 30°. Things will be too mild to make snow during the daytime hours Saturday & Sunday, but they may get another window of snowmaking in Saturday and Sunday nights.
That bodes well for a great start to the 2021-2022 ski & snowboarding season.
Here is a run down of who’s open; who is opening soon; and the rest.
Brace yourself, as we have 30 photos to share from yesterday and today!
APPALACHIAN SKI MOUNTAIN –
Opening Day was yesterday, Wednesday, November 23rd. They are open with 8 slopes today and ice skating is open as well. They also have some terrain park features (two lift towers and 2 flat boxes) setup on Appal Jam. App is open for night sessions as well.
By the way, while we are featuring the fact that Appalachian Ski Mountain is appealing to those of you who might be looking for a job, really EVERY ski area in the region is in need of staff and wanting to hire people.
It’s kind of time for people to go back to work, don’t you think? If you’re into all things snow, check out each of the ski area’s websites for details on positions that they need to fill – or simply call your favorite ski area and tell them you’re interested.
CATALOOCHEE SKI AREA
They are open to the top and looking great for Thanksgiving Day with 7 slopes & trails serviced by 4 lifts. Cat made 16″ of manmade snow over the last 24 hours to boast a base of 24-32″ of riding pleasure. They are open for night skiing & snowboarding as well.
SNOWSHOE MOUNTAIN RESORT
It is officially ski season in West Virginia!
And with 30 acres of pristine corduroy to play with, we’ll be carving up more than just turkey today folks. Speaking of turkey, we’ll have all your traditional Thanksgiving favorites available from Noon to 8PM at the Junction Ale House as well as the Shavers Center. Make some laps, feast like a king, and then make some more laps. Snowshoe says they will do the dishes.
Progression Park will be open today with a really fun setup courtesy of the Mountaineer Parks crew. Be sure to cruise through and check it out.
Looks like whale is back on the menu!
Here’s the line-up for our opener this Thanksgiving Day: Gandy Dancer, Progression Park, Skidder, Heisler Way, Upper & Mid Whistlepunk, Powder Monkey, Whiffletree, Cross-Cut, and Tail Tree. (Approximately 30 acres of skiable terrain)
Lifts spinning will include Ballhooter, Powder Monkey, and Skidder.
Snowshoe says they will continue to be aggressive and look to expand terrain as quickly as possible.
I really loved this phenomenal shot from Snowshoe yesterday:
Here’s a rare photo capture. These guys are a rare sighting! The rarely seen Snowmaking Crew…off the mountain!
SUGAR MOUNTAIN RESORT
They are open with 7 slopes & trails on a base of 15-48″ of groomed, frozen granular fun. Open for day sessions only on Thanksgiving Day. Ice Skating is open; Tubing is closed.
We shared Ron Kent’s video of a run down Sugar on Wednesday. The photo of the day up top is from Ron as well.
Resorts that are OPENING SOON!
Beech Mountain Resort opens Friday
Beech opens for the 2021-2022 winter season on Friday, November 26. The resort will operate from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. As a special perk for season pass holders, lift five will run starting at 8 a.m. Season passes are available for pick-up beginning at 7:30 a.m. in the administration office.
Slope tickets and rentals are available for purchase starting at 8 a.m. in person only at the ticket booth. Lessons will be purchased beginning at 8 a.m. in the Ski and Ride School.
Tubing is currently closed. We will begin our snowmaking efforts soon in hopes of opening as quickly as possible.
By the way, Marketing Guru and superstar wearer of all hats up on Beech Mountain, Talia Freeman shared that they hope to get power to the base camera soon. They also did some Christmas tree trimming on the tree that was blocking the view from the Summit Camera which all of the television stations love. Thanks Talia!
TIMBERLINE MOUNTAIN
Timberline Mountain is opening for a Preview Weekend with limited terrain on Saturday, November 27th and Sunday, November 28th from 9am to 4pm! Their official opening day for the 2021/2022 season has yet to be determined, but this is your chance to access the mountain early! All pass levels will be eligible for skiing and snowboarding during the Preview Weekend, and Gold Pass holders can bring a friend for free! Earn a $20 debit bonus with the purchase of a single or multi-day Preview Weekend lift ticket!
OPEN TERRAIN
They will have 45% of our terrain open, which includes the following trails: Salamander, Winterset, Thunderstruck, Mid-Mountain Crossroad, White Lightning, Whiteout, Upper Dew Drop, Lower Dew Drop, and the First Flurries beginner area.
The beginner/intermediate terrain park Snow Squall will be open with limited features and will have hiking access only.
BRYCE RESORT
They have been making snow and plan to open asap.
CANAAN VALLEY RESORT
It was 16° overnight, but temps warmed to 39° at sunrise. Snow is being made at every opportunity. They tend to open in early-to-mid December but it could be sooner, weather depending.
Here are some shots from this morning.
MASSANUTTEN RESORT
Snowmaking has begun and they are busy preparing for the 2021-22 Winter season! Massanutten snow sports are typically available from early/mid-December through mid/late March. Please keep an eye on this page for further updates and opening day announcements!
WINTERGREEN RESORT
OPENING SOON. Check out their Mission:Affordable Package!
WINTERPLACE RESORT
They are planning to open December 18th or earlier, weather permitting. Check out the whales below! “Thar they blew!!!!” Snow that is.
OBER GATLINBURG
On average, they open the ski slopes in early to mid December and close in early to mid March. Exact opening and closing dates for the slopes are determined by Mother Nature … never the same dates from one ski season to the next … and usually not predictable until just days in advance.
The Snow Tubing Park at Ober Gatlinburg currently offers nine 350 ft. lanes and a 50 ft. vertical drop.
There’s snow way you’ll want to miss this family adventure!
OMNI HOMESTEAD
Opening day is TBD, but this is always a great share. Each year, on the Monday before Thanksgiving, their grounds team and other associates seem to make the impossible possible as they bring the 22′ tall Great Hall tree through a 4′ wide door.
Tis the Season…
It IS the season for enjoying family and friends. The Homestead (Omni Homestead Resort) shared this Christmas tree raising video a few years ago and it has been unsurpassed since – therefore it needs to be shared yet again. It is a magical time of year, and all of our ski resorts provide a bit of that magic. Omni Homestead is certainly one of the more magical.
Check it out and enjoy!
Shameless Promotion
As most of you know, ResortCams.com and HighCountryWeather.com are sister websites to our SkiSoutheast.com website. Together, they boast 9.4 million visitors and 70 million pageviews each year.
We do hope that you will follow us on Facebook and Instagram as we are seeing HUGE growth is our reach on social media.
We would also like to present to you, HighCountryVacations.com.
What is HighCountryVacations.com all about? Simply put – we love the mountains; just about any mountain, but specifically the mountains of the Southeast and mid-Atlantic.
From Garrett County, Maryland’s Deep Creek Lake area to the Shenandoah Valley and Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and West Virginia to the Great Smoky Mountains of Gatlinburg, Tennessee to the Appalachian Mountain chain and Pisgah and Cherokee National Forests of North Carolina.
We love them all and as residents of the North Carolina mountains and frequent visitors to all the rest, we decided to make it our life-long goal to share many of the local favorite places to visit, stay, play and shop. We hope that you’ll join us in celebrating our beautiful mountains by visiting often and by giving our sponsors your business.
Please check it out and use it to explore YOUR favorite mountain!
-Team Appnet New Media Studio
That will do it for me today. We are truly thankful for you, our readers. Check back tomorrow for more!
#thinkwinter
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