It’s starting to look like winter again.
We’ve got fresh snow this morning at Timberline, Snowshoe, Wisp, Beech, Sugar, Sapphire Valley Resort, and, Appalachian Ski Mountain, just to name a few.
So hopefully, if you’re headed to the mountain this morning, you find yourself at one of these resorts. It’s the Friday of holiday vacation week, so prepare for some lines. But if you’re reading this, hopefully it isn’t too late to get some of the goods in the southeast.
SkiSoutheast’s Brian Dix texted me last night with a harsh truth, considering that I am still in New England for a couple more days.
@joshsullivan36 SOOOOOONK
The southeast is the only region getting the goods on the east coast right now.
As meterologist Brad Panovich reports, we have a big burst of cold air moving over the southeast. There could be a big burst of natural snow in the ski areas with higher elevation over the weekend, and into early next week. That’s a relief, because it finally breaks the cycle we’ve had of warm weather on the weekends, and cold weather on the weekdays.
Not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but it also looks like the first full weekend in January could really reward us with some colder temperatures and a bigger pattern flip.
That’s great news for you if you’re reading this right now, though. Let’s get into what you need to know in the southeast today:
Timberline
There is perhaps no bigger Timberline fan this week than Discord user WVUskieer. Here’s what they had to say:
Crowded yes, but conditions were good considering the recent rain and even at its busiest the lift line was only 15 minutes. Absolutely loving the “new’ Timberline.”
The National Weather Service is reporting about 1.5 inches of snowfall overnight, and there is more snow in the forecast for the rest of today. All of the open terrain has been machine groomed both overnight and this morning, and night skiing is on until 8 p.m. There are 17 open trails, including Thunderstruck and White Lightning.
Snowshoe
You never know just who you’ll run into in the lift lines.
It’s shaping up to be a beautiful day at the Shoe today. SkiSoutheast’s Kenny Griffin says that while it doesn’t quite look like three inches of snow fell on some of the trails, the resort finally looks like a winter wonderland again.
More fresh snow is expected throughout the day today, and the snowmaking team is back in action to try and expand some of that terrain on the western territory, as well as trails like Spruce, Grabhammer, and Logslide. Western Territory is slated to open “very soon.”
Wisp
Maryland, stand up! Even Wisp got a little bit of fresh stuff, with an inch of snow reported. That puts the resort over 20 inches of total snowfall on the season,. And there are seven lifts and 10 slopes open today, including Central Park Terrain, Squirrel Cage, The Face, and Central Park.
Winterplace
We’ve got an inch of fresh stuff at Winterplace as well, with 17 of 29 trails open and 7 lifts spinning.
There will be occasional snow showers today, and the snowmakers are working hard to open more terrain.
Chair 1 is currently down, until some repairs are made. Heaven Holler Terrain Park is open for hike access only, as of now.
Here’s what the snow reporting team had to say:
Snowmaking will resume as soon as temperatures allow us to refresh all of our open terrain and we will start making snow on Snowbowl, Plunge, Nose Dive, Turkey Chute, and Woods. We’ve have been monitoring the temperatures very closely and had a crew on standby waiting for the Wet Bulb (temperature and humidity) to drop enough to allow us to make some quality snow, however the high humidity didn’t let that happen last night. We are ready and starting Monday looks like a great week to make a lot of snow!”
Thanks, Mom!
As we enter the holiday vacation weekend, we need to shoutout the moms who make these greats days on the slopes happen. And while I could sit here and wax poetically about the sacrifices mom’s make, Red Bull TV does so better than I ever could, with the ski movie “Here, Hold My Kid.” It features two big mountain skiers – Elyse Saugstad and Jackie Paaso – as they navigate the balance between motherhood and being a professional.
“I feel like it’s important to showcase that you don’t have to hang up your skis, just because you’re a mom,” Elyse Saugstad says in the early moments of the film. “Life goes on, and you can still get out there and charge just as hard as before.”
The film of course features some steep drops through rocky chutes in Europe, backflips off of rocks, and plenty of powder shots. But it’s goofy too, and will make you laugh as many times as it will make you say “whoa.” It also features Paaso and Saugstad’s husbands, pro skiers Cody Townsend and Reine Barkered, and pro snowboarder Leanne Pelosi. You can watch the full movie for free on Red Bull TV.
Reminder: Don’t make any plans for February 9 through 11.
For the first time since 2020, we are hosting a SkiSoutheast Resort Summit. This one will be at Massanutten Resort. The weekend is an opportunity to meet up with like-minded snow sports lovers from all over the southeast.
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.