ANNOUNCEMENT via Joe Stevens: There is a NEWS CONFERENCE this morning in Charleston, West Virginia as Governor Earl Ray Tomblin will be proclaiming January as Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month in West Virginia, in conjunction with the nationwide campaign. Members of the West Virginia Ski Areas Association will be on-hand for this gathering promoting the state’s $250 million industry and what it’s doing to get new people into the sport!!!
Let’s hope government leaders in North Carolina and Virginia will soon follow suit and take part in promoting the industry and push for getting more people involved in skiing and snowboarding!!
I know this past weekend was CRAZY busy at all of the southeast and mid-Atlantic ski areas! There’s nothing like a three day weekend to drive up skier traffic. I made it out there and was reminded of just how many people head to ski areas for this long weekend. I saw busses from Florida, Texas, and Kentucky! Church groups, girl scouts, boy scouts, college classes, you name it and they were there! Canaan, Snowshoe, and Timberline who have TONS of natural snow on the mountain were glad to have it as MLK Weekend drives skiers and snowboarders of all ages, sizes and abilities to the mountain!
We have a new Ski Forecast in this morning from our SkiNC/SkiSoutheast weather guru Brad Panovich. We’re looking at a mid-week thaw followed by some ARCTIC air! Brad calls it the “Mother Load of Arctic Air” that will be followed by some Northwest flow snow…the only question is… HOW MUCH? We’ll know more later in the week. Click here to see the video forecast…
We’d like to invite all of you to the SkiNC Summit at Beech Mountain this weekend… It’s going to be a GREAT time to get together and ski, socialize, and put faces with names. It’s also BEER FEST this weekend and there will be some great live music from the NATIVE SWAY and the ENEMY LOVERS. For $30 you can ski or ride for the DAY or TWILIGHT session. The ticket is half price and the fun will be priceless!! SO PLAN TO JOIN US FOR SOME GREAT SKIING AND RIDING AND SOME GREAT FUN!!! For more details click here…
Tour du areas…
I’d like to talk about the Virginia ski areas first this morning…the CoCoRahs reporter for Bryce Resort is showing they FINALLY have some more natural snow!! Bryce has 1.1 inches of new snow, and they’re 100% open for skiing and riding the day AND night sessions!
Massanutten – 28°- No new natural snow, but 100% open today for skiing and riding from 9am-9pm!
Wintergreen – 34°- 100% open today for day AND night skiing and riding. The tubing park will also be open today!!
West Virginia…
Canaan Valley – 32° – With 1.4 inches of new snow Canaan is up to 121.9 inches this year!! Open on 100% of the mountain for DAY skiing and riding only!
Snowshoe Mountain – 32°- 2 inches of new snow at Snowshoe brings them to 97 inches this season! Open on 59 of 60 slopes (only Sawmill Glades is closed). Here’s what Laura Parquette has to say this morning,
“Our groomers worked their magic overnight laying down a fresh layer of corduroy for your cruising pleasure this morning. We have left Choker and Lower Shay’s ungroomed once again today and some great bumps in that area; everything else was groomed overnight. As we look ahead we see some new snowfall in the forecast for mid-week. It’s amazing that the snow seems to just keep coming. We have at least three days of snow predicted for this week and that accumulation could very well take us over the 100" mark for the season! And all of that has fallen since Dec 1!! We’ve seen more than 50% of our average annual already this season, and that’s great news as we still have at least two and a half months left! The snow has been terrific all season and we’ve been lucky enough to avoid the freeze-thaw cycles that are so typical in the South.” Great conditions continue at Snowshoe!!
Timberline – 32°- Open today on 38 of 39 slopes (no Parkway) for skiing and riding the DAY session only! 1.4 inches of new snow at Timberline today…that’s over 121 inches this season.
Winterplace – 28°- Open on 100% of the mountain for day AND night skiing and riding. We’re still counting 28 trails and all 28 are open! Tubing is also open!
Wisp Resort – 28°- 100% open today with an inch of fresh snow! Wisp is open for day AND night sessions, and all the other fun Wisp activities including the Mountain Coaster are also open today!! Snowmaking IS IN PROGRESS on limited terrain.
Ober Gatlinburg – 38°- 100% open today for day AND night skiing and riding. Tubing is also open today!!
North Carolina…
Appalachian Ski Mountain – 35°- Open today on 100% of the mountain for DAY and NIGHT sessions with .4 inches of new snow. Look for a new setup on AppalJack and revamped features on AppalJam. Ice skating is open today, also.
Beech Mountain Resort – 34°- A fresh powder coat at Beech today with . 4 inches of new snow. Beech is 100% open today for DAY and NIGHT sessions.
Cataloochee – 32°- 100% open today for day AND night skiing and riding!! Tube World in Maggie Valley will reopen on Thursday.
Sapphire Valley – 39°- Open today on 100% of the mountain!! Great skiing and riding!
Sugar Mountain – 27°- Open on 100% of the mountain for DAY and NIGHT sessions. Tubing and ice skating are both open as well.
Wolf Ridge Resort – 34°- Open today on 16 of 23 slopes with 2 lifts. Upper Lodge will be closed until Friday so all lift tickets will need to be purchased at the Lower Lodge. Great Deal: Buy One – Get One Lift Ticket Free for night session!!
THINK COLD! THINK SNOW!
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