This weekend will no doubt be the best weekend of skiing and snowboarding that we have seen thus far into the 2007-2008 ski season. Be sure to check out the Slope Conditions page for individual resort details of trail offerings, etc. As you can tell by this morning’s story title, we’ve been doing a bit of math as to how many trails are open at each resort.
The recent natural snows and the best snowmaking temps of the season have made the surface conditions PRIMO for today and the weekend. The forecast is for highs in the mid to upper 40s for Saturday and a bit milder (near 50°) on Sunday with clear skiers and no snowmaking going on while you’re enjoying those awesome conditions!
Here’s some tidbits…
Canaan Valley reported another 1/2" of snow on Thursday, taking their storm total to 14.5" of snow according to Coop and their guys. Conditions should be awesome!
Snowshoe Mountain added another 1" of snow and 13" on the storm! They also added more open terrain to take them to 43 trails open! They are report, "Another inch of snow fell throughout the day yesterday, bringing our storm total to a full foot of powder since New Years Day. Snowmaking has also occured in large quantities, boasting our base and allowing us to open six new trails today. Both Cupp Run and Camp 99 will open tomorrow, bringing our trail count over 50! If you haven’t been skiing yet… then this is the weekend to come. Not only do we have great conditions, but we are also hosting the College Winter Break."
Timberline reported another 1/2" of snow taking them to 14.5" from the storm and their conditions are nothing short of magnificent.
Winterplace reports, "We plan on opening more trails this weekend! The plan is to open Last Chance, Last Run, No Problem with the Super Carpet Lift and Snowfield. Plus, we are working on even more trails!!! Snowtubing Park opens @ 1pm today! The Kiddie Park is currently NOT open – please continue to check back."
Wisp Resort picked up another 1" of new snow and has 18 trails open today and more will open this weekend.
Bryce Resort is nearly 100% open. They now are offering 7 of 8 trails, terrain park and tubing!
Massanutten opened more terrain up and after struggling to stay open just days ago…now has great conditions, 6 of 14 trails open, some terrain park features and tubing! Pretty amazing turnaround!
Wintergreen reports, "The Upper Cross Trail, Sunrise, Tequila and the upper part of Tyro are all expected to open Saturday. Eagles Swoop, the Lower Cross Trail, Potato Patch, Discovery Ridge and Dobie are all open today. For those guests that want to tube, The Plunge re-opens with more lanes starting at 2pm. Tubing tickets are on sale now over the web and in person. The Slide will be open 10am-6pm Saturday and Sunday."
If you’re planning to be at App on Saturday, be sure to wander over to the terrain park as they have their second annual premier of their Shred for the Cup Series. It promises to be a stellar day and there will be lots of "Kodak Moments".
Cataloochee’s Tammy Brown wanted us to inform all of their guests that even though temps would allow for snowmaking during ski hours today – they WILL NOT be "making snow on their guests". That is a testament as to how much snow the resorts have been able to lay down over the last few days.
Fans of Sapphire Valley should be happy to hear that they HAVE been making snow (still are as of this morning) and they report, "We are planning on opening Frozen Falls Tube Park on Friday, December 4th, weather permitting. Sapphire Valley Ski Area "may" open on Saturday, December 5th, please call ahead to make sure, as the weather has been very unreliable. 828.743.7663.
Ski Beech’s will be making snow as long as temps allow so if you plan to ski there today or tonight, wear your goggles and protective gear. Their conditions are at the best of the season on 5 trails today and as mentioned earlier the snowguns will stop sometime Saturday…so enjoy!
Note: We heard that Beech hosted their first Friday night rail jam, and we’re sure that some must have attended, but there has not been one email or messageboard post about it. No pics?!? No videos?!?! No comments!?!?
Sugar Mountain leads the way in North Carolina with 12 trails open for Friday skiing and snowboarding. They also have their new 10,000 sf ice skating rink open!
Wolf Ridge is open with 5 trails today and tubing. They are reporting that their terrain park is not open although it is being reported as open by other sources.
CALLING ALL CAMERA BUFFS!
Admittedly it has been the kind of season to date…that has not prompted the usual "kodak moments" however the conditions are finally looking sweet and we need your trail reports, photos and videos to share the news of how the resorts are faring. So email yours and we’ll get them online! Send them to [email protected]
Note: We have signed up more Trail Reporters this season than ever before and we look forward to seeing your images and reports as well!
WHEN WILL MORE TERRAIN OPEN UP!?!?!
That has been THE MOST asked question of the last three days. Seems that you guys are paying attention to the snow and snowmaking that we’ve had this past week.
If you guys will look back to what conditions were like just a week ago you’d be amazed at the transformation that has taken place. Base depths have soared in the last few days as resorts blast the most important terrain first – to insure that they have a good product for their guests.
Now that bases are strong you can expect that resorts will move their snowmaking focus to additional terrain. Sugar has already accomplished that by opening more terrain as of this morning. You’ll will no doubt see more ski areas following suit.
Several of you asked specifics as to "where to ski" based on which resort had the most of their terrain available. Well right now Sugar does have the most terrain open…and we thought that we’d provide you with a bit deeper insight as to percentages, etc.
Here’s where resorts stand this morning:
Wisp Resort – 52% open (18 of 35)
Ober Gatlinburg – 63% open (5 of 8)
West Virginia Ski Resorts have 41% of their terrain open or (66 of 162 slopes)
Canaan Valley – 14% open (5 of 37)
Snowshoe – 72% open (43 of 60)
Timberline – 22% open (8 of 37)
Winterplace – 50% open (14 of 28)
Virginia Resort have 35% of their terrain open or (20 of 57 slopes)
Bryce – 88% open (7 of 8)
Massanutten – 43% open (6 of 14)
The Homestead – 10% open (1 of 10)
Wintergreen – 24% (6 of 25)
North Carolina Resorts have 44% of their terrain open or (41 of 93 slopes).
Appalachian – 60% open (6 of 10)
Cataloochee – 50% open (7 of 14)
Hawksnest – 50% open (6 of 12)
Sapphire Valley – 0% (0 of 2)
Ski Beech – 33% (5 of 15)
Sugar Mountain – 60% (12 of 20)
Wolf Ridge – 25% (5 of 20)
For those keeping score, that is 150 slopes and trails open in the Southeast of 355 possible, or 42% open at this point.
WEATHER LOOKING MILDER AHEAD…but…
Meteorologist Brad Panovich sent his latest skier’s forecast in and according to him we should see great snowmaking weather today and tonight that will make the already great conditions…even better. Then the snowmaking guns will shut down sometime on Saturday and probably won’t crank back up until Thursday evening of next week.
That is fine, because resorts are in great shape to weather that bit of thaw. The long range forecast is for more cold temps and perfect jet streams bringing us more winter weather into next weekend. So we may be entering a cycle that is perfect for the ski areas.
We can hope! That will open more terrain and provide some sweet conditions ahead.
Until Next Time…Send your comments, photos and videos to: [email protected]
For resort news, photos and videos from ALL of the Southeast and Mid Atlantic ski areas, visit www.SkiSoutheast.com
See You On The Slopes!