Joe Stevens is a columnist for SkiSoutheast.com in addition to his "real job" of co-owner of The Media Center in Charleston, West Virginia. As if Joe isn’t busy enough with these duties, he’s a dedicated dad, devoted husband and spokesperson for the West Virginia Ski Areas Association. It is the latter "hat" that he was wearing when he sent me a release that informed snow lovers of the additional ski terrain that opened at Timberline and within the Cross Country terrain at White Grass in West Virginia.
(Hey Joe…this is only ten days late getting posted! I happened to be cleaning my inbox a bot and noticed this one that somehow slipped through and did not get posted.)
With the snow that is falling THIS WEEKEND, Cross Country Skiing is a hot topic (or would that be a ‘cold’ topic? Here’s the pertinent content of that release. (Updated where needed.)
Charleston, WV – The temperatures in the higher elevations were perfect for snowmaking operations back in early December (Dec 7th), allowing the West Virginia areas to provide the most open terrain in the mid-Atlantic and southeast regions. The snowmakers at all of the resorts began to work around the clock when temperatures dropped, allowing the industry’s unsung heroes to create the excellent early season conditions. When snowmaking conditions were at their best during that week (in the low teens), over 10,000 tons of snow was being produced in West Virginia per hour, enough snow to cover 20 football fields with a foot of snow each hour. That’s a manmade blizzard skiers, snowboarders and snow tubers in the mountains of West Virginia.
The mountain state’s resorts annually attract over 800,000 skier visits and that number is again attainable since the start of the season is coming at a tradition time. “Skiers and snowboarders have come to rely on West Virginia ski resorts to provide excellent conditions when weather conditions permit,” says Terry Pfeiffer, President of the West Virginia Ski Areas Association. “We are off to a very good start, we just need Mother Nature to keep the winter conditions coming.” The top states providing skiers and snowboarders visiting West Virginia slopes are Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio and Florida.
The ski and snowboard season traditionally, weather permitting, continues through early April. The five-month long ski season in West Virginia has an estimated economic impact of over $250 million and 5,000 jobs at the resorts and other related companies. For more information on skiing and snowboarding in West Virginia go on-line at www.westvirginiaski.com or www.goskiwv.com .