Photo of the day by Steve Skarupa – scroll below
Today is Sunday and traditionally my day to ramble, so grab your cup of coffee and I’ll share some random notes from around the Southeast and mid-Atlantic’s ski resorts. One quick item I saw this morning was from Rimfire Lodge atop Snowshoe Mountain. They posted,
“Today will be dust on crust with a chance of wind! Be careful out there!”
I’m pretty sure that Snowshoe’s marketing and brass wouldn’t be all too happy with that assessment, but it was kind of funny and maybe a bit appropriate as even with 4″ of snow at Snowshoe overnight, it was wind-blown which will create alternating pockets of deeper powder and ‘dust on crust’. Of course Snowshoe does an amazing job of putting multiple groomers all over that mountain to properly disperse snow, etc. Probs lots of hard corduroy there as well.
Obviously the biggest news of the day is the natural snow that fell last night across the mountaintops. (It is still snowing this morning at Canaan Valley…) The other big news is the VERY COLD temps that infiltrated the region allowing for the roar of the snowmakers to fill the air as well. Truth be told, while natural snow is the ‘white gold’ that excites the masses, it is the manmade variety that is most important in terms of blanketed the slopes – even overnight. Resorts can lay down 4-6″ of manmade snow with temperatures in the teens and low 20s and since we have been on a natural snowfall drought thus far into the 2019-2020 ski season – that manmade snow is all-important.
Speaking of Exciting the Masses
Saturday was a yuck day until around 1pm or so. I received a text from Talia Freeman, the hard-working, do everything, wear every hat, marketing director, group sales, ticket window lady from Beech Mountain Resort at around 2pm as she shared that it was already snowing atop Beech Mountain’s 5000+’ elevations.
Sugar Ski & Country Club posted next and then we started getting reports from all around the region. Snowshoe, Canaan and Wisp got into the act later, and that little bit of snow news jumped our traffic 1100% in just a few hours. Several of our posts late in the evening topped 10K in no time. I’ll have to check Google Analytics for the website stats from yesterday and today, but Facebook and Instagram blew up. (We’ve added nearly a 1000 new followers in the last few days. Thanks by the way!)
By the way, you can Check the SNOW REPORT today for all of the trail numbers and other details AND/OR watch the Video Snow Report below…and scroll below for a lot of what you won’t find on the video.
VIDEO SNOW REPORT
These days we are sharing two separate video reports for Facebook and YouTube and we appreciate all of the views and shares.
OTHER NOTABLES….
It is 20-25° colder this morning that just 24 hours ago. Temperatures dropped throughout the day on Saturday and transitioned rain to snow as predicted.
The BIG SNOW winner is Canaan Valley Resort this morning with 7.8″ to take them to 36.4″ in the season. David Lesher reports that this is the first, one-day snowfall event of 6 inches or more since March 14, 2018, nearly 22 months ago. Snow is still falling at Canaan this morning.
Lesher also reported that the 36.4″ of snowfall so far this winter is well behind the long term average of 45 inches for this date. You can tell the snow was wind driven though as they do not have their cross-country terrain open.
Snowfall totals ranged from a dusting here at my Sleepy Hollow home (okay m-a-y-b-e one-half inch) to:
7.8″ – 23° – Canaan Valley Resort – making snow
4″ – 18° – Snowshoe Mountain Resort – making snow
2″ – 16° – Beech Mountain Resort – making snow
2″ – 28° – Wisp Resort – making snow
2″ – 18° – Sugar Mountain Resort – making snow
1″ – 19° – Cataloochee Ski Area – making snow
1″ – 24° – Appalachian Ski Mountain – making snow
1″ – 26° – Winterplace Resort – making snow
1″ – 24° – Wolf Ridge Resort – making snow
.8″ – 28° – Sapphire Valley Ski Area – making snow
.7″ – 28° – Ober Gatlinburg – making snow
Trace – 29° – The Omni Homestead Resort – making snow
0″ – 27° – Massanutten Resort – making snow
0″ – 31° – Bryce Resort – no snowmaking
0″ – 25° – Wintergreen Resort – making snow
Notice that Bryce Resort is the only resort in the region that did not make snow last night or this morning. The temps there are frustratingly just out of that 30° or so that is needed. Also only The Homestead saw natural snow of the Virginia ski areas. It has been THAT kind of year to date. It is a testament really to how nice Massanutten and Wintergreen looks right now. Bryce Resort is holding its own as well.
Nice Photos
Here are some resort shares…
Canaan Valley Resort
It’s a Powder Day!!!!! The snow fell hard all night in Canaan Valley, and continues to fall as the sun rises today. We received 7.8 inches of snow so far from this storm, and this is the largest 1 day snowfall since march of 2018. We will operate today with 12 slopes and trails available to begin the day, but additional terrain could open as the snow continues to fall. We will update this page with any changes at noon today. The tube park will operate with 6 lanes available, and the ice skating rink will be an excellent place to celebrate the winter wonderland. It’s going to be a great day at Canaan Valley Resort!
Snowshoe Mountain Resort
POWDER ALERT! We’re waking up to a fresh 4″ of fluff this morning, and a steady chorus of snowguns. Read more…
That’s the type of Sunday Funday we’ve all been dreaming about. Temperatures are expected to hang out in the low 20’s for most of the day, with some gusty winds at times. It’s going to be an awesome week here on the mountain with more snow and cold in the forecast through Thursday. Now is the time to get up here and get after it while the getting is good. There’s no better time to take advantage of our Midweek Madness deal! Stay and ski for 2, for just $99 per person, per night.
Cataloochee Ski Area
They are BACK to offering (10) slopes and trails for day and night sessions today. Love the fact that they are reporting snowfall totals now. Cataloochee posted, “More Trails, 1″ of New Snow and a Beautiful Day Ahead! We did receive about 1″ of new snow and have been making snow since about 5pm last night. Snowmaking will continue throughout the day today as temperatures permit, so come prepared for these types of conditions.”
Massanutten Resort
Loved the relief in this post: “Finally! The snowmakers were able to get back to work last night to freshen things up. Snowmaking will continue as temps allow today and hopefully every night this week. No intermediate terrain will be available today. College Week Specials through Jan 10. Show your College ID and receive a $40 8-hr slope-use ticket. Monday Night Madness begins this Monday Night! Snow Tubing is SOLD OUT for today!”
The Freestyle Ski Shop will be hosting free equipment demos this weekend.
Ober Gatlinburg
Still temporarily closed for skiing and snowboarding today however they ARE making snow and hope to reopen soon. Snow tubing is SOLD OUT for Sunday. There is mountain coastering, ice skating and tons more to do on the mountain.
The best news is that snowmaking cranked back up late on Saturday and continued all night and it will probably continue ALL day at some mountain tops.
Beech Mountain’s high should be around 30° today and then should allow for snowmaking each night until Thursday.
The Omni Homestead Resort – Making Snow
Closed on Sunday, Jan. 5. We will reopen on Thursday, Jan. 9.
That will do it for today.
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