Mid-Atlantic/Southeast skiing (PA, NJ, DC, MD, VA, WV, NC, TN) for 2023-24

[Karenfrances]

@marzNC I didn't know Timberline's credits would carry over to future years, that's great! We're going for the first time next weekend (and it looks like there's multiple days of snow in the forecast before we arrive! Yay!)

Just don't lose the Timberline lift ticket cards! Although I did find some from two years ago and the credits still applied. I enjoy Timberline and the Canaan Valley is a great spot -- be sure to check out the Purple Fiddle for live music.

 

[marzNC]

For anyone looking for a condo to rent for a few nights in Davis, I can highly recommend the Lane Of Canaan. It's a small timeshare resort that's very close to the turnoff to Timberline. Have separate thermostats for each bedroom, plus a thermostat that controlled the gas fireplace was great. We were impressed with the snow removal efforts, including clearing of every little doorway porch.

I've found that there are people who work at Land of Canaan vacation at Massanutten, and vice versa.

 

[marzNC]

Seems like Massanutten has on every snowgun tonight. Started snowmaking mid-afternoon on upper mountain trails that haven't opened for the season yet.

Started snowmaking on Lower Paradice! Also No Hessitation, the new double-black under the new Peak detachable quad to the summit. Upper Paradice (the first flat section, blue) and Ridgecrest were open this morning, which was a nice surprise. Mass Transit and Yee Ha should open soon.

 

[marzNC]

The grand opening for No Hessitation, the new double-black under the Peak Express lift at Massanutten, was held at noon on Jan. 17. The terrain is smooth but once a base is built-up with the help of a winch cat, it won't be groomed so that bumps will begin to grow. It's a trail that's essentially 40+ years in the making.

I walked down the top section once to retrieve a glove that fell from the lift. It's pretty steep!

Posted Jan. 19

 

[marzNC]

Massanutten was 100% open on Jan. 19, including all the new trails cut in the last few years. It's been a long time since Paradice was completely open (Upper and Lower) before the end of January.

Warmer weather is coming next week. There will be plenty of base to deal with daytime highs in the 50s for a few days, but after Jan. 23 the snow surface won't be nearly as nice as this weekend.

 

[artistinsuburbia]

we arrived to our place at Hidden Valley and to our shock, we had received snow. 32 inches over the past week of upslope snow. The Laurel Highlands are back...pray the warm weather does not come to fruition!!

 

[HikenSki]

We are headed to Timberline Jan 31-Feb 4. Hoping the cold weather comes back after the warm up next week. Fortunately they have a good base but it would be nice to have fresh and new since our long visit last year was 50s degrees and rain. Ugh. We have a rental near the resort, not ski in/our like earlier this month but it's large enough to fit us all comfortably for the longer visit.
I'll be working to get back to parallel again. Relearning to ski after injury and as an adult is very humbling. Funny how prior to injury I didn't actually think about HOW to ski, the muscle memory was there. Now I have to think of what I'm doing to get out of the wedge, move that inside ski, stay forward, etc. Deb Armstrong's vids have been really key to my return.

 

[kmb5662]

The Ski Shack on the road going up to Montage Mountain now carries Stockli demos for $75 per day. Going to have to try a pair one of these days and see what all the hype is about!

 

[marzNC]

I gather @horsepowered and her DH made it to CV to enjoy fresh powder.

Quite a few folks have posted on DCSki and SkiSoutheast about powder turns in WV and NC. A few people went to Blue Knob, which is very dependent on natural snow.

SkiSoutheast tour of webcams, posted Jan. 20

 

[horsepowered]

I gather @horsepowered and her DH made it to CV to enjoy fresh powder.

Quite a few folks have posted on DCSki and SkiSoutheast about powder turns in WV and NC. A few people went to Blue Knob, which is very dependent on natural snow.

SkiSoutheast tour of webcams, posted Jan. 20

We sure did! Slowly, because the roads were in bad shape once we got off 68. CV reported “20+” inches of snow yesterday, and there was loads of untracked powder even when we started skiing at 2pm. My favorite runs were in the trees, because the powder gives me confidence that I won’t hit ice and go sliding out of control.

we’re off to timberline today!

 

[tinymoose]

Montage was skiing great today, albeit a bit on the firm side. Took out my SLs and I definitely forgot how much fun/responsive they are. Montage basically has the whole mountain open other than White Lightning, Upper Fast Track, Upper Runaway, and all but the very lowest portion of Lower Fast Track. Long Haul lift was running.

 

[marzNC]

The good news from the past week is that a lot of snowmaking went on, in addition to natural snow in the mid-Atlantic and southeast. The bad news is that it's going to be very warm in a few days, meaning in the high 40s or even 50s. The places that built up deep bases will do fine as soon as snowmaking can continue.

 

[marzNC]

Cataloochee is among the finalists for the I AM A SNOWMAKER contest for 2024. Cat is near Asheville, NC. It's typically open early and stays open late.

Snowmaking is a high priority, and has been since the early years in the 1960s. The owners of the Cat horse ranch initially put snowmaking on a slope to see if there would be enough paying customers before committing to creating trails on a different peak. The resort was sold to local business people a few years ago. No changes were planned or made to the ski area management.

 

[marzNC]

Unfortunately too many issues and delays for assorted reasons have led Hatley Pointe to decide trying to open the slopes for the 2023-24 ski season isn't going to happen. The new buildings were designed for 4-season use. The restaurant should be open by summer, perhaps in the spring.

January 23, 2024

Hatley Pointe Mountain Resort, formerly known as Wolf Ridge, will not open this winter

A popular ski resort in Western North Carolina that's been undergoing several major updates, including new ownership, will not be opening this winter.

wlos.com

 

[marzNC]

Even though rain was predicted for Jan. 25 a day ago, turned out that it didn't rain at all after 9am. I skied with a family from NC who are checking out Massanutten for the first time. The kids have Jan. 25-26 off from school. They already know how to ski and weren't phased by the idea it might be rainy.

The snow was pretty good even first thing in the morning. Got better later on with temps in the 50s but full cloud cover. The flat sections on the peak were quite foggy but once low enough Mueller's Mile and Lower Paradice were good fun. In general, the snow was fine and never turned to slush. There are thin sections on the trails that only opened last week. But where the snow is deep (2-4 feet), it's clear that once snowmaking temps return, it won't take long to get things back to normal for late Jan/early Feb.

Hoping the cloud cover sticks around tomorrow. Forecast high is in the 60s.

 

[marzNC]

Had a great day at Massanutten yesterday. Wonderful spring skiing with 100% of the trails open . . . in late January. The base is keep enough on the core trails that nothing turned to slush. Got sugary in the mid-afternoon on the upper mountain. I took a break with my friend's son 3:30-4:30. We went back out and stayed on the Peak Express. The trails were skier packed by then. I skied until 7:00. He and his mother finished at 8:00. His little sister skied on easy trails until about 6:00 and then her father (non-skier) picked her up to head back to the condo in the valley (Woodstone).

They took lessons in the morning. Mother and son had one of the Level 3 instructors who's been teaching at Mnut for about 15 years. He moved over from Wintergreen when he learned how supportive Mnut Ski School is for PSIA training and certification. My daughter had a few lessons with him when she was in elementary school. Now he's retired from his day job and coaches the free style team.

 

[marzNC]

Zach of OpenSnow is covering the southern Mid-Atlantic and Southeast much better this season. Nice to see Massanutten and the NC ski resorts on forecast maps every so often. West Virginia always gets the most snow when a cold front moves through with enough moisture. For the rest of the resorts, what matters more is having good snowmaking conditions for a few nights. Especially after a warm spell like what happened last week.

From Mid-Altantic Daily Snow for Jan. 29, 2024:

 

[marzNC]

Now that Blue and Camelback in PA are on Ikon, wondering if anyone is planning to ski there midweek. I've stopped by the base of Camelback during the off-season when I was in the Poconos for other reasons. Never made it to Blue because it's farther from Shawnee, where I've stayed at the timeshare resort a few times.

The description of Blue on their website notes that the vertical is the highest in PA at 1082 ft. There is 171 acres and 100% night skiing. The snowmaking is highly automated and they even invested in SnowSAT technology for grooming. Like my home hill, Massanutten, Blue is a 4-season resort. (Massanutten vertical is 1110 ft and there is now 83 acres with the addition of upper mountain trails in 2022-24.)

March 2023

 

[marzNC]

Didn't realize how much it snowed in the NC mountains. Beech got 6 inches!

The other news buzzing around NC is that the new budget airline, Breeze, is starting non-stop service from RDU to Portland, ME, and Burlington, VT for the summer season. If they continue into the winter, there are folks who live in the southeast who would consider the idea of flying to ski in New England. Breeze prices are pretty low, especially in comparison to flights to airports near big mountains in the west.

January 31, 2024

Heavy Snowfall At Beech, Sugar, And Cataloochee; Craft Beer Festival Coming To Winterplace

It’s a beautiful day to get in some midweek turns. Particularly if you’re in the North Carolina High Country. While West Virginia took the title of “best snowfall in the...

www.skisoutheast.com

 

[marzNC]

For those near the NC mountains, Beech Mountain does Ladies Night for the Thursday night sessions. It's $15 for a lift ticket good for 5-9pm, weekly until March 7.