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Mid-Atlantic/SE skiing (PA, NJ, DC, MD, VA, WV, NC) for 2019-20

marzNC

Angel Diva
Massanutten could make snow last night! Snowguns still on as of 7:30am. But Geromino and Lower Showtime not open today so the warning "no intermediate terrain" is still in the snow conditions report.

Demo Weekend continues thru 2pm.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
The weather rollercoaster continues in the southeast and mid-Atlantic. Looks like a couple more nights of snowmaking Jan. 7-9, followed by more warm temps over 50, and then another blast of cold air. MLK weekend could be winter-like, but too soon to know.

Ski areas that managed to create a decent base on core trails early on stand a better chance of eventually opening more terrain. But it's going to be tough.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
In case anyone in the DC/Baltimore area wants to have DPS Phantom done by a shop that has a Cure Station, I learned recently that there is a shop with a Cure Station in Newark, DE. It's a bit unusual because the shop only handles snowboards for winter sports. But they will treat skis.
 

Tennessee

Angel Diva
SNOWSHOE TRIP REPORT
Just got back from Snowshoe. Cold and very windy on Wednesday so Western Territory and Ballhooter lifts were not operating due to the high wind. Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day with lighter winds. We headed straight over to the Western Territory at opening, hoping to get great conditions over there since it had been closed the day before. Found out right away that Cupp run was closed so skied a few runs on Upper and lower Shays. I hadn’t skied lower Shays in a few years but it was in pretty good shape — just a bit too icy on skiers right. Found out as we made the laps what the story was with Cupp. Apparently, Wednesday night, the snow making compressor malfunctioned and the guns were shooting out pure water for A COUPLE HOURS! Not sure how they are going to fix that little problem. It looked pretty “firm” over there from the lift! We had fun but I was sorry to not get to ski Cupp Run. It’s my favorite✅
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
SNOWSHOE TRIP REPORT
Just got back from Snowshoe. Cold and very windy on Wednesday so Western Territory and Ballhooter lifts were not operating due to the high wind. Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day with lighter winds. We headed straight over to the Western Territory at opening, hoping to get great conditions over there since it had been closed the day before. Found out right away that Cupp run was closed so skied a few runs on Upper and lower Shays. I hadn’t skied lower Shays in a few years but it was in pretty good shape — just a bit too icy on skiers right. Found out as we made the laps what the story was with Cupp. Apparently, Wednesday night, the snow making compressor malfunctioned and the guns were shooting out pure water for A COUPLE HOURS! Not sure how they are going to fix that little problem. It looked pretty “firm” over there from the lift! We had fun but I was sorry to not get to ski Cupp Run. It’s my favorite✅
Thanks for the trip report!

Always seems to be something when it comes to keeping a ski area running. Lift 6 at Mnut was down for a couple hours on Thu. Ended up having to replace a couple small parts. Wasn't a big deal since Lift 5 was open for Lower Showtime at least. Hopefully everything keeps running for the weekend.
 

EeveeCanSki

Certified Ski Diva
I was saddened (but not surprised) to see Whitetail closing from Monday to Thursday of this upcoming week, but I'm crossing fingers for them (and for all the resorts near-ish to the national capital area and beyond that were hit hard by this warm streak) to recover by the weekend. My SO heard from a patroller while headed up the high speed quad during our visit on Friday that this was likely, and so it came to be...by the time we left late afternoon there were some brown spots coming up. The morning started off great with some packed powder and after lunch we had spring skiing conditions, and there was never a wait more than three sets of people deep or so during the day for a lift. Taking leave from work this day was thus worth it. :smile: (I gotta do this more often!)

Now crossing fingers Wisp can blow some snow once their cold weather arrives midweek and they can open up some additional terrain for the long weekend, and hoping for the natural snow that is currently in the forecast. That hill was a blast to ski last time I was there and it dumped.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
May not be too many trails, but at least all the ski areas within driving distance of Raleigh/Charlotte and Washington DC will be open for the MLK weekend. Apparently temps were cold enough in NC for some snowmaking last night. Tonight there will be snow guns on in NC and everyplace to the north in the along the east coast on into New England, as well as in WV and PA.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Snowguns already on at Snowshoe, Winterplace, Wisp, Wintergreen, and Beech as of 7pm, Thu, 1/16. Really windy. Not quite yet at Massanutten and Cataloochee. May be waiting a bit while there are still beginners/intermediate having fun night skiing.

Air temp at Wintergreen is 34º but the dew point is pretty low, which means the humidity is low. Since they need to build base, blowing wetter snow instead of waiting for the optimal snowmaking conditions makes sense.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Not news for this season, but the new owners of Timberline in WV have announced publicly that there will be a new base-to-summit lift installed before they re-open. That's exciting news!

The interview in the video is with a rep from Perfect North together with Joe Stevens of WV Ski Areas Assoc. Perfect North is owned and operated by the North family, who owned the Indiana farmland that was turned into a ski area about 40 years ago.

 

EeveeCanSki

Certified Ski Diva
Wisp is a sheet of ice and the tree outside our hotel room probably has a good 0.1 in of coating on it or more.

I was hoping for a fun time but conditions became too hazardous for me to feel comfortable. There are a lot of people out there today who don't know their limits (I can see why some of you don't ski on holiday weekends, but like many folks that's when we can go) and are stopping in middles of trails for whatever reason. We called it a morning and thankfully lunch made up for some of the day (there are veggie meatballs here that are ah-mazing!)

I feel a little defeated because I can usually ski some blues here with no problems. I just wish I had more time, but of course the weather becomes solidly colder when I have to head back to work. Ah well. Maybe President's Day will be better.
 

Peaheartsmama

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Camelback was amazing today. They were blowing lots of snow and it was snowing all day and still hasn’t stopped yet. Tomorrow should be even better! It got really busy by noon though. I’m glad we had an early start
 

Peaheartsmama

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Yeah I was surprised how full the lots were as we left in the early afternoon. Definitely getting there early is key... tomorrow will probably be worse as today was likely a travel day for some. Monday will probably be better
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Massanutten felt more like a normal weekend than a holiday Saturday. I think the rain forecast scared off a lot of people. Then it rained for a short while right around lunch time. When my friends and I went out a bit later, it wasn't raining and the snow was actually quite nice.

My friend skied off Lift 6 for the first time. Helped that it wasn't crowded after the rain. She's been skiing blues at Alta so I knew she could do it with a little guidance. Will be useful on other days when the line on Lift 5 gets long.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
For anyone interested in a weekend at Snowshoe in late Feb, read on.

SkiSE is having their annual Snowshoe Summit Feb. 28 thru March 2, Fri-Sun. Check the website for the discounted lodging deal (book by Feb. 11 with the group code), which also includes a lift ticket for Sunday. Note that you much make a phone call to get the SkiSE deal.

Screen Shot 2020-01-25 at 8.38.54 PM.png
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
The past week at Mnut was pretty amazing. Thu and Fri, Jan. 23-24 were wonderful in terms of snow conditions. Of course, helped that the slopes were relatively empty and the snow guns were off during the day as well. The fact that Paradice opened after just a few days of round-the-clock snowmaking was wonderful. I haven't been able to ski Paradice with good snow top-to-bottom for a few years. Still a little flat because they are still building base so no snow whale contours, but great fun!
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
A good article with some history of the Western Territories at Snowshoe.

https://www.highland-outdoors.com/snowshoes-western-territory/
" . . .
Cupp Run

When Snowshoe set out to design its slopes, it knew the resort needed a dynamic trail that traversed the rugged terrain and took advantage of several distinct fall lines along Cupp Run. The resort brought Jean-Claude Killy, a world-famous French alpine ski racer, overseas for the job. Killy’s magnum opus of Cupp Run is a heart-thumping, leg-burning romp down the mountain that he considered one of his favorite ten lift-served runs in the world.

Snowshoe’s most famous trail gets its name from the stream that creates the steep drainage bowl of the Western Territory. The stream was named for Daniel Cupp, the first settler of the rugged drainage. Historic accounts show his cabin sat just below where Arbuckle’s Cabin now sits by the lower lift terminal.

When Snowshoe first opened, Cupp Run was served by a triple-chair lift that was the longest triple in the country at the time. Nowadays, the Western Territory is served by the Western Express, a high-speed quad lift that can handle 2,400 skiers per hour and cruises along at 13 miles per hour. The Western Express slashed the lift ride from 20 minutes to six.

Killy’s alpine racing legacy continues via the annual Cupp Run Challenge, a giant slalom race in which Killy put down the first winning time some 45 years ago. He frequently returned in the race’s early history to set the time to beat. At the age of 76, Killy no longer sets the pace, but the Cupp Run Challenge lives on each February.
. . ."
 

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