Quick check of the cams:
TL: of course
7S: surprisingly looks like no
Laurel: no
Wisp: surprisingly yes
CV: no
BK: no
RT Liberty WT HV: not surprising, cams aren't even turned on it.
Shoe yes and didn't check VA hills, not fair to expect them to hit the switch yet.
Snowshoe has also been making snow. I think Seven Springs was taking advantage of the cold to doing some snowmaking testing vs. any effort to lay down a base, as they expect temps to warm up later this week.
And further south, Sugar Mountain in North Carolina opened today!
Wintergreen sent out a promo email today including language saying it was just a test of the new TA setup:
Over the past few days, we’ve been testing out the new TechnoAlpin fan guns and they are firing on all cylinders, getting us one step closer to turning on the big system.
Still was fun to see them on the webcams!
marzNC wrote:
Wintergreen and Massanutten turned on snowguns once it got cold enough. Hard to say whether they are thinking it's a test, or actually a start to building base given how warm it's likely to get in the next week or two.
Word on the Laurel Resorts (hv / lm / 7s) is late wed into thurs / fri of this week 11/26 to start making snow. And by making snow, that likely means testing out important pieces of equipment as the long term forecast doesn't look like it accommodates laying down a lot in this area. That could change though.
Massanutten started snowguns on Southern Comfort and Lower Showtime tonight. The next 10 nights should have periods cold enough for snowmaking.
Wintergreen is also blasting snow.
Laurel Mountain and Seven Springs this morning 11/28
Looks like Massanutten wants to open Upper Paradice and Ridgecrest to Upper Showtime sooner rather than later. That would really help to spread out the intermediates during early season.
Massanutten webcam, 10am, November 28, 2025:
HV has been making snow since late wed nite into today. Just on select areas where they typically begin. Snowing a bit at the top.
wfyurasko wrote:
@MarzNC My recollection is Massanutten doesn't open all the Lift 6 (I don't remember the new name) slopes until after the new year historically. Has that changed since expansion?
In short, yes.
When the Peak Express was installed as the replacement for the old Lift 6 quad, the entire upper mountain layout was changed significantly. Ridgecrest and Mueller's Mile are blue trails. Before Lift 6 only had two black trails. Paradice was always last to open because it took the most snowmaking and there wasn't enough pumping power to run snowguns on DJ and Paradice at the same time. Building a 2-mile pipeline a few years before that means no issues with water supply even when 36-48 hr periods of snowmaking are possible. Now they can run 100+ snowguns simultaneously all over the mountain when the weather is helpful.
They also replaced the old stickguns on Upper Showtime with huge tower mounted fan guns. Not only can more snow be made, it's a lot quieter.
nickhaas212 wrote:
VA resort predictions? 12/5 or 12/12 for opening? Either way, I will be there.
I'm guessing 12/5, at least for pass holders at Massanutten. Then Sat, 12/6, for the public. But even possible to open 12/4 for pass holders and the public on 12/5. Going to be good snowmaking weather every night and into the morning for the next week.
It is "mild" today for the laurel resorts, but the next 10 looks like they won't lose what they've done so far.... just looking at the lows:
At 7:30 this morning, it was 25 at the base at Massanutten, 22 up top. Snowmaking on DJ, Showtime, Southern Comfort, and the tubing hill.
Wintergreen is blowing this morning as well.
Just saw on Facebook that Massanutten has a Latitude 90 snowmaking box from SMI on property. It's pointed at the tubing hill. With that technology, can make snow even when temps are in the 40s.
Ober in TN opened their tubing hill for Thanksgiving. Ober has 14 snowmaking boxes as of a few months ago, mostly Latitude 90. Added two to the dozen they were using last season.
From the drone video on the Massanutten FB page today, it looks like they started blowing Lower MakAttack already. Used to leave that for much later. When they do open, will be twice as many options for where to ski than when it was only Southern Comfort, Lower Showtime, and Diamond Jim during the first few weeks. Upper Showtime, Upper Paradice to Ridgecrest, Mueller's Mile in addition to Diamond Jim means that intermediates will be interested in riding the Peak lift to the top.
Wonder what's happening, or not, on Yee Ha?
Wintergreen is going to open on Friday -- lift tickets now for sale on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Hope to see some of y'all there!
I DM's Mnut on FB and got the following from them:
Slopes Scheduled to Open:
Paul’s Way
Southern Comfort
Diamond Jim
Mueller’s Mile
Showtime
MassTransit
Yee-Haw
Lower Nutten-To-It (with rail features)
This list is subject to change due to weather.
marzNC wrote:
From the drone video on the Massanutten FB page today, it looks like they started blowing Lower MakAttack already. Used to leave that for much later. When they do open, will be twice as many options for where to ski than when it was only Southern Comfort, Lower Showtime, and Diamond Jim during the first few weeks. Upper Showtime, Upper Paradice to Ridgecrest, Mueller's Mile in addition to Diamond Jim means that intermediates will be interested in riding the Peak lift to the top.
Wonder what's happening, or not, on Yee Ha?
Massanutten is not only blowing all the blue trails off the top, they have stated snowmaking on Easy Street aka Geronimo already! As of 7am this morning, it's 26º at the base and 23º at the top. Pretty much ideal wet bulb even is somewhat higher humidity.
Beginners doing lessons will have Paul's Way and Southern Comfort. Intermediates just starting out on blues will have Lower Showtime and Mueller's Mile. More adventurous intermediates and advanced folks not only have Diamond Jim, but also should be able to lap using Mass Transit from Ridgecrest starting on Upper Paradice since Yee-Ha is supposed to be open too. From the drone footage on FB, in addition to putting small features on Lower Nutten-To-It to start with, it looks like Pacesetter also has snow on it already. Quite an amazing opening weekend!
If I weren't already on my way to Colorado as planned months ago, I'd probably be driving up to Mnut to ski there this weekend.
To give you an idea of an average opening day ... I made it up to Wisp for their opening day last year, and I eagerly set my alarm early, got there an hour ahead of time to "beat the line" and I beat the ticketing staff to the office. I didn't share a chair with anybody all day. It's really just those of us who spent the last nine months jonesing for a fix.
danDMV wrote:
Out of curiosity - how does opening weekend typically fare for these slopes? (Went skiing a few times last season, but mainly in Feb - never done opening weekend anywhere before).
Eager to check out a few places but understand that crowds/limited opening of routes early season may make some more busy than others.
Timberline I know will probably have the best conditions - but given crowds, would Wisp/Wintergreen be perhaps worth exploring the first weekend instead?
On Wintergreen specifically -- I'd wait to hit them up until the next weekend (12th-13th onward), and I say this as a lifelong Wintergreener. They're only going to have 2 1/2 slopes open this weekend. But the coming week has cold temps and they're likely to push to open the rest of A-side (Tyro, Tequila, Big Acorn) ahead of that, since it'll kick off daily ops.
Wisp looks like they're making snow on more than half of the front side, so definitely more terrain there.
I'm going to Timberline tomorrow for the first time ever. Looking forward to trying it out!
danDMV wrote:
Out of curiosity - how does opening weekend typically fare for these slopes? (Went skiing a few times last season, but mainly in Feb - never done opening weekend anywhere before).
Eager to check out a few places but understand that crowds/limited opening of routes early season may make some more busy than others.
Timberline I know will probably have the best conditions - but given crowds, would Wisp/Wintergreen be perhaps worth exploring the first weekend instead?
Lower Wildcat yesterday 12/3
I just posted a story on DCSki summarizing current opening plans for Mid-Atlantic resorts, based on the information I could gather as of this morning!
Let us know how you like Timberline! And be sure to go back to check it out when they are 100% open with the glades and natural snow trails available.
natehurst wrote:
I'm going to Timberline tomorrow for the first time ever. Looking forward to trying it out!
It's usually very limited terrain. I only go up for moguls these days, and that often doesn't happen until after Christmas...sometimes never.
As an aside, many people don't understand my passion for skiing, so it's nice to see people especially on this forum that have the bug way worse than I do. I have to be honest, I'm intrigued, but yet some of it is a mystery to me. There can be some of the best moguls the mid-Atlantic has ever seen, and there's nothing but crickets. Then, extended season there's a sliver of snow somewhere potentially in West Virginia, and the whole forum lights up in excited chatter. We can ski for decades even out west, but yet we still get excited for a patch of snow in Virginia on opening or closing day? That's truly beautiful. I'm envious to see that much persistent love for something. I suppose I do experience the same thing where I'll get excited for 6 mogul turns, but that love is less accessible around here. There was a day when I skied 10 hours on upper and lower Dobie and was worried I wouldn't get one more run before the slope was closed, but those days are past.
danDMV wrote:
Out of curiosity - how does opening weekend typically fare for these slopes? (Went skiing a few times last season, but mainly in Feb - never done opening weekend anywhere before).
Eager to check out a few places but understand that crowds/limited opening of routes early season may make some more busy than others.
Timberline I know will probably have the best conditions - but given crowds, would Wisp/Wintergreen be perhaps worth exploring the first weekend instead?
I'm thinking of going to Timberline tomorrow (Friday) 12/5 from DC/Dupont area. If anyone is interested in heading there with me who lives in DC or is along I-66 and is cool to leave around 7 am, DM me! I'm a 30 yo male intermediate/advanced skier
