Finally . . . Massanutten is open for the season.  Meaning all chairlifts will be running as of 1/6/16.  Was cold enough to day time snowmaking on all the core trails the last couple days.  Only Upper Showtime is not quite ready.  Definitely the latest full opening in my experience since starting to ski at Mnut in Dec 2004.  Just in time for the demo weekend by Freestyle of Charlottesville.

1/6/16 at 7:30 am - Massanutten's Ski Slopes are now open for day and night! Snowmaking will be in progress as temperatures allow.

Today we will be skiing and riding top to bottom on Lifts 3,4,5,& 6 serving terrain for all levels of ability. 9:00 am - 9:00 pm. Lift #5 is open to midstation today, Upper Showtime opens tomorrow. Regular Season rates will be in effect. College Days special, $40 Slope Use ticket with valid College ID. 

Snow Tubing is scheduled to open today at 3:00 pm.  

Freestyle Demo Days on Saturday at the base of lift #6.

This weekend is the first one that feels "normal" at Massanutten.  Although still only the core trails with any snow.  But that's happened before.  The first time Freestyle did a demo weekend, it was very warm and not that much was open.  Coverage on DJ will be better today than that season.

1/9/16 at 7:15 am - Cloudy with highs around 45, rain possible this afternoon and tonight. Snowmaking tempeatures return on Sun.    

Regular Season rates are in effect.  

Snow Tubing opens at 9:00am today.  

Freestyle Demo Days on Saturday & Sunday at the base of lift #6 from 9:00 - 2:30

The first session of the Gold Clinic will be Sun morning starting at 9:15am.  Going to be a multi-week program for intermediate and advanced skiers (Level 6-9) that will normally meet 10:00-11:45am on Sun mornings for the rest of the season (8 sessions).  There are still spots available.  The cost is very reasonable even for someone who cannot attend all the sessions.  Send me a PM if you want to know more and cannot make it on Jan. 10.

I'm going to do the Gold Clinic in Jan before I head out west.  Walter Jaeger is one of the instructors.  I've been working with Walter for a few seasons in the Silver Clinic (Thu or Sun afternoons).  Learned a lot.

Spring skiing conditions at Mnut this weekend.  The sun was out by mid-morning on Sun and it only rained a little over night so still side-to-side coverage on the open trails.  The Freestyle demo tent wasn't that busy per usual.  They brought a few models mosly for frontside skiing from Blizzard, Volkl, Nordica, and Rossignol.

The first Gold Clinic was pretty interesting.  Made videos of everyone so that there is something to compare with at the end of the sessions.  I think there are 10 participants, who are mostly are Level 7 (of 9).  Fun group.  Looking forward to the other sessions that I can make it to in Jan.

Boy, did the temps in northern VA go down last night!  It was 50 when I left on Sunday around 2:30pm.  Snow guns were on all night.  It's 29 degrees at 1pm today and there is snowmaking all over the place.  I'm pretty sure that guns are on at the top of Paradice looking at the webcams even though the snow report doesn't show it.

Going to good for my friends and their kids joining me at Mnut for the MLK weekend.

Looks like Mnut is trying to get everything open for MLK weekend.  Posted a rare afternoon update.  Plenty of cold between now and Saturday.

1/11/16 at 4:15 pm - Sunshine, highs near 30. Snowmaking in progress.  Our Snowmakers have turned their attention to Paradice & CMB Terrain Park, Mass Transit and Yee Ha! will be next.  

Driving back to Mnut this afternoon.  Paradice, Main Street, and Yee Ha will open on Thursday!  Webcams are showing full on snowmaking on the big terrain park at 12:30pm, 19 degrees.  Friends bringing their kids to join me for the MLK weekend are going to have a great time!

1/13/16 at 7:25 am - Sunny with highs in the mid 20's. Snowmaking in progress today primarily on closed trails. Paradice, Mass Transit, Yee Ha!, and Pacesetter to open tomorrow. CMB Terrain Park opens on Friday.    

Very fun day at Mnut with good snow on DJ and Showtime.  Having Paradice and the connector trails between Lift 5 and 6 open is really nice.  Paradice needs a little soft snow on top but the base is quite solid.  Even with air temps in the 40s, did not really soften up in the shady areas.

marzNC - How were the crowds today?  I'm heading up from RVA tomorrow with my oldest daughter.

Conditions yesterday were pretty darn good, all things considered.  It being our first day of the season, we did not go all the way up to the top of Paradice / Diamond Jim. There were a few slick spots here and there, but for the most part, conditions were very good.  We got there early and got in a warm-up few runs on Geronimo / Nutten-To-It with relatively few people.  Honestly, I was shocked, given that it was the sunday of MLK weekend.  But by 10:30 or so, it had crowded up as you would expect.  We moved over to lift 5 and skiied Mass Transit and Showtime.  Would have been nice if MAK Attack were open, but beggars can't be choosers.  

I've also got to commend Mnut on the renovations.  The outer deck is much nicer (albeit a little slick in ski boots); the new outdoor restaurant looks good.  The space they opened up by moving the ski school has been filled by a bunch of new tables, making it much easier to find a table for lunch. 

The teen approves as well.  She'd now rather go to the 'Nut than Wintergreen.

HardcoreLooper wrote:

marzNC - How were the crowds today?  I'm heading up from RVA tomorrow with my oldest daughter.

Sorry, I don't check DCSki consistently.  Was at Mnut for the long weekend with two moms and three kids, so pretty busy having fun with all of them.

Mnut has unique aspects to when it's not crowded partially because it's a timeshare resort.  Never crowded before 10:30 even for the base lifts.  Never a line for Lift 6 to the summer.  At most, may wait 3-4 chairs midday.  A long wait for Lift 5 is 10 min, usually when more beginners are loading to give mid-station a try . . . or messing up trying to load.

Mon was empty.  That's normal for MLK Day, but with temps in the teens there were even less people on the slopes than usual.  Mnut does not charge holiday rates for MLK or Pres. Day.

Tue was really empty.  MakAttack was open.  Amazing how much snow the new fan guns can put out in optimal conditions.  Lots of snow whales on Paradice, DJ, MakAttack, and Pacesetter that weren't there on Mon.

HardcoreLooper wrote:

Conditions yesterday were pretty darn good, all things considered.  It being our first day of the season, we did not go all the way up to the top of Paradice / Diamond Jim. There were a few slick spots here and there, but for the most part, conditions were very good.  We got there early and got in a warm-up few runs on Geronimo / Nutten-To-It with relatively few people.  Honestly, I was shocked, given that it was the sunday of MLK weekend.  But by 10:30 or so, it had crowded up as you would expect.  We moved over to lift 5 and skiied Mass Transit and Showtime.  Would have been nice if MAK Attack were open, but beggars can't be choosers.  

I've also got to commend Mnut on the renovations.  The outer deck is much nicer (albeit a little slick in ski boots); the new outdoor restaurant looks good.  The space they opened up by moving the ski school has been filled by a bunch of new tables, making it much easier to find a table for lunch. 

The teen approves as well.  She'd now rather go to the 'Nut than Wintergreen.

Mnut added the smoker/grill to both the ski lodge and the former Woodstone Deli, now Virginia BBQ & Pizza.  Anything with pulled pork is really good.  Had lunch at Base Camp aka umbrella bar outside the ski lodge last week.  Food arrived piping hot.  Nice option.

Smart teen. :-)  I've been driving past Wintergreen in favor for Mnut for a decade.  Liked it better for assorted reasons even before the lifts were upgraded 5-6 years ago.  Mnut started putting major money into snowsports and the Adventure Park/Zip lines after the waterpark was established.

Snowing hard at Massanutten as of 12:30pm, 1/22.  Started snowing on the mountain around 11:00.  My friend from DC picked up her sister in Charlottesville.  Wasn't any snow on that side of the mountains before they got to US33 at the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Plenty of snow this afternoon but the total was probably around 6 inches before it slowed down around dinner time.  Wind picked up later and supposed to snow all night.

Switched to my Black Pearls in the afternoon.  Conditions were a mix of new snow that was pushed around with some spots there were skied off on the black trails.  DJ was better than Paradice.

Resort roads are okay.  But I'm happy to let my minivan sit in front of my condo until Sunday instead of digging it out on Sat morning.  The walk to the ski lodge is about 5 minutes.