All,

Looking for some weather advice from the vets on here.  Long planned a trip to SS for next weekend(inauguration weekend).   Haven't made final payment yet on place I'm staying at and can still back out.  Looking at the weather - doesn't look great leading up to that.  You can see some grass on the webcams already now - not necessarily on the trails, but if we get a few days in the 50's - i'm sure trails may close.   

Looking at the forecast over the next week, do you all think that they will be able to make some snow - perhaps at night when it is cold - to maintain what they have and keep conditions decent?  Also - anyone with any experience on what it might be like there on inauguration weekend?  I'm just happy to be RUNNING from DC/NoVA during that time period!  HA

Thanks!

I suspect they might lose a few trails, but they will likely still be in the 40+ range if I had to guess, and the weather might lower the crowds a bit. The forecast doesn't look good for snowmaking until Jan 25. But if something changes and they can make snow they will.

If your concern is open terrain...pay and go, they will be fine. If you want pristine snow...might want to reschedule 

Just hope that any showers that pop up dont occur during the ski times..hard to pinpoint the rain chances this far out..maybe fri and later on Sun...no confidence this far out...follow up with NWS updates...

Cos35,

go and enjoy!!  Snowshoe is as good d as it gets in the Mid-Atlantic!

MorganB

i'm here now and skied all day.  They should be fine - bases are pretty high on most runs. 

All - thanks for the notes.  As the days continue to get a bit closer - I am getting a bit more concerned.  The weather REALLY does not look good.  it is supposed to rain all day friday(our first full day there), and between now and then i only see one time in which they could make snow - wednesday night.

Sschneid - glad to hear it.  I've heard from others there too that it wasn't too bad over this past weekend, conditions-wise.

The Colonel - thanks.  I've skiied Snowshoe 8-12 days per year the last 3 years, so I'm well aware and in FULL AGREEMENT!  It is the best by far - less when it gets overly crowded.

wgo - that more or less echos my thoughts.  I'm going with 4 people who have never been before.  It is disappointing to me that they won't get to experience it at its best.

rbrtlav - It looks like they've held on to the 55/57 trails open through the past few days - looking at the webcams though, it looks like some of the trails are becoming thin and even sparse in places.

Cos35 wrote:

wgo - that more or less echos my thoughts.  I'm going with 4 people who have never been before.  It is disappointing to me that they won't get to experience it at its best.

If it makes them feel any better my daughter is coming in from Austin TX this weekend to ski in the rain on Fri and slush on Sat. I'm not going to bother buying her a ticket in advance to save a few bucks.  

We're packing the Wii and Xbox along with some other adult themed games to make the most of it.  I'm pretty sure the beverages will be flowing.

Hell, I may have to try tubing.

FWIW Snowshoe's twitter feed says that they *think* most of the currently open runs should still be open next week. We'll see.

It's so sad to see the webcams. It looks like early April, not Late January. I hope temps go down quickly.

Blue Don, Cos35 - any reports?

I'll say the ballhooter webcam looks like the weather didn't scare people a way. Credit to mountain ops for keeping the trail count up!

Hope to have some updates from those at SS this weekend.  How are things looking ... and skiing?  Thanks.

Woody

I passed on Friday due to the morning rain.  Skied all day today.  Firm on the 1st 2 runs then mashed potatoes after that.  Definitely some thin / narrow / bare spots.  Cupp has a ton of snow and so does most of the basin area.  Soring Eagle area is sketchy.  VERY narrow area to get over to camp 99 and saw mill.  They closed J hook today.

Green connecting trails were a mess at 3 PM.  Narrow, skied off slush to get to soaring eagle.  

It's spring like conditions but we had a great day.  Assuming they push around some snow they should be "ok" until the next cold snap.

Think late March early April conditions if you are heading down here.

wgo wrote:

Thanks for the report. We'll be braving the rain on Monday. Tuesday should be a little better. Sounds like there's a chance they'll have to close the widowmaker pod due to lack of connecting trails?

I think they can move some snow around to keep it open.  I was really shocked at the firm conditions this am.  Damn near frozen.  It skied off quick though.

The connecter trails were very crowded and tough to ski later in the day.  Beginners were falling every where.  You wont have crowds tearing up the slopes 

Sorry to not update earlier - when I am at Snowshoe, I try to use my phone/the internet as little as possible.. part of the appeal of going there for me!

Conditions weren't bad.  I can't pretend to be an expert to all of this(thus why I have several times relied on the shared knowledge of this forum) - but it was better than ice!  Plenty of good turns the first 3-4 hours of the day.  We found the best skiing on Friday was near Soaring Eagle.  The snow on Widowmaker and Camp 99 was some of the best/most untouched late into the day and there weren't crowds.  Lift lines were not bad all weekend, despite my initial belief that everyone else from DC had the same idea as us, and I think we only really waited at Ballhooter 2-3 times all weekend(for a period longer than 5 minutes).

One of the members of my group(a guy who started skiing just last year - right after Snowmaggedon 2), managed to ski all day on Saturday from 9AM to 9PM and had a total of 49 runs on his Ski Tracks(many of which were at Silver Creek, or this may not have been possible).. but none the less - insane.  I wouldn't be able to walk the next day.  He said that Silver Creek Saturday night was still in great shape and the crowds weren't bad there either.

The one complaint I had was how bumpy the one steep part of Cupp got.  We made the mistake of going over there at 3PM Friday(huge mistake) and it was pretty moguly.  I was able to manage it decently well despite my legs burning, but my better half was pissed at me for bringing her over there.  Saturday, we ventured over much earlier and it was already bumping up by about 11.  Saw a few people wipe out badly and opted to ski the basin until about 3 when, as someone else mentioned, the connector trails were becoming terrible.

Skiied J Hook Friday and was not sure how they had it open at all.  Fairly early in the day, you were more or less skiing on mud in 2 different parts.  The GF and I both commented that it should have been closed then and so we were not surprised to see it close Saturday.  All in all, the groomers did a great job with what they had available and kudos to Snowshoe for keeping that much terrain open and fun(for most of the day) despite what they had to work with.  Here's to hoping that we start getting some serious winter weather here soon!

To follow up on Blue Don's comment about Soaring eagle being sketchy vs my assessment - he was right about the very top of Camp 99 just as you're off the lift.. it was basically mud there as well.  I thought most of the actual slope though on that and widowmaker were good though.

Cos35 wrote:

 We found the best skiing on Friday was near Soaring Eagle.  The snow on Widowmaker and Camp 99 was some of the best/most untouched late into the day and there weren't crowds.  Lift lines were not bad all weekend, despite my initial belief that everyone else from DC had the same idea as us, and I think we only really waited at Ballhooter 2-3 times all weekend(for a period longer than 5 minutes).

Widowmaker & C99 - because the JR race team held U14 races there Sat & Sun so it's given extra attention by mtn ops.  The racers don't use much of the hill and it's closed to public until early/mid afternoon.

Cos35 wrote:

Sorry to not update earlier - when I am at Snowshoe, I try to use my phone/the internet as little as possible.. part of the appeal of going there for me!

Conditions weren't bad.  I can't pretend to be an expert to all of this(thus why I have several times relied on the shared knowledge of this forum) - but it was better than ice!  Plenty of good turns the first 3-4 hours of the day.  We found the best skiing on Friday was near Soaring Eagle.  The snow on Widowmaker and Camp 99 was some of the best/most untouched late into the day and there weren't crowds.  Lift lines were not bad all weekend, despite my initial belief that everyone else from DC had the same idea as us, and I think we only really waited at Ballhooter 2-3 times all weekend(for a period longer than 5 minutes).

One of the members of my group(a guy who started skiing just last year - right after Snowmaggedon 2), managed to ski all day on Saturday from 9AM to 9PM and had a total of 49 runs on his Ski Tracks(many of which were at Silver Creek, or this may not have been possible).. but none the less - insane.  I wouldn't be able to walk the next day.  He said that Silver Creek Saturday night was still in great shape and the crowds weren't bad there either.

The one complaint I had was how bumpy the one steep part of Cupp got.  We made the mistake of going over there at 3PM Friday(huge mistake) and it was pretty moguly.  I was able to manage it decently well despite my legs burning, but my better half was pissed at me for bringing her over there.  Saturday, we ventured over much earlier and it was already bumping up by about 11.  Saw a few people wipe out badly and opted to ski the basin until about 3 when, as someone else mentioned, the connector trails were becoming terrible.

Skiied J Hook Friday and was not sure how they had it open at all.  Fairly early in the day, you were more or less skiing on mud in 2 different parts.  The GF and I both commented that it should have been closed then and so we were not surprised to see it close Saturday.  All in all, the groomers did a great job with what they had available and kudos to Snowshoe for keeping that much terrain open and fun(for most of the day) despite what they had to work with.  Here's to hoping that we start getting some serious winter weather here soon!

Great update on the conditions. I'm amazed that they have been able to keep so much open. The season didn't have a particularly strong start, but they got a ton open and have held onto it. It looks like some cold weather is coming, so they can pump out some more snow. According to the SS website, they've had 35 inches of natural so far this year.

Just got back from skiing Snowshoe Monday and Tuesday. As noted by others, they did a great job of keeping terrain open  - since the start of the thaw, only J-hook and Flying Eagle at Silver Creek were lost. Camp 99 was showing major dirt patches and Lower Ballhooter was getting pretty thin in the middle but coverage on everything else was pretty good. The couple inches on natural and the snowmaking on Monday night into Tuesday really helped get the various connector trails back into good shape.

Skiing on both days was good. Rain on Monday turned into snow mid-morning. Winds were pretty high up near the top but manageable once you skiied down a bit. Run of the day for me on Monday was probably Sawmill - fun spring-like bumps. On Tuesday run of the day was probably Widowmaker - the fresh snow plus the grooming made for a fantastic surface. Cupp was fun both days, but I actually preferred the softer surface from Monday - surface was firmer on Tuesday, requiring a bit more attention to edging. Still a ton of fun, though.

Wife and kids had fun as well. Although it is getting more difficult to keep up with my son.

What a difference a couple days make.  Welcome Back Winter!

Wed Jan 25

Mon Jan 23

Blue Don 1982 wrote:

What a difference a couple days make.  Welcome Back Winter!

Wed Jan 25

Mon Jan 23

 

We are up there now, it has been snowing all day, probably 3-4 inches of natural and they have the guns going full tilt. Let's hope this is the norm for the rest of winter 

If anybody up there this weekend gets a chance, can you see if they are making snow on lower shays? They still had snow from the last cold blast there on Wednesday, but not nearly enough to do anything with.

i realize they have other sections of base that may be greater concern, just curious 

I'll try to check tomorrow! Anything that didn't have a good base was grass on Thursday, we've gotten about 5 inches the past 24 hours I'd guess, with more forecast tonight 

eggraid wrote:

I'll try to check tomorrow! Anything that didn't have a good base was grass 

I was up there Sunday-Thursday, and we made it until noon Thursday (granted it was day 5 so I was tired) but without a doubt it was the worst day and there wasn't much they could do about it, rain and then wind and quick freeze put a solid layer of ice.

That being said, Tuesday and Wednesday were fantastic 

rbrtlav wrote:

That being said, Tuesday and Wednesday were fantastic 

+1 for Tuesday. Sorry we were not able to meet up.

I plan on being at Snowshoe on Tues.-Thurs; any other DCSkiers going to be there?

MorganB

aka: The Colonel

I will be at Canaan on Monday.  Snowshoe on tuseday.  Heading out tomorrow.  Looking forward to it.   

I will be in an orange 7springs coat so i will be super obvious. 

Will you be at CV ski area?  I'll be skiing CV on Monday, and transition to Snowshoe Tues afternoon.  Will be at SS through Thurs.

staying at Canaan Valley Lodge Sun and Mon nights.

Look for red/White ski jacket.  I'm sending you  pm

MorganB