SNOWSHOE, NOV 24– The thermometer in our condo says it’s 18.3 degrees Fahrenheit outside on the first Saturday of the ski season. It’s been snowing all day– never heavily but consistently dropping fluffy powder on the slim handful of slopes that Snowshoe was able to muster for the season that many of us thought might have launched a little sooner.
America was abuzz in late October over the Frankenstorm, as we then jocularly called the impending hurricane which later created calamities in the greater New York area. We’re sorry about the losses in the northeast, but for those of us who watch Snowshoe’s every move with eager anticipation, the Frankenstorm was something exciting.
The first snowfall of the season actually occurred on October 1– a little dusting. But it was Frankenstorm, aka Superstorm Sandy, which collided with a cold front from the west as the Jet Stream dipped low over the Appalachians that spread blizzard conditions over Pocahontas County and your favorite resort.
The Weather Channel, taking heed of the forecasts of a surprisingly early snowfall, stationed a correspondent up here. And the Frankenstorm delivered. Over two feet fell between October 29 and 30, according to Snowshoe’s Facebook page which went pretty quickly from delight to damage control.
“Why didn’t Snowshoe open up?” the Facebookers asked.
Snowshoe said there were lots of power outages in the area. I don’t remember ever reading an allegation that Snowshoe itself was without power, but the story was that West Virginia was hard-hit by outages that made opening impractical.
The fans were offering to come up and help pack the snow. As it turns out, those two feet disappeared from all the slopes not getting hit by the snow guns. When Snowshoe finally opened on Wednesday the 21st, the day before Thanksgiving, there were just a few trails opened. Bummer!
On the bright side of things, this opening comes two weeks prior to the planned opening of the season. And from the looks of the things, this could be a banner season.
The three or four inches that fell today, the 24th of November, have transformed the look of this place. Instead of bearing that grim strips of white against a sea of brown look typically sported in the early season, it now looks like a winter wonderland!
The only serious chafe at this point is that there’s only one non-beginner, non-connector trail open: the former Spruce terrain park. Returned to its original status as a blue square (intermediate) trail, it’s open. And it’s crowded.
Snowshoe is the best ! Another season underway – enjoy one and all.
Prediction – earliest opening ever, dust off your skis