Resorts to reopen this weekend – 12/12/07

Two resorts in West Virginia have suspended on slope operations until this weekend. Timberline in Tucker County and Winterplace in Raleigh County opened for the season last weekend, but put the slope ropes up due the “underdeveloped snow” falling most of this week. Both resorts will get things going again this weekend.  Snowshoe Mountain in Pocahontas County has been open since November 21 and will be open it’s Silver Creek area this Friday. Canaan Valley Resort is planning to drop the ropes on its ski terrain on December 22.

After a week of great snowmaking temperatures things have changed this week. When snowmaking conditions were at their best (in the low teens), over 10,000 tons of snow was being produced in West Virginia per hour, enough snow to cover 20 football fields with a foot of snow each hour. That’s a manmade blizzard for skiers, snowboarders and snow tubers to enjoy in the mountains of West Virginia.

The mountain state’s resorts annually attract over 800,000 skier visits and that number is again attainable since the start of the season is coming at a tradition time. “Skiers and snowboarders have come to rely on West Virginia ski resorts to provide excellent conditions when weather conditions permit,” says Terry Pfeiffer, President of the West Virginia Ski Areas Association. “We are off to a very good start, we just need Mother Nature to keep the winter conditions coming.” The top states providing skiers and snowboarders visiting West Virginia slopes are Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio and Florida.

The ski and snowboard season traditionally, weather permitting, continues through early April. The five-month long ski season in West Virginia has an estimated economic impact of over $250 million and 5,000 jobs at the resorts and other related companies. For more information on skiing and snowboarding in West Virginia go on-line at westvirginiaski.com or goskiwv.com