West Virginia’s Canaan Valley Resort has been busy in recent months preparing for the upcoming winter season, and that season may be arriving soon: the resort has already commenced snowmaking operations, taking advantage of the recent cold snap. Mother Nature added some of her own powder on Tuesday. The resort is currently targeting a December 14 opening date.

Canaan Valley Resort is able to produce snow more efficiently this winter due to recent upgrades. The resort purchased an additional 9 fan guns, 4 tower guns, and 5 portable guns, and also procured new water pumps to upgrade existing water supplies.

“All of these upgrades will provide guests with an expanded number of trails to ski and ride much earlier in the season,” explained Steve Drumheller, General Manager of the resort.

To address increasing skier visits, the resort will be opening an additional ticket window at the opposite end of the parking lot from the ski lodge, providing a quick path to the slopes for guests who don’t need rentals. Guests of the resort hotel will also find a new ticket kiosk right in the hotel lobby.

“All of these upgrades will significantly reduce the ticket window lines we experienced on busy weekends last season,” said Drumheller.

New pavement has been added to the gravel parking lot at the ski lodge courtesy of the State of West Virginia, and 75-100 additional parking spaces have been added.