100 snowguns are firing at Snowshoe. Photos provided by Snowshoe Mountain Resort.

It couldn’t have been an easy decision: open on Friday with less-than-perfect conditions, or delay opening a few days to offer a better base?

That was the decision Snowshoe’s management faced on Monday, and the resort ultimately decided that meeting its targeted Nov. 22 opening date was less important than opening with solid conditions. As a result, Snowshoe has pushed back its opening date a few days to Nov. 27, the day before Thanksgiving, and the resort’s traditional opening date.

The weekend’s heavy rain is responsible for the decision. On Saturday, the rainstorms whittled away at the base Snowshoe had been building up in recent weeks. Although the rain did turn over to snow on Sunday, as forecast, by then the damage had been done. The resort began to quickly recover as temperatures dipped to 17 degrees overnight Sunday, allowing nearly 100 snowguns to come online and keeping the guns running all day Monday.

However, marginal snowmaking conditions are expected until Thursday, when chilly temperatures are forecast to return to the region. This should allow Snowshoe to blast the guns all weekend, building up a strong base for next Wednesday’s opening, but the marginal temperatures midweek made opening this Friday risky.

When Snowshoe opens next week, the resort plans to have at least four trails open at the main Snowshoe area, making one top-to-bottom run. Snowshoe also plans to have a small terrain park ready to go on opening day, located on Spruce Glades with a few rails to play on.