Bye-bye, grass! Snowmaking begins at Whitetail. Photo provided by Whitetail Resort.

Great news! Cold temperatures Monday night prompted area resorts to fire up the snowguns, replacing brown and green grass with white snow. The loud sound of compressed air exiting snowguns could be heard at slopes in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. Cold nighttime temperatures throughout the week may allow some ski areas to open with limited terrain for the weekend.

In Maryland, Wisp Ski Resort began snowmaking last night. Wisp was joined by its Pennsylvania neighbor to the north, Seven Springs, which started making snow in limited areas last night with plans to expand snowmaking capacity and coverage throughout the week.

Also in Pennsylvania, Ski Liberty and Ski Roundtop began snowmaking operations. Ski Roundtop is hoping to open this weekend, pending continued low temperatures. Nearby Whitetail Ski Resort also fired up the snowguns last night.

Snowmaking continues at Snowshoe. Photo provided by Snowshoe Mountain Resort.

Further east, Pennsylvania resort Blue Mountain has initiated snowmaking, and has already set an opening date for snow tubing: Saturday, December 19.

West Virginia’s Snowshoe Mountain Resort may be wondering what all the fuss is about. Snowshoe was the first resort in the area to open, and is currently offering seven slopes for skiing and boarding. Snowshoe continues to make snow, and has been able to continue snowmaking during the day. Expect to see more terrain opening at Snowshoe soon, after Snowshoe fortifies its existing open trails.

Canaan Valley Resort, also in West Virginia, is making snow aggressively and has set December 18 as its opening date.

Virginia’s Massanutten Resort also noticed the cold weather last night, and took advantage of the opportunity to make snow on Geronimo, Southern Comfort, Rebel Yell from the midstation, and the snowboard and tubing parks.

Nighttime temperatures into the weekend will remain below freezing, so the next few days are looking very promising for snowmaking.

The 1998-99 ski season may start in 1998 after all. Stay tuned to DCSki for the latest news updates and opening information.