Shredding it up. Snowshoe opened its 450-foot long halfpipe Sunday, nearly a month earlier than ever before. Photo provided by Snowshoe Mountain Resort.

A snap of cold air has settled over the region, and it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. On Sunday, a snow storm hit the Carolinas and southern Virginia, bringing six inches or more of accumulation to some areas. This time around, the storm stayed south of D.C., missing most ski resorts in the region. That’s just fine with local resorts, though, because cold temperatures have allowed snowguns to come out in force, with ‘round the clock snowmaking. Great snowmaking temperatures should continue for the next week.

Several resorts in the region are building up their trail counts after opening during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Pennsylvania’s Seven Springs has 13 trails open, while western Maryland’s Wisp has expanded its trail count to 7 trails. Pennsylvania’s Blue Mountain also recently opened with 7 trails ready to go.

Snowmaking continues at West Virginia’s Snowshoe Mountain Resort, where the trail count stands at 33 open trails, or 58% of all terrain. On Sunday, Snowshoe opened its 450-foot halfpipe with 12-foot walls. This is the earliest the halfpipe has ever opened, beating its prior opening dates by nearly a month.

“We have designed the pipe paying attention to the snowboarders’ needs,” said Theo Bliagous, supervisor of the terrain park at Snowshoe. “The halfpipe leads a group of features from top to bottom that create a smooth flow as riders descend through the park,” he explained. Current features include three table tops and a rail.

More trails will be opening at Snowshoe in the coming week, as the resort pushes into the advanced Western Territory.

“We will be opening more terrain for this weekend, including Cupp Run from top to bottom, the resort’s signature expert trail,” said Ed Galford, Vice President of Snowshoe’s Mountain Operations. “Our season is off to a phenomenal start and Mother Nature continues to provide cold temperatures and great snow,” he added, noting that more natural snow is in the forecast for the coming week.

Snowmaking continues around the clock at Liberty Mountain Resort, Whitetail, and Ski Roundtop. After a brief opening Thanksgiving weekend, the three resorts had to temporarily suspend operations while waiting out a warm front. Roundtop was able to reopen this past weekend, and Liberty and Whitetail plan to reopen later this week. The resorts are pushing to open some intermediate terrain in the near future. Whitetail is currently making snow on intermediates Upper Angel Drop and Homerun, served by the Whitetail Express high-speed quad, while continuing to fortify beginner terrain.

With cold temperatures remaining in the long-term forecast, area resorts are looking forward to building up base depths and open terrain in time for the upcoming holiday season. Meteorologists are predicting a snowy winter for the region, so Mother Nature may do her part to increase base depths throughout the season as well. After three ho-hum winter seasons, the 2000-2001 winter season is shaping up to be a season to remember for Mid-Atlantic skiers and boarders.