A gorgeous day at Massanutten ski area near Harrisonburg, Va., with 38 inches of base and all 15 runs open. (Massanutten)
We're not just having a good ski season, but a great one.
The slopes are covered and, in the high country, there is enough natural snow that glades (off-trail terrain through trees) will be soft and fluffy. Several resorts picked up another couple of inches of fresh snow Thursday night, including Blue Knob in Pennsylvania and Timberline in West Virginia. Speaking of Blue Knob, they are operating at nearly 100 percent capacity for the first time in at least four years.
Almost every single ski area in the Mid-Atlantic has most, if not all, of their terrain open.
"We're certainly having one of our best seasons in quite some time," said Shawn Cassel, digital marketing and public relations manager at Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia. "Natural snow keeps falling weekly, but more importantly, temperatures are staying consistently below freezing and allowing the snow to stick around."
The skiing is so good, many resorts are selling out of weekend lift tickets, so check ahead before making the drive.
"If you're planning a trip, please keep in mind that with our covid-related capacity limits the weekends are sold out well into March, but there are still plenty of lift tickets available midweek," Cassel said.
The greater weekday lift ticket availability and shorter lift lines are a good excuse to take a few days off from the grind and head for the hills.
If you can't get a lift ticket for downhill skiing, this might be the time to give cross-country skiing a go. The White Grass Ski Touring Center in Canaan Valley, W.Va., has an awesome 28 inches of settled snow at their snow stake at 4,300 feet.
On Thursday, the Homestead in Hot Springs, Va., announced that it is extending its season to March due to the solid conditions. And Mother Nature could be delivering another powder dump this weekend.
SlopeCast
SlopeCast, our 0-10 index of local ski conditions, stays at an 8.5 for the high-country resorts but nudges up a point from 7 to 8 in the front-range areas compared to last week.
High-country: 8.5/10 (skipping lunch, excellent)
Front-range: 8/10 (carving up the slopes, good)
(SlopeCast categories: 0-2, chilling in the lodge or poor; 3-4, at least we're making turns or below average; 5-6, run of the mill or average; 7-8, carving up the slopes or good; 9-10, skipping lunch/powder time or excellent)
(Jordan Tessler)
Slope conditions
Slope conditions on Friday.
Weekend forecast
Another terrific weekend for skiing is in the offing, with dry conditions Saturday and then some fresh snow Saturday night into Sunday.
The snow should end fairly early in the day Sunday and closer to late morning in the Washington region. Driving conditions may be a little tricky if you're headed to the slopes Sunday morning, with some slick roads and reduced visibility, but the trip home should be mostly clear.
This is likely to be an unusual case where the front-range resorts in western Virginia and south-central Pennsylvania get a bit more natural snow than the high-country areas in southwest Pennsylvania and western Maryland.
European model snow forecast through early Sunday afternoon. Note amounts projected east of the mountains are likely overdone due to temperatures above freezing and expected melting. (WeatherBell)
High-country resorts
Saturday: Increasing clouds. Snow developing at night. Morning lows 15 to 20. Highs 25 to 30.
Sunday: Snow ends early, becoming partly sunny. Morning lows near 20. Highs 25 to 30.
Front-range resorts
Saturday: Increasing clouds. Snow developing overnight. Morning lows 20 to 25. Highs 35 to 40.
Sunday: Morning snow, then becoming partly sunny. Highs 30 to 35.