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With Drop in Temperatures, All Resorts – Sugar, Beech, App Ski Mtn. and Hawksnest – Now Making Snow

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By Jesse Wood

Nov. 14, 2014. At least this frigid weather is good for something – making snow.

As of last night, all of the winter resorts – Sugar Mountain Resort, Beech Mountain Resort, Appalachian Ski Mtn. and Hawksnest – are blowing snow on the slopes, terrain parks and tubing lanes. Looking at the five-day forecast, snowmaking conditions will be even better with a low of 25 on Saturday, a low of 17 on Monday and a low of 11 on Tuesday, according to RaysWeather.com.

App Ski Mtn. plans to open on Nov. 20, which is one-day earlier than it had originally planned before these low temperatures were forecasted. On opening day at App Ski Mtn., the first 100 people ski free. It will also hold its annual midnight blast on Friday and Saturday nights (Nov. 28 and 29) after Thanksgiving. Read about the new changes at App Ski Mtn. this year here.

“I am looking forward to having some record good conditions. I expect we’ll most likely open with all the lifts and most of the slopes,” Brad Moretz, general manager of App Ski Mtn., said. “We have an outstanding forecast and couldn’t ask for a much better opening weather situation than what we’ve been blessed with. Probably unprecedented conditions for opening day is what I am expecting.”

While Sugar Mountain Resort opened on Nov. 2 right after the first snowstorm of the 2014-15 winter season and subsequently closed for the two days on Wednesday and Thursday, the snow guns were back in operation Thursday night.

Sugar Mountain Resort received another inch of snow during last night’s snowfall and currently has a base of 18 to 24 inches. Sugar Mountain Resort has one lift and four slopes – Northridge, Switchback, Upper Flying Mile and Lower Flying Mile – open on Friday afternoon. Read about Sugar Mountain Resort opening here.

Lenny Cottom, owner of Hawksnest, said the tubing resort is expected to open on the following weekend with the most lanes in its history. In addition to adding a few more lanes this winter, Cottom said the resort also added a few new grooming machines to enhance the tubing experience of its guests.

“We’re excited to be open this early in the season and have the cold weather. Hopefully, it’s a tale of what the winter will be like – nice and cold,” Cottom said. “Let’s hope it stays [cold] and is not just an aberration.”

On Friday afternoon, Beech Mountain Resort posted on its Facebook page: “The temperature has dropped and we are making snow! We will continue to make snow as long as temperatures allow, in order to prepare a quality product for opening day. We will post opening day information as soon as the date is determined.”

Talia Freeman, spokeswoman for Beech Mountain Resort added, “We always target opening around Thanksgiving. It’s always contingent upon weather. We just really want to have a consistent and quality product before we open. It’s important for us to take our time and make sure we have nice ample coverage on the mountain.”

Check out “What’s New” at Beech Mountain here.

Below are screenshots from www.resortcams.com as of 2 p.m. on Friday:

SUGAR MOUNTAIN RESORT
SUGAR MOUNTAIN RESORT
HAWKSNEST TUBING
HAWKSNEST TUBING
BEECH MOUNTAIN RESORT
BEECH MOUNTAIN RESORT
APP SKI MTN.
APP SKI MTN.