High Country weather

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

How bad is this weather hurting the ski season economically? I know there is no skiing going on with these temps.

Are most of the employees at the ski lodges just laid off or are they getting pay?

[firemoose]

Bad. I know a lot of people who do the seasonal thing at the slopes and they are not getting a thing each time the blown snow melts. This is the usual El Nino pattern(sorry can't put the ~ in) and we normally see more snow from mid Jan on but all the big weekends are already gone by then. It'll be cold enough to make snow a little tonight and really make it starting tomorrow night so they can catch a little of this weekend but after that most of the holidays are done. Lots of people hurting right now.

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

That what I was figuring. It sounds like most of these jobs are part time, or students only job maybe. Not good either way.

[mountaineerman]

It's the whole east coast crazy some not even open at all

[asu66]

The High Country slopes usually start to see incoming cash flow around Thanksgiving and then the Christmas/New Year weeks make or break their season. It's really bad so far and almost impossible to recover the losses this late. There's plenty of time for El Niño to cover the WNC slopes, but the usual; and customary middle class paying customers from five or six states will be back at work or in school and waiting until next season. Well-to-do ski enthusiasts will simply fly to Aspen when the mood strikes. Bad scene for our local businesses.

[T-Dog]

Funny little note is that with no skiing, Mystery Hill on Monday had their best single day in over half a century with 1,000-plus visitors.

ASM is aiming for opening the slopes on Sunday. They need 48 hours to make a ski-able base. Sugar and Beech are likely the same.

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

I do hope California is getting the rain they so badly need. This El Nino is screwing up the east coast.

My wife flew in to PTI from seeing family in the Tampa Bay area. 89 F there today before she left.

[asu66]

Bad. I know a lot of people who do the seasonal thing at the slopes and they are not getting a thing each time the blown snow melts. This is the usual El Nino (sorry can't put the ~ in) and we normally see more snow from mid Jan on but all the big weekends are already gone by then. It'll be cold enough to make snow a little tonight and really make it starting tomorrow night so they can catch a little of this weekend but after that most of the holidays are done. Lots of people hurting right now.

Sick of El Niño? You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet, Warns NASA
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/weather/sic ... et-n487941

NASA: The worst of El Nino is still to come
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-worst-o ... l-to-come/

[BTK2000]

I Ski Patrol up here. It sucks.

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Web cams show App Ski and Beech making snow as I type this.

[AppRy]

Funny little note is that with no skiing, Mystery Hill on Monday had their best single day in over half a century with 1,000-plus visitors.

ASM is aiming for opening the slopes on Sunday. They need 48 hours to make a ski-able base. Sugar and Beech are likely the same.

It takes Sugar about 36 hours. They opened back up today.

Many of the jobs are hourly so it's a cut back in hours. I hate it for the local economy in Banner Elk/Beech/Sugar. The locals were finally starting to feel the economy rebound over the summer. This will likely be a big setback. I just hope it doesn't kill all the momentum.


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[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Finally had a chance to do Christmas with my mom and oldest daughter. For a variety of reasons we decided to meet in Boone. After dinner we went to downtown Blowing Rock. I don't know how much shopping was happening but the area was packed. I imagine some of these folks were there instead of on the slopes. Hopefully some money is still being spent in the area though in other areas.

Checking some of the webcams and it seems Sugar is running now and the others are making snow.