ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, January 13, 1997 TAG: 9701140012
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
For Wintergreen resort, the return of winter came with perfect timing.
More than 120 athletes are scheduled to compete in the Virginia Special Olympics Alpine Skiing Championship today and Tuesday at the resort.
Just a week or so ago, Wintergreen, located along the Blue Ridge Parkway near Waynesboro, was turning into more of a winter golf resort than a skiing facility.
``We were getting 200 golfers a day,'' said Mark Glickman, the resort's director of public relations.
With soaring temperatures came a declining snow base that narrowed skiing and snow boarding opportunities to three slopes.
Problems were more pronounced at a number of other resorts in the mid-Atlantic region. Twelve of them had to temporarily cease operation of their skiing facilities by this past Monday. Included were The Homestead and Bryce in Virginia; Winterplace in West Virginia; and Sugar and Beech in North Carolina.
Colder temperatures then pushed down from the north, moisture swept up from the Gulf of Mexico and it snowed. Winterplace reported 8 inches, The Homestead 6 inches, Wintergreen 4 inches.
It was the first significant snow for Snowshoe Resort in West Virginia since Christmas Eve, when 4 inches fell on Cheat Mountain. A few days later, temperatures were spring-like, too balmy even to make snow.
Beech had to reschedule its annual Winterfest and Wintergreen postponed its Roanoke/Lynchburg Skier Appreciation Day, when skiers from the two regions get rentals, ski-lift tickets and lessons for $20. It has been rescheduled for Tuesday.
The snow and cold temperatures quickly shifted thinking from golf to skiing, with snowmaking becoming an around-the-clock affair.
The Special Olympic skiers should enjoy good conditions, Glickman said. One of the highlights of the competition will be the skills of Tina Camden, a 17-year-old from Natural Bridge who is preparing for the 1997 World Games.
LENGTH: Short : 46 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS STAFF Snowshoe, atop Cheatby CNBMountain in West Virginia, has reclaimed the look and feel of
winter. color