THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 10, 1996 TAG: 9601100785
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
Even ski resorts can get too much snow.
``It can stop now,'' said June Brinkman, marketing director at Massanutten Resort near Harrisonburg, Va., where an unprecedented 36-40 inches of snow was left behind by the reent snows. ``This is more than enough,'' she said, even as more fresh snow fell over the mid-Atlantic region Tuesday.
With a snow base of 55 to 75 inches, this is becoming the best ski season ever in Massanutten's 23 years, Brinkman said. And perhaps one of the best ever for all the resorts of the Southeast while traditional skiing meccas go begging.
``If someone dreams about skiing in Utah, save some money. Come to Virginia,'' said Horst Locher, ski director at Bryce Resort in Bayse, where 32 inches fell in the storm. ``It was a blessing 'cause we got all the snow for free. We didn't have to make the snow with compressors and water pumps.''
In West Virginia, where some of the heaviest snowfall amounts were reported, skiing conditions rank among the best ever, said Joe Stevens, spokesman for Snowshoe-Silver Space Creek.
It wasn't just the 38 inches of new snow on Snowshoe slopes that pleased Stevens. He also was happy to see snow on the ground in Virginia Beach.
``The best marketing tool for any ski resort that depends on metro areas for its skiers is snow in that metro area,'' Stevens said. ``When people in Norfolk, Richmond, Roanoke and Washington see 10 to 15 to 20 inches of snow in their backyards, they know darn well that a resort like Snowshoe at 4800 feet is really getting dumped on.''
And the dumpings have come frequently this year at Snowshoe. Snowfall thus far is at 150 inches, compared with 105 inches all of last winter.
Normally, by early January, the resort would have experienced about eight thaws when temperatures slip above freezing for extended periods. This season, there have been only two thaws. ``It's just kept conditions excellent, and, on top of that, we've got the skiers.''
He said folks shouldn't worry about getting to the slopes. ``Road crews in West Virginia understand that tourism is important,'' Stevens said. ``They don't wait around. They get the job done.''
While road conditions are better, there was so much new snow over the weekend that hundreds of skiers found themselves trapped at resorts because of closed roads and buried parking lots.
``With the volume of snow, we're literally running out of places to put it,'' Massanutten's Brinkman said. The resort is using payloaders to clear parking lots, pushing up huge manmade mountains of snow anywhere the stuff can be piled.
Meanwhile, ``The skiers here are adjusting to powder conditions,'' Brinkman said. ``The hardcore skiers and snowboarders have just had a ball skiing in fresh powder. And it's staying as light and fluffy as when it fell.'' Powder conditions are rare in Virginia, where snow is normally is of a heavier wetter variety.
And the powder isn't going anywhere anytime soon, Brinkman said. ``It's plenty cold enough out here.'' Despite the wealth of snow, ``We'll be making snow again tonight, she said. ``You can't ever have too much on the trails.''
There are plenty of resorts out west where skiers wish the slopes looked like those in the southeast. Some California resorts have not yet opened for lack of snow, and even in the Rockies conditions are spartan compared to the southeast.
In Colorado many resorts have snow depths well below those in Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and even Georgia.
On Tuesday, Colorado's Aspen had a 36- to 40-inche base; Crested Butte, 32-42; Purgatory, 23; and Telluride, 41. By comparison, Georgia's Sky Valley had a 50- to 75-inch base Tuesday; Bryce in Virginia, 47-67; and at Snowshoe, 44-90.
Appalachian Ski Mountain in Blowing Rock, N.C., has even hit the century mark. The blizzard's 24-inch snowfall there gave the resort a base of 60-100 inches.
``Three years ago, there was a storm with more,'' said Joe Campbell, a reservations agent at Appalachian. ``But this has treated us real well. We got about a good two feet, if not more.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic by Steve Stone
Blizzard's Legacy: A Skier's Delight
[Snow fall amounts]
by CNB