6 December 2016 — snow falling and ropes dropping all over ski country, but the picture is a bit less marvelous in North Carolina, Sugar Mountain being the only option right now, and even that has thin spots. The photo above is from last season. Hey, we figure the positive waves can’t hurt. Beech is scheduled to open Saturday, and while Appalachian and Wolf Ridge hope to do the same, their plans aren’t nearly as concrete. Cataloochee is even less committal, saying check back Thursday. Sapphire Valley is having none of it, saying they’re holding off opening until December 17th as scheduled…6″ fresh snow overnight at Arapahoe Basin in Summit County Colorado; snowmakers still working hard…speaking of Summit County, down the road at Copper they are working on a superpipe, looks like it will be in good shape any day now. Remember when resorts across the country routinely built half pipes and super pipes? Seems like enthusiasm for those has faded a bit, at least on the amateur level. Still fantastic to watch a superpipe competition, one board or two planks…Wisconsin’s Devils Head Resort is calling for a Friday opening; I’m not 100% sure that’s gonna happen but let’s keep our skis crossed. They’ve blown snow whenever possible, only to see their efforts and profits melt away, which sucks…elsewhere in cheese country, picture looks a lot better at Cascade Mountain near Portage, they’re committed to opening Friday and everything looks go! Cascade has invested some nine million bucks into skiing for this season: eight new ski runs, two new chair lifts and significant updates and upgrades to the parking lots and base lodge…speaking of new lifts, Christmas Mountain Village in the Wisconsin Dells has a new quad going in, they say should be ready for the season. Now they aren’t saying exactly when the season is, so I guess they can make the lift ready, yes.

Above: One of the good days last season at Sugar Mountain NC