Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 16, 1995 TAG: 9511160029
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But this week, at Massanutten Village near Harrisonburg, Steve Showalter saw the 20-degree nights and the foot of natural snow on the mountain as an eloquent statement about the seriousness of the 1995-96 winter.
``We kind of think this weather is going to stay around,'' said Showalter, the resort's ski manager.
So Wednesday night, the snow guns began their assault on the mountain, creating blizzards that fell on natural snow and cold earth, ideal conditions on which to build your season's base.
If things go as Showalter hopes, the resort will be open for skiing Nov.24, the day after Thanksgiving. That will be the 23-year-old resort's earliest opening, easily beating the previous Dec.1 record.
In the meantime, Snowshoe Mountain Resort in West Virginia isn't just open but open big-time.
``I've never seen it like this in November,'' said Joe Stevens, the resort's communications director. On Wednesday, there were eight trails open, and Stevens predicted the number of runs in operation by the weekend would reach double figures.
``We are making snow on Cupp right now,'' Stevens said. ``It looks like we are going to have Cupp open by the weekend.''
Cupp is the resort's flagship run, an advanced-to-expert trail that gives skiers a 11/2-mile, top-to-bottom trip off the side of lofty Cheat Mountain. In a typical year, the resort shoots for a Christmas opening for Cupp.
But this is not a typical year. Danny Seme, Snowshoe's general manager, can remember only one other November that has held so much promise for the 22-year-old resort.
It is not just a matter of the temperatures being raw enough to crank up the snow guns, but natural snowfall has turned the mountain-top red spruce into Christmas card scenes. Stevens said he measured a foot-and-a-half of fresh snow Wednesday. ``That's on top of the snow we got Saturday and Sunday,'' he said.
Sugar Mountain, near Banner Elk, N.C., is another early-to-open resort. At daybreak Wednesday, skiers awoke to 4 inches of fresh snow, the temperature was 13 degrees and five trails were ready to run. The base was advertised as 25 to 45 inches. And this is mid-November!
BIG BUCKS: The second week of muzzleloading season has produced several trophy-book bucks. Randy Blankenship of Narrows killed a 11-pointer in Giles County that had a heavy-beamed, 21-inch spread. A rough score by Dewayne Linkous, a Blacksburg taxidermist, showed it to be in the 200 class.
Wayne Gould killed a six-pointer in Roanoke County that is expected to measure near 150 under Virginia's scoring system.
BANK FISHING: Trout fishing at Lake Moomaw has been disappointing for most of the season, even for anglers with fancy boats. So fishermen took notice when James Brown and Sherril Riley of Covington landed a couple of bragging-size browns while casting blue and silver Castmasters - from the shore. One trout weighed a little less than 7 pounds, the other about 61/4 pounds.
Phillip Grosso of Roanoke is among the Virginians who won a citation in the North Carolina Saltwater Fishing Tournament. Grosso landed a 45-pound dolphin during a trip off Hatteras. The fish was 10 pounds heavier than the minimum citation requirement for the species.
by CNB