ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 11, 1996 TAG: 9601110078
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Outdoors
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
The CNN reporter was asking Joe Stevens of Snowshoe Mountain Resort if there was such a thing as too much snow for the ski industry.
``We are a ski resort!'' said Stevens, the facility's public relations representative.
Snowshoe/Silver Creek, atop the Alleghenies in rural West Virginia, got 37 inches from the storm that hit the Roanoke Valley. Then, Tuesday and Wednesday, it received another 8 inches.
``We have gotten 160 inches for the year,'' Stevens said. That's only 20 inches short of the 10-year annual average, and that mark could be reached by the weekend.
``It doesn't get any better than this,'' Stevens said. Those same words were being voiced at Wintergreen by Mark Glickman, a spokesman for the Nelson County resort.
Snowshoe was reporting a 46- to 100-inch base Wednesday.
``There are places out here that we have over 25 feet of snow, but we don't count that as base,'' Stevens said.
Appalachian Ski Mountain in North Carolina has a 60- to 100-inch base. Virginia's Massanutten and Wintergreen are in the 50- to 75-inch range. The Homestead, in Hot Springs, is reporting better than 40 inches of base following a record 35 inches of natural snowfall from the last storm.
All this is in time for the debut of The Homestead's Winter Carnival Weekends on Saturday and Sunday and on Jan.20-21. The carnival will feature everything from snowbound exhibitions to ice curling, hayrides to bonfires. Call 800-838-1766 for information.
Most of the week, resorts have been reporting ``powder'' surface conditions, which amounts to a two-thumbs up or four-star rating.
What really counts in a big way for ski resorts is snowfall in the regions where skiers live, such as the Roanoke and New River valleys.
``That is the biggest marketing tool we can have,'' Stevens said. ``If it snows 20 inches in Roanoke, people know we have snow up here.''
There's already enough snow in the mountains of Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina for resorts to cope with the typical January thaw, should that occur - although there is nothing in the forecast that indicates it will.
``This definitely helps us as we prepare to ski into April,'' said Stevens, who hasn't forgotten the mid-January thaw last year that reduced the number of runs open from 45 to 21 almost overnight.
Many resorts have had record numbers of visitors. Snowshoe is ahead of last year by 25,000 visits, and that could be just a start.
``When the snow finally settles, there is going to be some great skiing for everyone,'' Stevens said.
Back to the original question: Is there such a thing as too much snow even for a ski resort?
You probably won't get a public relations person to say that might be the case, but without question skiers have had to deal with snow-covered roads, a scarcity of parking spots, high winds and frigid temperatures. Sounds like the conditions in Roanoke, doesn't it?
The Special Olympics Winter Games Alpine Ski Championships were canceled at Wintergreen, because of severe weather and safety concerns for participants and coaches.
At Snowshoe, visitors have had to shovel their own cars out of snowbound parking lots. It took one skier eight hours - twice as long as usual - to drive home to Blacksburg from Snowshoe. Several members of the Roanoke Ski Club were stranded at Snowshoe, which might have been a happy occasion, except high winds kept some inside.
But all this - the risks, the hardships, the challenges - is part of the adventure for hearty skiers. One couple drove to the base of Snowshoe, got blocked by snow drifts, left their car and hiked with their luggage to the bottom of the Cupp Run, where they boarded the ski lift and traveled to their top-side accommodations.
LENGTH: Medium: 73 linesby CNB