@ Canaan Valley, WV 4 Winter Storm Jonas 1/22-24/20016

The storm is underway as I make this first post at 12:15pm from Wild and Wonderful Canaan Valley, WV. ROCK AND ROLL, BABY! Area is in for 20” for sure, possibly 30” over the next 36 hours. It started snowing about 10:45AM today 1/22/16. It’s breezy and about 15 degrees on the slopes. I made about a dozen runs this morning. Tomorrow should be awesome powder, Sunday too.

The gorgeous remade Canaan Valley Lodge is going to be my home away from home for the next three days. Where better to ride out The Big One!



WV liftie geared up for a serious weather event:



Crowds are light, but the ski school is on the hill giving lessons.



The groomers are out in force. Mike Chaney, mtn manager says, “all slopes open tomorrow.” And I believe it. A lot are close to being open now. For natural snow, they expect ~6” today, a foot tonight and a foot tomorrow.



Part of my gang on the hill. DCSki columnist Matthew Graham on right. This is after the snow started and visibility starting to decline.



I’ll try to keep posting more in this thread as storm unfolds and internet stays connected. YOWSA YOWSA YOWSA!

Looks great! Send a little north!

Looking forward to pics. Hoping they don't lose power.

Nice. Keep us all posted!

I am shocked how many from DC and Balt have braved the storm and are flooding the valley still at 7-8PM. Powder frenzy at it’s finest. There’s still only about 7” new today, but it’s howling out and snow picking up at 8PM.

Veteran Canaan Valley ski instructor Ray LaMora gave some in my group a lesson today. I had a heartwarming conversation with him at lunch in the slopeside Quencher’s Pub. As we talked I realized Ray had given my son Vince and daughters Suzy & Colleen a lesson many years ago at Canaan Valley. It was actually 11 years ago! When I told him Vince had since progressed from an intermediate 14 year old skier to a PSIA Level III instructor at age 24 he beamed. I told Ray that he and a handful of other instructors Vince took lessons from as a youngster influenced him in a beautiful way to aspire to something higher, entering the skilled and selfless fraternity of ski instructors.

Ray LaMora:




CV Ski Shop rental personnel fixing me up with a pair of high quality demo skis for Saturday morning powder day. These are rockered Romp skis, 100mm underfoot, and 183cms in length. No excuses tomorrow if I don’t do some pillaging!



4PM view of Canaan Valley Lodge, snow storm full on by this point



X-C skiing with my wife Kathy (pictured here) at nearby Canaan Valley State Park. I think I was about 21 years old the last time I did downhill and X-C on the same day :-o Will sleep good tonight.

jimk said:

X-C skiing with my wife Kathy (pictured here) at nearby Canaan Valley State Park. I think I was about 21 years old the last time I did downhill and X-C on the same day :-o Will sleep good tonight.

Click to expand...

So, what was that, Jim, last year??

Looks great. Enjoy.

Jim, do you prefer Canaan to Timberline? I regret not trying either when I lived at Snowshoe.

DHS, Canaan has ~850' vert, T_Line has ~1000. They are only about 3-4 miles apart. Same mtn ridge. so many common geographic features. T-Line has a few tougher runs and more continuous steeps including usually a couple good bump runs and a large area of fun glades. Going there Sunday. T-Line is busier with a Lot of excellent talent on mtn including skilled telemarkers. CV is a bit more mellow, great for families, economical and never really mobbed even on weekends. Crowds were very modest today at CV.

Remarkable mid-Atlantic powder day today Jan 23, 2016.
I set a personal record today. 49th consecutive ski season in the mid-Atlantic and this is the deepest snow I’ve ever skied East of the Mississippi; a legit 24”. It got better as it got tracked out. I hit the hill for first tracks at 8AM. What a day to do that. Spent quite a bit of time skiing with patrollers. Here are a few quick mid-day photos before I go out for more snow play. Will try to post more later.

Patroler Mike, a great guy and fine veteran skier:



Random snowboarder who volunteered to show me how deep the snow was:




Patroler Paul, this kind of snow is so rare for the mid-Atlantic. You have to go for it while you can!



Awesome day! Turns out there are friends on powder days - ski patrol

Very nice!


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone

With a little help from my friends I had an awesome day at Timberline Ski Area in WV on Sunday, 1/24/16. Glades, bumps, groomers...it's all good when you get 28" of snow the prior 48 hours and then the sun comes out like it's the first day of creation!!!

My ski instructor buddy Jimmy got me in as an observer in an 8AM instructors clinic with Mike C., technical director of the Timberline Ski School. This was a very cool experience and gave me a little glimpse of all the effort instructors make to become pros. I also got some good tips out of itThumbs Up. Mike C. is an exceptional teacher/communicator; clear, direct, persuasive and always on target.

Mike C, teaching the teachers:


Jimmy in the bumps:


JohnL sequence, this guy is a glade addict and Timberline's Cherry Bowl Glade provides the fix:


Matt in Old Dominion Glades? OMG was this a beautiful glade!


So I shared some of these Jonas Storm 28 inches of fresh powder pics with my son who lives in SLC and whom I am going to visit in a few days and he says, "ho hum, we've had about 5 feet of snow in the last week in Utah." A friend took this picture of his handsome face this weekend at Snowbird to prove it:

Very cool! I love these TRs from other places. The skiing is great here in Utah. Maybe our paths will cross at Alta/Snowbird.


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone

CV (the area, not the resort specifically) is the gem of the east. Snow conditions can be the best anywhere east of the Miss. River - but the down side is they can change quickly! They have been suffering with the rest of us - glad they got this shot in the arm. The new CV Resort lodge is pretty stunning - it could hold its own anywhere. I like how they will still sell you a one-ride lift ticket for getting into the back-country. I think T-line does a better job with their glades (nothing to match neighboring White Grass, of course!), but would take either place over Snowshoe. The Shoe likes to crow about their 1800' vertical, but its basically on one run that is rarely open. The rest is all 800' or less.