Snowshoe has opened its slopes at Thanksgiving for the past three years.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s ski slopes will begin to open for the season this weekend, getting a later start than usual.
Snowshoe Mountain Resort will open for skiing and snowboarding at 9 a.m. Friday. Canaan Valley Resort, Timberline Four Seasons Resort and Winterplace will all open a week from Friday, said Joe Stevens, a spokesman for the West Virginia Ski Areas Association.
“We’re a little behind schedule but nothing really major,” Stevens said.
Ski slopes typically open around Thanksgiving, but temperatures have been milder than usual, Stevens said. Ski resorts have been making snow and piling it up for the start of the season, he said. People who may need to be convinced that the resorts have enough snow to ski on may look at the resorts’ websites, which all have live webcam views of the slopes, he said.
“People can go to the resorts’ websites and see the amount of snow,” Stevens said. “It’s kind of hard to believe sitting in Charleston when you have 50- and 60-degree temperatures to think there’s snow. That’s the biggest challenge — convincing people that there’s actually snow in those hills…