Timberline, Whitegrass Opening Seasons This Week
By ANTHONY GAYNOR, Staff WriterColder temperatures and snow have signaled the beginning of ski season in the area. Timberline Resort in Davis will open Thursday, while Whitegrass in Davis will have its official celebration on Saturday. Canaan Valley Resort welcomes skiiers next week.
Timberline Resort will begin the season with $1 lift tickets offered throughout the day. According to Timberline representative Melissa Surguy, the resort plans to have trails open at the mid-station ski lift on the mountain. She said the number of trails that will be open has not yet been determined.
Although Whitegrass will make its opening official on Saturday, cross country skiers have been hitting the trails at the ski area for nearly three weeks. Whitegrass employee Mike Sayre said the center currently has 40 kilometers of trails open and he expects more will be open this weekend with the forecast of snow coming this week.
The cross country ski area will mark its opening with the 27th annual Jack Frost Celebration.
"It is our annual celebration of winter kicking off," Sayre said.
The weekend event will feature live music, food, bonfires and other activities.
Canaan Valley Resort will have a special "free powder afternoon" which will include free skiing from noon to 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 11, according to spokesman Brain Brown.
"The formal opening will be on Dec. 12 at 8:30 a.m.," Brown said. "This is our 37th anniversary for skiing."
To celebrate the anniversary, the resort will offer $20 lift tickets Dec. 12-14. The resort will also offer lodging for $37 a night Dec. 11-14.
"We will have a good portion of the mountain open," Brown said on Monday. "We have received 60 inches of natural snow and we have been making snow for two weeks."
Brown said the resort's tube park will also open on Dec. 12.
The resort already has opened cross country skiing, snowshoe trails and the skating rink.
