Cataloochee Ski Area Opening and News about the Wildfires

Above is a picture from the Base Webcam at the Cataloochee Ski Area in Maggie Valley.  The photo is from the morning of December 1st.  As you can see, they have lost some base due to the very welcome rains we had on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Snowmaking temperatures are scheduled to return tonight, and the ski area hopes to reopen on Friday, December 2nd.  Before the rain, the ski area was open to the top of the Rock Island Quad.  Considering the extremely warm weather we’ve had this Fall, the snow magicians at Cataloochee have done a fantastic job to have the area open that far up the mountain.

Many of our customers have called about the wild fires in the area.  Luckily, we have not had any fires really close to Maggie Valley or Waynesville.  We have had a relatively small fire near Cherokee, and larger fires in Jackson and Macon counties to the south.  There was also a very large fire near the Chimney Rock/ Lake Lure area to the east of us.  The worst damage from fires has, of course, been in Tennessee.  Fires fanned by 80 mile per hour winds on Tuesday evening burned from the Smoky Mountains National Park into Downtown Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.  It would seem that the area along Highway 321 North of Gatlinburg toward Cosby had the most damage.  The last count I heard was over 700 homes and structures destroyed and 7 lives lost due to the horrific fires.  Our thoughts and prayers are with our neighbors in Eastern Tennessee as they deal with this disaster.