Ski slopes at Seven Springs, Hidden Valley to open this weekend

Patrick Varine
Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019 3:15 p.m. | Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019 3:15 p.m.

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A snow cat grooms the snow tubing area at Seven Springs on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019. The ski resort will open for the season this weekend.

Piles of snow wait to be pushed onto Wagner slope at Seven Springs on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019. The ski resort will open for the season this weekend.

Courtesy of Seven Springs Mountain Resort

Snow machines were hard at work Nov. 9, 2019, at Seven Springs, taking advantage of frigid temperatures earlier this month.

Courtesy of Seven Springs Mountain Resort

Snow machines were hard at work Nov. 8, 2019, at Seven Springs, taking advantage of frigid temperatures earlier this month.

A late Thanksgiving means an early start to the ski season at Seven Springs and Hidden Valley resorts.

Sort of.

“Typically the past few years, we’ve been opening on Black Friday (Nov. 23, 2018, and Nov. 24, 2017), which we’ve called ‘White Friday,’” said Katie Buchan, spokeswoman for Seven Springs, Hidden Valley and Laurel Mountain. “This year we’ll open Nov. 23. Technically, it’s not an early opening because the date is really similar. It’s just a later Thanksgiving this year. So we’re about right on time.”

Work crews at the three resorts took advantage of frigid temperatures in early November to get a jump on creating snow for the slopes.

“The past two years, we started making snow on Nov. 10; we started Nov. 8 this year,” Buchan said. “I looked back about seven years into our records, and I haven’t been able to find an earlier start.”

Seven Springs also made major upgrades to its snow-making system, replacing nearly 5,000 feet of the 20-inch pipe that provides water for snow-makers on the resort’s front face.

“This major project greatly improves consistency in water pressure and overall snow quality across a vast swath of the resort’s ski-able acreage,” officials said in a statement.

Slopes at both Seven Springs and Hidden Valley will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Nov. 23 and 24.

For more, see 7Springs.com, HiddenValleyResort.com or LaurelMountainSki.com.