CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Activities at three West Virginia ski resorts will cease through Thursday in light of warm temperatures across the state.
Winterplace, Timberline Four Seasons and Canaan Valley resorts closed Monday due to above normal temperatures throughout this month. Timberline Four Seasons suspended operations last week before reopening last weekend.
Snowshoe Mountain will remain open.
Joe Stevens, the executive director of the West Virginia Ski Areas Association, said most of the month of February has been warm both at resorts and targeted cities for marketing, causing conditions to deteriorate to the point of suspension and people to shift their attention elsewhere.
“Where we draw from, where we market our skiing, snowboarding and snow tubing, they are having flowers bloom, trees bloom,” he said. “They have forgotten about skiing and snowboarding and they are moving on.”
Stevens said it will likely be the last weekend for skiing at Winterplace, Timberline Four Seasons and Canaan Valley. He added while the temperatures have brought an abrupt end to the skiing season, resorts were packed during the Christmas, Martin Luther King Jr. and Presidents’ Day holidays.
“From that aspect, it was a good season for the holidays,” he said. “It’s just not going to last as long as we wanted it to.”
The operators of Winterplace, Timberline Four Seasons and Canaan Valley plan to reopen this weekend.
According to Stevens, Snowshoe could be open through mid-March.