powder.com

Well with this one I learned something. Print Powder Mag is dead, but apparently Powder lives on on the web. 

Given that I live in central NC, been following the updates coming out of Asheville and Boone since Friday, Sept. 27.  That's when it rained 10-20 inches in 8-10 hours in the NC/TN mountains.  Asheville is unfortunately making headlines all over the USA and internationally.  At one point, the only highway that was passable was I-26 south towards Greenville, SC.  I-40 to between TN and NC will be closed for quite a while.  A section of the eastbound lanes at NC Mile Marker 3 was washed into the river.  Quite a different problem to fix than a landslide over solid pavement.  As of Sept. 30, I-40 going west of Hickory is closed except for emergency folks.

With the number of trees down and roads or bridges damaged in Asheville and the three counties around it, restoring power could take far more than a few days.  Although the goal is to restore power by Friday if at all possible.  UNC Asheville won't have classes until Oct. 9 at the earliest.  I know the campus well because my daughter graduate from UNC-Asheville a couple years ago.

The town of Maggie Valley, which is the gateway to Cataloochee, is essentially gone.  The main street parallels a river.  Same for Chimney Rock, the gateway to the NC Chimney Rock State Park.  The bridge from the highway to the park is gone.

Boone isn't making as many headlines but is in rough shape.  Students at App State won't have classes through Oct. 4.  App, Sugar, and Beech are close to Boone.

The reason Beech had to close wasn't because of damage at the resort.  There is at least one gap all the way across the road that lead to the town of Beech Mountain and the Beech Mountain resort.  There were a few posts on the SkiSoutheast Discord channel while people in the mountains still had power and cell service.  Beech expects to be ready for winter operations.

marzNC wrote:

The reason Beech had to close wasn't because of damage at the resort.  There is at least one gap all the way across the road that lead to the town of Beech Mountain and the Beech Mountain resort.  

I saw that a bridge was washed out between Sugar and Banner Elk (which is the town just at the base of Beech Mountain for those who might not know).  Is that the gap you mention?  I think I saw also that the road between Banner Elk and Valle Crucis was closed.  If both of those roads are closed, I don't know how one could go from Boone to Beech.

Keith_Moon wrote:

marzNC wrote:

The reason Beech had to close wasn't because of damage at the resort.  There is at least one gap all the way across the road that lead to the town of Beech Mountain and the Beech Mountain resort.  

I saw that a bridge was washed out between Sugar and Banner Elk (which is the town just at the base of Beech Mountain for those who might not know).  Is that the gap you mention?  I think I saw also that the road between Banner Elk and Valle Crucis was closed.  If both of those roads are closed, I don't know how one could go from Boone to Beech.

Could be.  I saw the picture a few days ago and wasn't paying that close attention.  I know at one point I read that access to Beech was cut off.

From the updates posted by Beech, they expect to be able to open as planned after it's cold enough for snowmaking.  However, Beech and the other resorts will lose a lot of revenue being close in October during the fall colors weeks.

The road between Boone and Sugar is open at this point.  Read about the evacuation of 80-something grandparents on Oct. 1 who live in a Sugar condo.  There is a public Facebook group for Sugar that's been pretty active in the last week.

Here's an update from App posted on the SkiSoutheast Discord Channel on Oct. 2.

•Hurricane Helene Update•

Sounds like the NC ski resorts dodged a bullet.  SAM posted an article on Oct. 2 that provided updates for App, Beech, Sugar, and Cataloochee.  Apparently the road to Beech was fixed within a couple days.

NORTH CAROLINA SKI AREAS SUSTAIN MINIMAL DAMAGE FROM HELENE, COMMUNITIES NOT AS LUCKY

Here's an explanation for the magnitude of the damage for weather geeks.  Brad Panovich is the Chief Meteorologist at a Charlotte TV station.  He does weekly snowcasts for SkiSoutheast during the ski season.

Brad Panovich explains why Helene damaged the North Carolina mountains so much - October 1, 2024