Zeb Powell and a day in Maggie Valley.
On Tuesday, Zeb Powell made a visit to his home mountain of Cataloochee. I don’t think there is a better steward of Western North Carolina snowboarding, than Powell. In the last 5 years, since he won the Knuckle Huck at the 2020 Winter X-Games, he has transcended the sport. On a humanitarian note, Zeb is a partner with the Hoods to Woods Foundation, a non-profit that promotes awareness of the outdoors to inner-city children through snowboarding.
But this was not the first time that Powell was in the spotlight in WNC this year. Powell has a front-in-center role in the latest Warren Miller movie, ’75’. I had the privilege of seeing the showcase in late-November, and the ENTIRE theater was hooting and hollering for Powell’s segment.
You didn’t miss it though, because ’75’ is playing in Raleigh this weekend (Fri., Sat., and Sun.) at the Marbles IMAX . . . check it out!
Zeb brings a crowd, and for good reason. His improvisational riding, along with a catlike-reflex to adapt to the conditions is ever-present. This is coupled together and referred to as ‘air-awareness’.
I got a chance to ski AND ride at Cat, and filmed him in the Cat Cage terrain park. It was a tad icy in the morning, due to ultra sub-freezing temps we have seen for most of January. This along with the weight of the groomer every night causes the snow pack to consolidate.
Conditions at Cat (and others) are probably the best I’ve seen in a decade. With 100% of the terrain open, all the lifts firing, and a packed powder surface (upon writing this), I got out for a rip myself. While there are two parks at Cat, here’s how the one is set on Upper Turkey Trot . . .
If you haven’t heard of the Indy pass, it could just be the best deal for the Southeast connoisseur. There has been an issue in the past though when redeeming a full-day at Cat in the past, but only receiving a 6 Hour ticket. Now, all you have to do is return to the ticket window after 6 hours of skiing/riding and you’ll receive another (new) ticket for the same-day . . . Great news for the marathon skier/rider!
If you don’t have the Steeze (Style w/ Ease) of Zeb Powell . . .
Soco Gap sits at 4,340′ above sea level, just 3.6 miles from the intersection of Fie Top road and US-19. The beauty of the location is that it’s 3.6 miles closer to the Smokies (where the lions-share of snow fell in the past storm). Soco has a fabulous place to pull-off, and enjoy a family-friendly snowy playground.
If you are looking for a hike/ski tour, begin on the parkway south towards Water Rock Knob. This route primarily stays in the shade, and the occasional overlook views are wintry gems. You’ll start with quite a few footprints that have made their mark in the snow. Soon, after a mile or so, the footprints will all but disappear, and you are on the way up the ski track.
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