If you or friends and family enjoy intermediate skiing and riding, or want to improve your skills from beginner status, then Bryce Resort in northern Virginia is an excellent crowd-beating option that you must check out -; only 90 miles from the Capital Beltway via I-66 and I-81. I took family members to Bryce on Super Bowl Sunday, February 6, 2011. It was a beautiful sunny day and unbelievably uncrowded. Is uncrowded a word? I’m not sure, but on the slopes of Bryce it is a way of life even on many weekends.

Hangover Trail. Photo provided by Jim Kenney.

I have skied Bryce on and off since the 1960s. It has eight trails, a 500-foot vertical drop, and two double chairs. What keeps bringing me back is that this ski hill is the absolute best close-in venue to take a group of learners and intermediates seeking elbow room on the slopes. The drive from the DC area is just a few minutes longer than “the busy places,” the prices are a little lower, and the crowds are way less. Plus, the mountain is extremely well run with a comprehensive, modern snowmaking system.

The terrain is most suitable for novices and intermediates, but a few of the runs have enough pitch to keep an advanced skier entertained as evidenced by Bryce’s highly regarded racing and teaching tradition. All these factors make for a superior experience for snowriders looking to work on their game or just chill on the slopes (no pun intended).

Bryce Resort has low crowds, great snowmaking, and beautiful Blue Ridge Mountain vistas. Photo provided by Jim Kenney.

Bryce survived the recent rains in good shape. Trail surfaces were soft, forgiving and fun. Sunday lift lines never exceeded five or ten PEOPLE! We took turns exploring each of eight distinctive runs. The novices in my group loved Red Eye which is the easiest route from the top as it sweeps around the looker’s left side of the ski layout. My favorite is the short, but steep and narrow Hangover trail.

Another trail with good continuous pitch is Bootlegger, which is often set up with gates for racing events. There is even one exceptionally wide trail called Locher Bowl, named after the family that has managed Bryce ski area for decades.

Super Bowl Sunday is known to be a good mid-winter day to visit US ski areas as many folks hunker down at home to watch the big game, but the private club/light-traffic atmosphere at Bryce is something else all together and characteristic of all my visits there in recent years. This mountain is most definitely open to the public and the resort’s infrastructure is well established with a lodge complex, rental equipment, and full service snowsports school.

Practicing the Texas Tuck. Photo provided by Jim Kenney.

There is a very benign beginner area with three magic carpet lifts aimed at teaching young children. At the base there is also a popular tubing park. Somewhat unusual for the region, there is a runway just a few hundred yards from the slopes serving small private planes. We saw a number of them taking off during the day.

Bryce Resort offers many four-season attractions and has numerous nearby vacation rental properties that probably host more visitors in summer than winter. Next time you are wavering about whether to go skiing on a prime weekend because you don’t want to hassle with crowds, think Bryce. If your group includes novices and intermediates they’ll have a super time.

Cousins. Photo provided by Jim Kenney.