According to Lou, this route “goes through the thinnest part of the Alleghenies, and therefore you get to cross only two ranges (I brought a barometer) at the 2,000 and 2,900 foot level with mostly easier curves” than highway 250, the alternate route. Highway 250, by contrast, is a truck route that climbs up and down seven ranges - some of which contain 4,000 foot peaks. With minimal stops, the 55 route takes approximately five hours. Drivers on 55 also can currently enjoy 8.5 miles of new Corridor H four lane highway from between Moorfield and Baker - the entire 14 mile section should open by the 2003-04 ski season.

A variation on the route listed above is to exit 28 at Seneca Rocks and then take 33 to Elkins, followed by 219 south to Snowshoe. The new access road to Snowshoe from Cass obviates the need to take this alternative unless you are staying at some of the cheaper motels in Elkins, 48 miles from Snowshoe.

Save your appetite for Snowshoe because all the best restaurants are located there, including Cheat Mountain Pizza, Red Fox, and Auntie’s Pasta. A good grocery stop is the Food Lion in Petersburg, and there also some fast food restaurants there. Skiers also can find most grocery items they will need at the various convenience stores at the resort.

Speed traps can occasionally be found in Baker, and Moorfield, West Virginia, and drivers should take great care driving through Wardensville - the most notorious trap along this route.

Timberline/Canaan Valley: A Route for DC and MD Skiers

For skiers living north of the Potomac River in the District of Columbia and Maryland, my experience suggests that the fastest route to Timberline is as follows:

The drive takes me four hours with limited stops. Two and a half hours of that time are on relatively traffic free, scenic interstate highways in central and western Maryland. The only difficult climb is the four miles of switchbacks on SR-93 between Scherr and Bismarck, West Virginia.

Along the entire route, my favorite restaurants are Mr. Tucker’s on Naves Cross road just before Cumberland, the Chat N Chew diner in McCoole, Maryland, and for late night bites, the 24-hour Denny’s in Keyser, West Virginia. A Wal-Mart Super Center can be found in New Creek and a 24-hour Martin’s grocery store in Keyser. Rest areas with bathrooms can be found on I-70 at South Mountain just before Hagerstown and on I-68 at Sideling Hill just beyond Hancock. It was at the east South Mountain rest stop that police finally apprehended the notorious DC Sniper last October. Despite this negative publicity, the stop is usually filled with travelers and quite safe.

There are some distinct drawbacks, however, to this route. Traffic on I-270 can be messy during peak travel times, especially along the narrower four-lane stretch approaching the city of Frederick. Traffic and weather conditions on I-270 and all other major Maryland interstates can be checked using the CHART (Coordinated Highways Action Response Team) web site. For the skier, CHART’s interactive mapping system can be a blessing in bad weather. The map employs roadside sensors to provide users with real time information on highway speed, road temperature, air temperature, dew point, wind speed, precipitation, and a variety of other vital information. The West Virginia and Virginia departments of transportation also offer valuable information on road conditions in those respective states via their web sites. (See Related Links at the end of this article.)

Once off the interstate system, drivers can occasionally hit some traffic on US-220 in Cresaptown, MD, or Keyser, WV. Cresaptown/Jessup/Cumberland region is host to one of the biggest growth industries in Appalachia: prisons. There are eleven state and one federal correctional facility in the area. According to the Cumberland-Times, prisons pump over $50 million into the local economy in salaries alone.

After Keyser, the road becomes desolate. The West Virginia State Police occasionally set up a speed trap on the lonely stretch of SR-93 between Claysville and Scherr. The four-mile climb up the Allegheny Front on 93 is the toughest part of this route: my cockatiel Franz usually whines for the entire ascent. There is no passing lane on this climb so if you get behind a truck, it can go very slowly.

Unless there is a regional blizzard, snow is rarely a problem on the drive until you get beyond the Allegheny Front - a steep escarpment that forms the dividing line between Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern weather. Because the higher west side of this front is colder and wetter than the eastern side, the Allegheny Front is the most significant snow line in the region. It’s also the reason why resorts like Snowshoe and Timberline have much longer seasons and better natural snow than resorts closer to DC. On one trip in late March, I literally witnessed rain turn to snow on the final switchbacks of my climb up 93 to Bismarck.

Once west of the front, you can expect snow at anytime between October and April. The 16.6-mile stretch of 93 between Bismarck to Davis along the Allegheny plateau can be treacherous not only during a major storm but long afterwards due to blowing and drifting snow and occasional lake effect snow. Fog (especially freezing fog) and abundant deer pose additional challenges for drivers at all times of the year.

To avoid this stretch of 93 during a snowfall, some drivers take US-219 north via Oakland, MD, and the Deep Creek resort. This stretch of road is indeed more protected by trees and does not contain as many switchbacks as 93, but West Virginia also does not plow it as frequently, and therefore, 93 is still the better route.

One last point to bear in mind: when you finally get to Davis, you are still twelve miles from the Timberline and Canaan Valley ski areas. Therefore, if you need food or fuel, this is your final opportunity to stock up before you hit the slopes: a few basic items such as milk and beer can be purchased at the Deerfield Village Store, but for gas or most grocery items, you will have to drive back to Davis. The Canaan Valley Exxon recently closed and may not reopen prior to ski season. Also, while both Shop & Save and the Deerfield store sell wine and beer, neither sell harder spirits.

Timberline/Canaan Valley: The Virginia Dilemma

Skiers who come from Virginia have a greater variety of choices than the Maryland/DC crowd, and as a consequence, I hesitate to recommend one route over another for them. Some skiers from Virginia actually travel the Maryland route because they wish to avoid mountain roads for as long as possible: the two major Virginia routes require far more back road driving.

That being said, those byways can save the Virginia driver some valuable time, especially as more of the new Corridor H gets completed. For now, however, the most direct route is similar to the Snowshoe route:

The toughest climb is on 33 just beyond Seneca Rocks, where the road goes up the Allegheny Front, but this ascent is easier than the one on 93 because there is a passing lane on portions of this road.

As far as amenities are concerned, Petersburg has the greatest selection of restaurants and also a large Food Lion. The Golden Anchor on 32 just south of the Canaan Valley offers magnificent views of Mount Porte Crayon and decent, albeit slightly expensive, seafood entrees. Big John’s Family Fixin’s in the Canaan Valley is another good bet for pizza and other basic entrees. The best rest stop along the route is the visitor’s center at Seneca Rocks.

An alternative to SR-55 is US-50 from Winchester to New Creek and then SR-93 and SR-32 to the land of milk and honey. Some skiers swear by this route.

Getting to Winchester from the Northern Virginia suburbs is easier than getting to Strassburg (the exit for 55) because it served by the Dulles Greenway and Route 7 - roads that generally carry less traffic than I-66. 50 is also less hilly than 55, and contains extra passing lanes in several sections. However, it is also longer. Food can be purchased along 50 at the Sheetz gas station or Dairy Queen in Romney. The Wal-Mart Super Center in New Creek is not far from the junction of 50 and US-220.

For the DC or Maryland based driver, the most arduous aspect of the Virginia routes is not the switchbacks, but the inconvenience of escaping westward from the metropolitan area via the Virginia highways. DC drivers must confront nearly constant traffic on I-66 from Ballston to West Falls Church. Whatever time is saved on US-50 or SR-55 is inevitably squandered on this short stretch of backed up highway. Maryland drivers have to fight their way west on the Capital Beltway across the American Legion Bridge - another miserable area of congestion. As more and more of Corridor H gets completed, many skiers who live north of the Potomac will eventually switch over to the SR-55 route, but for now, traffic issues related to getting out of the city make the Maryland route to the Canaan Valley more attractive.