So this was the year I finally made it out to Canaan Valley for two weekends. I found myself really liking Canaan Valley Resort with it's combination of good snow, low prices, and no crowds. But at the same time it clearly is not what it could be. After skiing around the mountain, what immediately struck me was that it would be so much better with a lift running from the bottom to the top of Dark Side of the Moon and with Prosperity open to the bottom and the tubing hill moved ANYWHERE else. Dark Side is one of the best trails But it takes forever to get back. Prosperity looks like it would be just as good, but the bulk of it is closed. What a waste. It could even be done by extending the beginner lift and making the current top a midstation.

What do the rest of you who spend a lot more time there than I do think?

Also, do they usually let Gravity bump up? Both times I was there it had proto-bumps on it and there wasn't anywhere to compete with The Drop and Off the Wall next door.

Ive posted on this subject many times & I even talked to the GM about it. He told me that they had consulted with a group out of Vermont who had recomended that they take out a snow retention pond to bring a lift down to the lower parking lot & to add & redesign some runs off the top.
They really need to Split the mountain as you say Curih. On the meadows side of the main lift you can see where folks duck off into the woods & then drop thru woods in a very steep chute that ends in the traverse run to dark side ect...They need to eliminate the traverse & make use of those poached areas. The mountain could gain Vert & Challenge.

I was really miffed when they bulldozed the old lodge & instead of moving everything down, they rebuilt the new lodge in the same place

This Ski area has great potential & is one of the most Scenic Alpine areas around...Can you all imagine A lift up to baldy???....Be a riot up there...

Curih, you showed your savvy by visiting this season. It has been my perception in recent years that CV has sometimes struggled more than other areas to achieve high open trail counts, especially during periods of low natural snow and less than optimal snowmaking weather. Because of the stupendous natural snowfall in WV 2009-2010 was the season to experience it at 100% for an extended length of time. I noticed on www.liftopia.com that tickets as low as $17.99 were available for CV much of this season including some weekends and holidays.
I rank CV and Blue Knob as two of the best ski areas in the mid-Atlantic that are routinely good for crowd avoidance, and coincidentally, for low costs.

I didn't even think of looking for discount tickets on line. They're already pretty cheap at the window.

It just seems like such a minor change for such a massive improvement. No cutting of new trails. No acquiring new land or anything.

Still a fun place all around. Anyone else fail to carry enough speed down Meadows 3 and get stuck in the flat bottom after a storm? Did the same thing at the bottom of Prosperity when I failed to notice the fence barely sticking above the snow and stopped off of the packed base. Took a while to struggle out of easily 3 feet of fluff there.

CV resort has some other good deals going on during ski season, ie the Snow day discount when Tucker Co. schools are off for snow there is a pretty good discount on tickets. We paid $20 for a half day when this was in effect, got it several times.

There is also rumored to be a food bank drive on Mondays where you can bring in a non perishable food item and get a lift ticket for $10. I have not verified this one but I read it on the interwebs so it must be true.

Did I mention I am Super Rad?

Tline also has the uber awesome locals day every Thursday a lift ticket is just $12 with a valid WV driver license.

Thats a good idea, but you might as well move the entire base area over there. Well, as long as we are dreaming.

I still like C.V. alot. It has character, a sort of disheveled one at that.

I'm sitting in the lobby of CV Resort, after 5 glorious days of spring skiing the weather has turned to fog and drizzle and this was the day I was going to ski CV. I should have tried earlier this week but Wednesday was my last downhill day, the snow was getting too sticky by mid-day so I didn't want to risk exploration of a new place. The run back to the lifts would have been killer. I'll give CV a try some day.

The snow pack is beginning to thin somewhat but there should be plenty of skiing next weekend and I think cold temps will also return. I'll be back for the Snowy Luau.

Have you become a telesnob? I can't tell what gear you're using because the powder is too deep in this picture:
http://www.purplemoon.com/Stickers/SYF-skele-ski.JPG

I guess you found me out:



That's a photo of me that Chip took at White Grass. It appeared on the March 12 report page.

Where's Prosperity? I can't find it on the trail map. I also can't read most of the trail names on the on line map. Resolution is too poor and when I blow it up too fuzzy. The one time I went there this season for powder in the Meadows they had groomed them! When at Canaan in recent years I have for the most part bought a single ride to access the backcountry. I agree Canaan has a lot of untapped potential. To me it would make a lot more sense to develop that than to pursue pie in the sky at MPC.

its not marked on the map but the trail sign is still there on the mountain - between dark side of the moon and the meadows areas

they prob took it off since it ends at a fence at the top of tubing hill

[quote=Denis) I agree Canaan has a lot of untapped potential. To me it would make a lot more sense to develop that than to pursue pie in the sky at MPC. [/quote]

Good Luck..been waiting for 18 years now..Same with Timberline. The State needs Both anyway..not all of us whether we have the means to or not want to travel across the country on ski tours...we want to ski WEST VIRGINIA!!..Home sweet home..
Another Issue I have with a post of yours Denis is the Praise you give Doc for Keeping the ski area up & running late into the year even at his loss...How bout getting up & running earlier when the Bucks(Folks) are eager & ready to flow in???!!..Seems [censored] Backwards to me among other issues which is why the place does not evolve...Everything is in place up in the WV Alpps..we just need Fresh Ideas & folks with a positive energy to Git-R-Done!