I've been skiing in the Mid-Atlantic for around 15 years and have learned to be careful when scheduling trips earlier than mid-january. Having said that, I do have relatives visiting from the Midwest the week after Xmas and they are interested in a trip to SS. So, I thought I would pose a couple questions to the SS experts:
1) What has historically been open the week after Xmas? Obviously very weather dependent. I guess I am asking for what trails have generally been open during a typical year. Is Silver Creek usually open? That actually leads to my next question:
2) How much worse are the crowds during Xmas week, compared to a Saturday mid-season? If Silver Creek was open with a decent assortment of trails that would be helpful.
I should also mention that I am planning on a couple trips to CV/TL later in the season - I just haven't had a ton of luck with those places in December.
Take away last year's weather disaster I think it's been safe to say most of the basin area is open and 3/4 of Silver Creek would be too. They seem to target mid Dec to open SC for night skiing. Cupp had a 50 - 50 chance but the new snow guns could be a game changer IF the weather cooperates.
I've never skied Christmas week but based on my historical occupancy rates, the mountain is running near full lodging capacity that week. I would plan for crowds at or greater than a typical weekend.
IMO - That family of 4 that drove 10 hours from ____ and paid holiday rates for lodging / lift tix is going to get their money's worth on the slopes.
One thing I would recommend is to plan your meals wisely. I've heard of 2 hour waits to get into Firefox or the Junction.
Good luck and I hope it snows a bunch and every trail is open for you and group.
Blue Don 1982 wrote:
Take away last year's weather disaster I think it's been safe to say most of the basin area is open and 3/4 of Silver Creek would be too. They seem to target mid Dec to open SC for night skiing. Cupp had a 50 - 50 chance but the new snow guns could be a game changer IF the weather cooperates.
I've never skied Christmas week but based on my historical occupancy rates, the mountain is running near full lodging capacity that week. I would plan for crowds at or greater than a typical weekend.
IMO - That family of 4 that drove 10 hours from ____ and paid holiday rates for lodging / lift tix is going to get their money's worth on the slopes.
One thing I would recommend is to plan your meals wisely. I've heard of 2 hour waits to get into Firefox or the Junction.
Good luck and I hope it snows a bunch and every trail is open for you and group.
I hope it snows a bunch and every trail is open, too. I'm a little more pessimistic I think. I would hope 50% of the basin would be open, hopefully Cupp with the new snowmaking, and only 50% of Silvercreek, too, which tends to open territory from lookers left to lookers right, so the green trails open first, black trails open last. Last year was less than that, the two previous years were more than that. I've never been skiing there during that time; I've been afraid of the crowds
Blue D has it spot on. Only recommendation to add is, if SC is open, to get on the basin or WT trails early mornings, break early for lunch, then jump to SC for after noon. Alternative is to ski basin & WT til 1pm and spend mid-day break for "dinner" then hit SC for late afternoon and eve til beer30.
wgo - Your group should take advantage of this. We were told that after their road shows, these would also be on sale online in limited quantities.
https://www.snowshoemtn.com/plan-your-trip/deals-and-packages/3-for-all
