have family coming up from NC and has talked up Timberline and hitting the trees, but I am simply giving up on them because they can't even get a decent number of in bounds trails open. Sad, but there is another post discussing that situation...

It will be me, my 13 year old son who is very good and loves Cherry Bowl at T-line and another good mid 50's skier. I don't want her to experience the crazy lines of Whitetail on a full day Saturday... I also don't want to drive over half way back to her place in NC for Snowshoe... with that, and looking at open terrain to stay within 2 hrs of Winchester, I am considering Wintergreen, Canaan Resort or ... don't know where else... I have never been to either of these and want some beta on how crowded they are on Saturdays (in relation to Whitetail or Snowshoe). Any recommendations??

Zero lift lines and cheap skiing at Whitegrass. Great food too! 

Fact is everywhere will be crowded this weekend. There's pent up demand and still only about 70% terrain open in the region.  If you plan staying overnight, better start making calls asap.  I know this weekend at Snowshoe has been sold out for days.

So is Canaan Valley Lodge !

I've been calling around in Canaan area and everything is sold out. I just was able to book the last room at the Alpine Lodge motel -smoking unfortunately.

Folks at Timberline suggested the bunkhouse at $20/person but warned the beds are filled with several dozen boy scouts for the weekend.

It snows and everyone heads to the valley!

Bryce. Never any lines, even on a Saturday, so you can just do laps all day. Good trails given the vertical they have to work with.

Wintergreen is good, but will be packed on Saturday, pretty much like Whitetail.

How is Wisp on a weekend (specifically Sunday)?    Wintergreen, Showshoe, Liberty and Whitetail are all completely packed on weekends as I assume Massanutten would be too.

Canaan Valley Resort will have the whole mountain open.

Canaan Valley, Bryce and Massanutten (DJ and Paradice off of Lift 6) are generally the least crowded places to ski in this area.

Superbowl weekend generally has lighter crowds; particularly Sunday.  However, with 36" in the last 10 days I expect Sat. will be a big day at Whitegrass, Canaan and Timberline.

I have been working at Liberty every weekend this year.  The backside has not had appreciable lift lines all year.  There have been days when the frontside was bad, but if you can endure one line and the ride to the top, you are home free once you get there.

Everything is NOT sold out at Canaan Valley.  Try the rental agencies like Best of Canaan, Mountaintop, etc.

Try VRBO, HomeAway, etc.

....and if you want to see the difference in crowds, just take a look at the Timberline versus Canaan State Park webcams this morning....

mook21 wrote:

have family coming up from NC and has talked up Timberline and hitting the trees, but I am simply giving up on them because they can't even get a decent number of in bounds trails open. Sad, but there is another post discussing that situation...

It will be me, my 13 year old son who is very good and loves Cherry Bowl at T-line and another good mid 50's skier. I don't want her to experience the crazy lines of Whitetail on a full day Saturday... I also don't want to drive over half way back to her place in NC for Snowshoe... with that, and looking at open terrain to stay within 2 hrs of Winchester, I am considering Wintergreen, Canaan Resort or ... don't know where else... I have never been to either of these and want some beta on how crowded they are on Saturdays (in relation to Whitetail or Snowshoe). Any recommendations??

Guess you haven't noticed my posts about Massanutten.  Closer to Winchester than Wintergreen.  A much easier drive since it's mostly straight south on I-81.

While Wintergreen has good terrain, it's way too crowded on a weekend.  For those who can ski off Lift 6 at the top of Mnut, there is never a lift line.  Plus all trails are lit so one way to avoid weekend crowds for beginners or low intermediates is to ski after 3:00.  Or even go for the night session, which starts at 4:00.

Mnut has 1100 ft. vertical, with 825 or so off Lift 6 alone.  Lift 5 (triple) has a mid-station so very good for multi-ability groups.  Better skiers can ride to the top and easily meet up with those who get off at mid-station.

Anyone going to take lessons?

mook21 wrote:

have family coming up from NC and has talked up Timberline and hitting the trees, but I am simply giving up on them because they can't even get a decent number of in bounds trails open. Sad, but there is another post discussing that situation...

It will be me, my 13 year old son who is very good and loves Cherry Bowl at T-line and another good mid 50's skier. I don't want her to experience the crazy lines of Whitetail on a full day Saturday... I also don't want to drive over half way back to her place in NC for Snowshoe... with that, and looking at open terrain to stay within 2 hrs of Winchester, I am considering Wintergreen, Canaan Resort or ... don't know where else... I have never been to either of these and want some beta on how crowded they are on Saturdays (in relation to Whitetail or Snowshoe). Any recommendations??

Guess you haven't noticed my posts about Massanutten.  Closer to Winchester than Wintergreen.  A much easier drive since it's mostly straight south on I-81.  I drive 4 hours from Raleigh and have many reasons that I drive past Wintergreen.

While Wintergreen has good terrain, it's way too crowded on a weekend.  For those who can ski off Lift 6 at the top of Mnut, there is never a lift line.  Plus all trails are lit so one way to avoid weekend crowds for beginners or low intermediates is to ski after 3:00.  Or even go for the night session, which starts at 4:00.

Mnut has 1100 ft. vertical, with 825 or so off Lift 6 alone.  Lift 5 (triple) has a mid-station so very good for multi-ability groups.  Better skiers can ride to the top and easily meet up with those who get off at mid-station.

Anyone going to take lessons?

Massanutten was good this Sunday - best conditions of the season. It's been a weird year. Showtime, Pacesetter, DJ, and Paradice all opened up pretty early this season, but they have been stuck on those 4 for blue/black terrain since then. Obviously the January thaw was tough on everyone, but it really seems to have short-circuited Massanutten's ability to open more trails. During the latest stretch of snowmaking weather there was no attempt to make snow on Mass Transit, Yee-Ha, or Mak Attack. The focus appears to be on building up base on existing trails, probably as a guard against future stretches of warm weather.

Anyway, the skiing was fun this weekend and the BBQ at the new place on-site was the real deal. Hopefully we will be able to ski additional trails at MNut before the end of the season.

wgo wrote:

Massanutten was good this Sunday - best conditions of the season. It's been a weird year. Showtime, Pacesetter, DJ, and Paradice all opened up pretty early this season, but they have been stuck on those 4 for blue/black terrain since then. Obviously the January thaw was tough on everyone, but it really seems to have short-circuited Massanutten's ability to open more trails. During the latest stretch of snowmaking weather there was no attempt to make snow on Mass Transit, Yee-Ha, or Mak Attack. The focus appears to be on building up base on existing trails, probably as a guard against future stretches of warm weather.

Anyway, the skiing was fun this weekend and the BBQ at the new place on-site was the real deal. Hopefully we will be able to ski additional trails at MNut before the end of the season.

 

Not opening Mass Transit and Yee-Ha is pretty typical for Mnut when the weather is not cooperating.  Same for Mak Attack.  Consdier how many of the usual Mnut skier/boarders ever use those trails. ;-)

There have been seasons when Paradise barely opened.  Or the average depth hovered around 12 inches the entire season.  I can tell that the new automated snowmaking capability has made a big difference the last few seasons.  It was pretty amazing that Mnut only closed one day during the long Jan thaw.