Hey everyone new poster here. I've been read-only on this board back to the start of the Timberline drama.
I was wondering what folks on here think about Wisp? I don't see it discussed on here much but it's packed every weekend with cars from MD and VA. I know given the distance from DC many can't make a day trip and would prefer to go to Timberline or Snowshoe for the weekend. I live in Western PA and have had a pass there for the last couple of years. You really can't beat the value when you add in the buddy tickets and comp passes at other areas (7 Springs/HV/Laurel).
Personally I think it has good terrain but the current owner kind of under-funds the place, runs it with a reduced staff, and has delayed improvements to the lifts and snowmaking. Wondering if anyone knows much about future plans or improvements?
Yes I agree that the North Camp layout could have been better and the long traverse is a pain. They seemed to sacrifice the layout in order to sell a few high-end home lots at the top of the mountain. That said the slopes back there are pretty decent.
They really need to do something about their older lifts. The 2 triple lifts in front of the lodge are a mess. Boulder lift was down for part of last season. I do give them credit for getting open and staying open, even on weekdays, late into the season.
ottoparts wrote:
Hey everyone new poster here. I've been read-only on this board back to the start of the Timberline drama.
I was wondering what folks on here think about Wisp? I don't see it discussed on here much but it's packed every weekend with cars from MD and VA. I know given the distance from DC many can't make a day trip and would prefer to go to Timberline or Snowshoe for the weekend. I live in Western PA and have had a pass there for the last couple of years. You really can't beat the value when you add in the buddy tickets and comp passes at other areas (7 Springs/HV/Laurel).
Personally I think it has good terrain but the current owner kind of under-funds the place, runs it with a reduced staff, and has delayed improvements to the lifts and snowmaking. Wondering if anyone knows much about future plans or improvements?
Welcome! How much does Wisp advertise in western PA?
There have been trip reports for Wisp on DCSki over the years. I've been curious but it's a bit too far for a day trip from Massanutten, which has ended up my home mountain driving from central NC.
PGRI just hired a new GM for Wintergreen. I get the feeling the focus for the snowsports is more on Wintergreen than Wisp. Wisp seems to push their summer activities more.
They don't do TV or radio ads in Pittsburgh but I originally saw their pass deals advertised in the Post-Gazette digital edition a few years back. They sold an early season use anytime set of 4 tickets for like $200 bucks and season passed for under $350 which are great deals. I don't think they suffer a lack of customers.
Deep Creek is a big summer destination for Pittsburgh. This summer I believe they didn't open the whitewater course until August. I was in Deep Creek in July and it did not look like it was open. The ropes area and mountain coaster we open and busy though, as were their golf courses. Could be a staffing issue like many places.
Wisp is great for fresh snow and ease of access. I'm in DC suburbs and when I play hooky from work for a ski day I drive I-70 north and play it by ear from there, both Wisp and Blue Knob are exactly 85 minutes past the Clear Spring exit for Whitetail. But I wouldn't head to Wisp for a weekend, too many issues as described above. They got a new GM couple years ago that appeared promising but doesn't seem like much has improved-
ottoparts wrote:
They don't do TV or radio ads in Pittsburgh but I originally saw their pass deals advertised in the Post-Gazette digital edition a few years back. They sold an early season use anytime set of 4 tickets for like $200 bucks and season passed for under $350 which are great deals. I don't think they suffer a lack of customers.
Deep Creek is a big summer destination for Pittsburgh. This summer I believe they didn't open the whitewater course until August. I was in Deep Creek in July and it did not look like it was open. The ropes area and mountain coaster we open and busy though, as were their golf courses. Could be a staffing issue like many places.
I'm not sure any MidA or SE ski resorts bother with TV or radio ads any more. Social media is where it's at these days, meaning Instagram and Facebook mostly.
PGRI does the same deals for all of their ski areas/resorts. The websites for Wintergreen and Wisp are very similar. Looking at Powderhorn in CO, it's clear there is the same ownership/operator. There is also the same emphasis on 4-season activities.
RodneyBD wrote:
Wisp is great for fresh snow and ease of access. I'm in DC suburbs and when I play hooky from work for a ski day I drive I-70 north and play it by ear from there, both Wisp and Blue Knob are exactly 85 minutes past the Clear Spring exit for Whitetail. But I wouldn't head to Wisp for a weekend, too many issues as described above. They got a new GM couple years ago that appeared promising but doesn't seem like much has improved-
Interesting, two very experienced GMs hired within a few years. You would think they would only take the job if they expected good support for upgrades of some sort.
In 2014, the big news for PGRI was the $5 million high speed quad at Ragged in NH. Dropped that lift ride from 14 min to 4 min. Ragged is small for New England, with 250 acres. Wisp has 132 acres and Wintergreen has 129.
As far as I can tell, the last big capital project was the high speed quad at Powderhorn back in 2015. Presumably similar price tag as the lift at Ragged. Powderhorn was re-branded in 2019, supposedly in preparation for "exciting upgrades." But given the pandemic started in 2020, I bet the plans were delayed and could be re-worked. Being out west, Powderhorn is not considered a big resort at all but has 1600 acres.
RodneyBD wrote:
Wisp is great for fresh snow and ease of access. I'm in DC suburbs and when I play hooky from work for a ski day I drive I-70 north and play it by ear from there, both Wisp and Blue Knob are exactly 85 minutes past the Clear Spring exit for Whitetail. But I wouldn't head to Wisp for a weekend, too many issues as described above. They got a new GM couple years ago that appeared promising but doesn't seem like much has improved-
Interesting -- would you consider Wisp 3-hours-more-roundtrip-better than Whitetail? If there is enough open and some fresh snow (even an inch) I consider Blue Knob to be worth it.
That's kind of why I wind up a Whitetail most years - the travel-time from Alexandria for what I get ratio is really good.
I have a season pass at Wisp. I ski locally, as opposed to planning the big ski trip up north or out west, so the mega passes don't appeal. Beyond that, the Positives are:
A variety of slopes for all abilities, at just about every pod (except main street)
Night skiing
reciprocity with some other local areas
Buddy passes
Between the price and the previous two items, I was likely to hit the cost/benefit tipping point rather quickly.
Negatives:
Short runs.
crowds (know how to play the pods)
large number of seemingly "natural only" runs and not enough natural
Management seems to have issues, but outside of the "big guys", what ski area has not?
lift issues. (once again, who hasn't? )
I may re-evaluate my pass choice next year, depending on how much better or stable other offerings
Agree with your assessment although living in Western PA we have no mega pass option that works locally. If the price and comps for a 7 Springs pass were similar to Wisp I would reconsider too.
Regarding the snow comment, last year I skied Devils Drop and Bobcat Bowl several times. Those are the only natural runs I know of. A lot of their other runs they just didn't get the snow making done on. I was told they had a pipe issue that delayed the opening of Main Street. I sense they have some maintenance issues with their system. Given their main competition is 7 Springs and Timberline, who are investing in lifts and snow making, I think they need to as well.
GGNagy wrote:
I have a season pass at Wisp. I ski locally, as opposed to planning the big ski trip up north or out west, so the mega passes don't appeal. Beyond that, the Positives are:
A variety of slopes for all abilities, at just about every pod (except main street)
Night skiing
reciprocity with some other local areas
Buddy passes
Between the price and the previous two items, I was likely to hit the cost/benefit tipping point rather quickly.
Negatives:
Short runs.
crowds (know how to play the pods)
large number of seemingly "natural only" runs and not enough natural
Management seems to have issues, but outside of the "big guys", what ski area has not?
lift issues. (once again, who hasn't? )
I may re-evaluate my pass choice next year, depending on how much better or stable other offerings
What we saw last year is going to be more and more normal... how many times did it actually snow at Whitetail last year - five?
Everything on the other side of the divide still sees 30-40+ snowfall events a season. Maybe not as much accumulation as the old days, but at least it still snows.
So yeah I'll drive another 3 hours to ski on 3 inches of fresh snow instead of groomed at Whitetail. But of course I'm a die hard posting on dcski, not 98% of skiers who just want to find some white slippery stuff to slide down on for a day ;-)
wfyurasko wrote:
RodneyBD wrote:
Wisp is great for fresh snow and ease of access. I'm in DC suburbs and when I play hooky from work for a ski day I drive I-70 north and play it by ear from there, both Wisp and Blue Knob are exactly 85 minutes past the Clear Spring exit for Whitetail. But I wouldn't head to Wisp for a weekend, too many issues as described above. They got a new GM couple years ago that appeared promising but doesn't seem like much has improved-
Interesting -- would you consider Wisp 3-hours-more-roundtrip-better than Whitetail? If there is enough open and some fresh snow (even an inch) I consider Blue Knob to be worth it.
That's kind of why I wind up a Whitetail most years - the travel-time from Alexandria for what I get ratio is really good.
Hmm, PGRI just hired a new exec from Aspen Ski Co. This announcements is from SAM.
CHRISTIAN KNAPP, PACIFIC GROUP RESORTS
Pacific Group Resorts, Inc. (PGRI) appointed Christian Knapp to the newly created position of vice president and chief marketing officer. Knapp comes to PGRI after nine years as the vice president and chief marketing officer of Aspen Skiing Company. During his tenure there, he also served as chairperson for the Colorado Tourism board of directors, and served on the boards of Snowmass Tourism and SnoCountry.org. Knapp was also the founder and managing partner of the Mountain Collective, a reciprocal alliance of 23 resorts.
“Christian has a proven track record of developing marketing programs that drive revenue, and his philosophies align with ours, from understanding the value of industry involvement to the promotion of sustainable business practices, so we believe this is a nice fit for our organization,” said PGRI president and CEO Vern Greco.
ottoparts wrote:
That’s interesting to see that they hired someone with that kind of experience. Wonder if there will be a company wide marketing approach or ones tailored to each area? Maybe they will join a mega pass option like Ikon or market their own?
The resorts that PGRI don't make sense for a multi-resort pass. Who is going to fly from DC/NoVA/western PA to go ski Powderhorn in CO? Certainly no reason to travel up to NH to ski at Ragged. Or any reason to leave New England to ski Powderhorn or Wisp or Wintergreen.
These resorts don't fit with Ikon either. Ikon Partners are independent destination resorts like Alta, Jackson Hole, Taos, etc.
My guess is that since Massanutten, Bryce, Canaan Valley, and Blue Knob are already on the Indy Pass, may be too late for Wisp or Wintergreen to join Indy.
At the moment, the homepages for the PGRI resorts look similar. Don't know enough about the resorts besides Wintergreen to know if the content is presented differently.
Will be interesting to see what changes in the next year or two.
Agree that Ikon and passes like Mountain Collective are focused more on destination skiers so that's not a fit. But given that Vail/Epic seems to focus on combining local/destinations in their passes, seems possible they could attempt some alternate to that with the right partners. PGRI does have 3 resorts near 2 of the largest population centers on the east coast, so there is some value there. Since Mr. Knapp seems to have been heavily involved with Mountain Collective he must have a lot of industry contacts. (This is all speculation on my part.)
As far as Indy Pass they would not be a great fit given the others nearby. Frankly the PGRI resorts are no worse than the majority on the Indy list.
ottoparts wrote:
Agree that Ikon and passes like Mountain Collective are focused more on destination skiers so that's not a fit. But given that Vail/Epic seems to focus on combining local/destinations in their passes, seems possible they could attempt some alternate to that with the right partners. PGRI does have 3 resorts near 2 of the largest population centers on the east coast, so there is some value there. Since Mr. Knapp seems to have been heavily involved with Mountain Collective he must have a lot of industry contacts. (This is all speculation on my part.)
As far as Indy Pass they would not be a great fit given the others nearby. Frankly the PGRI resorts are no worse than the majority on the Indy list.
PGRI as a Partner to Epic is an interesting idea. Ragged could bring in people from Boston. Wisp and Wintergreen could add to the market in DC/NoVA. There is a ski resort in Canada in BC that would might add some people who aren't Whistler regulars. Mt. Washington has quite a well developed "village."
The current Epic Partners are Sun Valley, Snowbasin, and Telluride. SV and Telluride have lots of high end slopeside lodging. Snowbasin is planning to build slopeside lodging in the near future.
RodneyBD wrote:
So yeah I'll drive another 3 hours to ski on 3 inches of fresh snow instead of groomed at Whitetail. But of course I'm a die hard posting on dcski, not 98% of skiers who just want to find some white slippery stuff to slide down on for a day ;-)When I've got the time for 3 more hours, I've tended to go northeast, like Camelback (not anymore, too crowded) and Elk. I did make it to Blue Knob once and want to get back. All things being equal, I think I'd hit Blue Knob over Wisp given the greater vertical drop. I'm open-minded though! I only went to Wisp once long ago before Whitetail on a scouts trip.
wfyurasko wrote:
RodneyBD wrote:
So yeah I'll drive another 3 hours to ski on 3 inches of fresh snow instead of groomed at Whitetail. But of course I'm a die hard posting on dcski, not 98% of skiers who just want to find some white slippery stuff to slide down on for a day ;-)When I've got the time for 3 more hours, I've tended to go northeast, like Camelback (not anymore, too crowded) and Elk. I did make it to Blue Knob once and want to get back. All things being equal, I think I'd hit Blue Knob over Wisp given the greater vertical drop. I'm open-minded though! I only went to Wisp once long ago before Whitetail on a scouts trip.
Have you ever been to Montage?
marzNC wrote:
<snip>Have you ever been to Montage?
Once, when I was a sophomore in college. KRZ radio has $10 lift tickets on a Friday night.
In retrospect, I should have found the student lift ticket specials every weekend. My friend and I have lamented our foolishness in not skiing every winter weekend during our time near the Poconos. One of the bigger mistakes of college.
marzNC wrote:
wfyurasko wrote:
RodneyBD wrote:
So yeah I'll drive another 3 hours to ski on 3 inches of fresh snow instead of groomed at Whitetail. But of course I'm a die hard posting on dcski, not 98% of skiers who just want to find some white slippery stuff to slide down on for a day ;-)When I've got the time for 3 more hours, I've tended to go northeast, like Camelback (not anymore, too crowded) and Elk. I did make it to Blue Knob once and want to get back. All things being equal, I think I'd hit Blue Knob over Wisp given the greater vertical drop. I'm open-minded though! I only went to Wisp once long ago before Whitetail on a scouts trip.Have you ever been to Montage?
Blue Knob is better than Wisp and not just because of the greater vert drop. I enjoy Wisp don't get me wrong, but even The Face is not Stembogan Bowl or Extrovert. The issue with Blue Knob is snow coverage. When they can get everything open it's easily the best place around (I concede I have not been to Snowshoe). But snowmaking has been a problem.
If you can go to Blue Knob, one blue run to get warmed up, then loops on Stembogan until it gets skied out.
wfyurasko wrote:
marzNC wrote:
<snip>Have you ever been to Montage?
Once, when I was a sophomore in college. KRZ radio has $10 lift tickets on a Friday night.
In retrospect, I should have found the student lift ticket specials every weekend. My friend and I have lamented our foolishness in not skiing every winter weekend during our time near the Poconos. One of the bigger mistakes of college.
Montage is very different from even a few years ago. The owners that renamed it spent a lot of money but had no idea how to run a 4-season operation. The current owner changed not only the name back, but also listened to the staff. It's well worth checking out. I met up with friends who have season passes during early season a few years ago. Had a very good time even though not the snow coverage wasn't fully developed yet.
I stopped by Montage in August on the way to Lake Placid. Seeing the water features in action was very interesting. I didn't know that there was a lazy river in the flat area in front of the base lodge. That seems pretty unique. There is also a pretty big wave pool that gets covered up during the winter.
Storm Skiing did a podcast about Montage last March. Apparently the Long Haul lift that goes top-to-bottom was worked on over the summer and should be running more consistently for 2021-22. Now that Montage is on Indy, I'm hoping to get there during mid-season.
Podcast #40: Montage Mountain Managing Owner Charles Jefferson
JRunPatterson74 wrote:
marzNC wrote:
wfyurasko wrote:
RodneyBD wrote:
So yeah I'll drive another 3 hours to ski on 3 inches of fresh snow instead of groomed at Whitetail. But of course I'm a die hard posting on dcski, not 98% of skiers who just want to find some white slippery stuff to slide down on for a day ;-)When I've got the time for 3 more hours, I've tended to go northeast, like Camelback (not anymore, too crowded) and Elk. I did make it to Blue Knob once and want to get back. All things being equal, I think I'd hit Blue Knob over Wisp given the greater vertical drop. I'm open-minded though! I only went to Wisp once long ago before Whitetail on a scouts trip.Have you ever been to Montage?
Blue Knob is better than Wisp and not just because of the greater vert drop. I enjoy Wisp don't get me wrong, but even The Face is not Stembogan Bowl or Extrovert. The issue with Blue Knob is snow coverage. When they can get everything open it's easily the best place around (I concede I have not been to Snowshoe). But snowmaking has been a problem.
If you can go to Blue Knob, one blue run to get warmed up, then loops on Stembogan until it gets skied out.
I really, really liked Blue Knob in 2012 even with half of it closed. A fresh inch or so of snow made a huge difference.
That comment wasn't from me, it was from JRunPatterson74. I've skied at Snowshoe a few times. First time was for the SkiSE Summit in 2008 with my daughter, who was a tween at the time. At this point, I have little interest in making the 6-7 hour drive from Raleigh since I have the option of skiing out west multiple times every season. Now that Timberline has a high-speed lift to the top, that's worth the drive when I'm starting from Massanutten.
Keith_Moon wrote:
Re:
marzNC wrote:
(I concede I have not been to Snowshoe).
Wait, what?
Indeed, the drive from the Triangle to Snowshoe sucks. My friend will go for the first time in January and asked me, "it's about the same drive time as to Asheville, right?". Umm, no.
marzNC wrote:
That comment wasn't from me, it was from JRunPatterson74. I've skied at Snowshoe a few times. First time was for the SkiSE Summit in 2008 with my daughter, who was a tween at the time. At this point, I have little interest in making the 6-7 hour drive from Raleigh since I have the option of skiing out west multiple times every season. Now that Timberline has a high-speed lift to the top, that's worth the drive when I'm starting from Massanutten.
Keith_Moon wrote:
Re:
marzNC wrote:
(I concede I have not been to Snowshoe).
Wait, what?
Keith_Moon wrote:
Indeed, the drive from the Triangle to Snowshoe sucks. My friend will go for the first time in January and asked me, "it's about the same drive time as to Asheville, right?". Umm, no.
LOL! I've been going back and forth between Raleigh and Asheville a lot in recent years because my daughter is at UNC Asheville. Gave me an excuse to finally checkout Cataloochee. Especially since it's on the Indy Pass. That's a well run nice little hill. I had no idea it started up way back in the 1960s when snowmaking had matured enough to make it viable as a winter business on the land owned by the Cataloochee horse ranch.
I would guess that deciding to make the longer drive from DC to Wisp or Blue Knob, over Whitetail or Liberty, is for reasons similar to why I never checked out Cat when I was making the drive to Boone to ski Sugar or Beech when my daughter was little. After a while, it became clear that for us doing ski weekends at Mnut made more sense for only a slightly longer drive. What's nice about Cat is that it's less crowded on weekends because of it's location farther away from major cities. Although a few ski nuts drive from Atlanta for day trips.
marzNC wrote:
Cataloochee
Agreed - it's well run and underappreciated - just a bit too far when compared to Sugar, Beech or Winterplace, which are all closer and bigger. We tried it for the first time last year and wanted to include Wolf in that trip, but Wolf is NOT well run and doesn't seem really interested in being fully open, so we skipped it.
We used to go to WISP yearly with our group of college friends since the early 2000s. We took a few years off, mainly sticking to day trips at liberty with the kids or adults only weekends out west, but this year we are returning with the now somewhat older kids that can handle a day of lessons as a sort of multi-day prep trip to take the kids to Breck or Park city in a couple of years. We always love the housing offering here with the giant houses we can share. We would like to go to Snowshoe sometime, but the prices and configuration of resort lodging and the hard to find houses to sleep 16 people make it a turn off. We have never really been disappointed with the conditions there since it gets a pretty good impact from the great lakes and when it seems to always be rain and 38 in the DC area, it is snowing there. The drive of 3.5 hours for us is a good one from the west DC suburbs without being a real pain too.
I think, as mentioned above, that it is correct the new owners have focused on the golf course and housing lots a little too much and not the resort itself. The lake is VERY popular during the summer though, but they didn't have mountain biking this summer I heard because of staff shortages. I would love to see Vail come in and buy them, put some capital in there to improve it and add them to the pass. My group is already enjoying the Epic pass for liberty group this year for the day trips and then the occasional trip out west.
I'm probably in the minority here for embracing the big resorts, but I think they have a great product and it is going to be necessary in the future for a resort group to handle climate change keeping half their resorts in meltdown while the other half might be buried in snow. I'm a little concerned that new hire from Aspen might be a sign that they are going to work an Ikon deal instead of a Epic one.
While in school at WVU a few years back they would run a bus service to Wisp most weekends in the Winter. It was fun to go, but if I was driving myself I would always choose Canaan/ Timberline over Wisp. The lines are too long and all the dining/ drinking options are way too pricey.
Loved Deep Creek in the summer though, like others have said, it seems like they are more interested in their Summer activities than the Ski Resort.
Ha - December 1982 I took that same bus to Wisp with all my knucklehead buddies. It was the first time skiing for all of us. We were fully outfitted with high school lettermen's jackets, jeans and a flask. I think it was 20 bucks for the bus, lift ticket and ski rentals for night skiing. Oh, to be 18 again.
Jaxon wrote:
While in school at WVU a few years back they would run a bus service to Wisp most weekends in the Winter.
I never took a bus, but when I was at WVU in the late 80's you could buy a Wisp night ticket at Pathfinder for like $5. Went there with many friends and taught several of them how to ski there. And flasks were involved too.
Blue Don 1982 wrote:
Ha - December 1982 I took that same bus to Wisp with all my knucklehead buddies. It was the first time skiing for all of us. We were fully outfitted with high school lettermen's jackets, jeans and a flask. I think it was 20 bucks for the bus, lift ticket and ski rentals for night skiing. Oh, to be 18 again.
Jaxon wrote:
While in school at WVU a few years back they would run a bus service to Wisp most weekends in the Winter.
gotta give credit when credit is due... maybe the new guy is prodding them into action? Or maybe the timberline effect!
I've never tried Wisp. Wth my Highlands Pass giving me a few free day and a friend living in Morgantown now, I think it's worth a shot
I grew up in Western PA and still own property up there not too far from LM. Wisp never advertised up there. The only way I never knew they existed was when an acquaintance told me about it in the 90s. I later went by our on a school trip in the fall, bit never actually made it there to ski.
With 7S, HV and BK all close by, and I got free skiing at 7S, schlepping out to Wisp was a hard sell.
Looks like good progress on the webcam. Maybe that Timberline peer pressure will get them to open this weekend!
RodneyBD wrote:
gotta give credit when credit is due... maybe the new guy is prodding them into action? Or maybe the timberline effect!
Wisp is opening on Friday, Dec. 3.
Timberline is opening for 7-day operations on Dec. 3.
marzNC wrote:
Wisp is opening on Friday, Dec. 3.
Timberline is opening for 7-day operations on Dec. 3.
One quick clarification on Wisp -- they're opening snow tubing and the mountain coaster on Friday evening, December 3, but won't open the ski slopes until Saturday, December 4.
I have a roundup of all the latest opening dates in this DCSki story. (Of course, everything is subject to change, so always check with a resort before making a trip.)
Went to the Wisp yesterday (12/12) for my first day of the season. Conditions were good even with the warm up and rain on Saturday. They made snow overnight so something to ski other than ice. Really only 2 trails open (Squirrel Cage and Wisp) plus terrain park and the bunny slope. Small but consistent crowd. Called it quits after about 2 hrs.
They look to be consistently trying to make snow when weather permits. Several other trails, including Boulder, had snow on them and looked close to being open.
Only hiccup was my RFID pass from last year did not automatically reload and had to go to the season pass office to get it activated. Was told only people who reloaded their pass at the end of last year (cheapskates like me) have this issue.
Ottoparts,
Yeah, that was one of the benefits of the wisp pass that I suspect will go away as well. I'm concerned that when all is said and done, Wisp might be standing alone.
Also, thanks for the heads up about the reload for us "cheapskates", I'll need a trip to the season ticket office as well.
ottoparts wrote:
And since there is much discussion on the board about the Vail purchase of 7 Springs, what's the chance they maintain the regional resort ticket swap with Wisp? My guess is that's going away. Nice benefit and one of the reasons I have my Wisp pass.
OK let's get this thread back up and running. Anyone ski at Wisp since the start of the new year?
I was there on Saturday morning. Only Squirrel Cage and Boulder were open plus the connectors at the top. It was great conditions with the new natural and manmade snow. They opened Lift 6 and Backbone Pass mid-day. Interesting they abandoned Wisp Trail and started making snow on Possum. Lots of snow being made but limited grooming, maybe to help conserve snow cover or staffing issues?
I give them some credit for getting open and giving it a real go. They really got hit hard with the mild temps and rain over the holiday. We'll see what this weekend brings. Supposedly making snow on Main Street/Down Under. That would help a lot.
Those two pods took a bit of time to open last year too, it seemed. It is a lot of connector trails that they need to get a good base on, to connect everything up. Warm spots early in the season might not have given enough time for that
wgo wrote:
Anyone else feel the Wisp is a bit behind where they should be in terms of trail openings? 13 trails open, none of the East Ridge trails, basically nothing in North Camp.
Main Street and Down Under opened today.
I saw lots of complaints on Facebook, mainly from folks who have slope side lodging booked next to slopes that aren't open yet.
I do cut them some slack because the holiday meltdown really hit them hard. They had to recover Wisp and Possum Trails.
That said I do think they have some operational issues related either to staffing or their snowmaking system. They are definitely behind most of their main competition.
I just spent 3 days at Wisp. Happy to report that the East Ridge side was skiing nice. Mainstreet and Eye Opener was groomed every day. They even had a couple of North Side ones (Whip Saw and Over the Edge) open. Ace's Run must have had at least 20 whales on it, but I guess the groomers don't want to spread it yet? I hope they haven't missed their best chance of getting it open.
Not sure what is going on with Down Under. They had bobcats there every day with huge mounds of dirt as you would come out of the tunnel. Not sure what they were digging up.
Overall, a pretty good couple of days with what is open. I was able to get around to all parts of the hill.
Here is footage out of Wisp at Deep Creek Lake, MD! Enjoyed my time out there over this weekend. Enjoy!
