Agree with JimK. Canaan Valley would be the best skiing with no crowds by far. Bryce, especially in the evening, would be a good local option. Most of the rest of the local areas would probably be ok in the evening, but would be crowded during the day.
As a Wintergreen regular, I can attest to the fact that daytimes this weekend won't be worth it. Lines will be too long, and the slopes will be too crowded. Another thing to consider with respect to Wintergreen is that the Highlands is not lit for night skiing, it closes at 4:15pm each day.
I'm at Massanutten for MLK weekend, per usual. Monday will be fine. I expect Saturday and Sunday mornings before 11:30 or so to be fine on the upper mountain. If it's warm enough, we may eat at the Mid-Mountain Grill and just stay on the upper mountain until we are ready to quit for the day. With trails 100% open, lots of different ways down off the Ridge Triple and Peak Express.
Note that Mnut caps lift ticket sales on busy weekends.
Bryce is typically never really crowded on long weekends. In the years past, two lifts will reduce the wait time to less than a few minutes. Now there is a 3rd lift and more trails on the backside. All 3 lifts will be running after 11AM on long weekends and there shouldn't be a line for more than a few minutes on any of the lifts. They have been 100% open since mid December.
LOL, I just screen shot this off the Wintergreen web cam.
Had a great time at Massanutten today, Saturday, Jan. 17. Bottom line is that we never waited more than 5 minutes on any lift. While we mostly skied the upper mountain, I wandered around on the lower mountain a bit as well. We ate lunch in the lodge 11:30-12:30 It wasn't a zoo, as has happened in past years. Probably helped that it was warm so a lot of people ate at the Mid-Mountain Grill.
Snow conditions were excellent all morning. After it warmed up, the snow was not quite a good but still reasonable. Started setting up by 3:30 or so as the sun went behind the mountain.
My sense is that whatever cap Mnut put on day tickets made a difference. Perhaps the fact that Mnut was 100% open is another factor. Note that Mnut is no longer offering 4-hour lift tickets. The trails never felt congested. Including Mueller's Mile and Ridgecrest, which are the blues from the top. I saw fewer people on the Meadow during the mid-afternoon than last year during MLK weekend. There were lots of people doing lessons today.
I talked to someone who didn't buy a lift ticket because the only type left was Extended Day and she knew that didn't make sense given that her family includes a young daughter who isn't really until skiing yet. Also overheard a couple boarders in the later afternoon who obviously couldn't imagine that Mnut sells out on holiday weekends. They were annoyed there wasn't a sign at the entrance to the resort saying "Sold Out." They seemed to be coming in for the night session. Mnut marketing started stressing via email that people should buy tickets online for holiday weekends months ago.
