I've done Wintergreen, Massanutten, Liberty, Roundtop, Whitetail, Canaan.* But never Wisp, though I've visited the Deep Creek lake area during the fall several times.
Where does Wisp rank among this group? What are the biggest pluses and minuses? Anything that makes it worth traveling there above the others?
If you told me it was on par with say, Wintergreen or Whitetail, I would not be inclined to make a special trip for it.
(*For the purposes of this conversation, I'm not including resorts that are four hours or more away.)
For midweek or weekend?
I haven't made it to Wisp since I live in NC. Been thinking about how to go to check it out starting from Massanutten one day since Wisp is on Indy now. Based on reading about it, I get the feeling it doesn't get as crowded on weekends as Wintergreen or Whitetail.
I really like Wisp. The thing that struck me the first time I went is that I felt like I just went to another region of the country. I couldn't believe that was only 3 hours from my house. The lake view in the winter is part of it, and they get some good wintry weather. I feel like the mountain skis bigger than most other places. I would rank it at the top except they don't do much for moguls.
For winter ski vibe, #1, though that's for scenic beauty, because it doesn't have a village like Snowshoe or a lodge like Seven Springs, but there are some things to do with the family. It doesn't feel like you're just in the woods, which I like sometimes.
For slope variety, #1, but it doesn't have that long steep run like Shay's revenge, though it does have a few steep runs. But, there's interesting variety going all sorts of ways, whereas I find the vast majority of Snowshoe to be boring. Timberline is only one lift, but in the right conditions with tree skiing, I would rank Timberline higher.
We had a couple of family trips there, and it's definitely worth visiting. For that exploration, scenic enjoyment, and let's have fun skiing together vibe, it's definitely worth it. For that day where I'm going to loop a bunch of trails by myself and work on technique and get some exercise, I don't see any reason to drive 2 hours past Massanutten or Wintergreen to go to Wisp, and I haven't. Whereas I would drive that much further to get powder at Timberline, ski Shay's revenge at Snowshoe, or moguls on Exhibition at Whitetail.
