Better day ... Saturday or Sunday?
August 29, 2005
During the season we ski practically every weekend. When we don't have time to travel to the bigger resorts we ski at Whitetail and Liberty. So the question is; what is the better day to ski, Saturday or Sunday? 'Better' meaning less crowds, better snow conditions. We always ski the morning half day, ropes down to noon.
Any opinions/suggestions?
i was going to say sunday evening(duh). but for the morning i dont think it matters at the places i have been.
my experience at Whitetail is if you get there at 8:30 you have till 10 before the line gets long . . . Sunday afternoon arrival at 2pm is 4 hours of empty slopes and gets you back to DC by 7:30.
Quote:
...So the question is; what is the better day to ski, Saturday or Sunday? 'Better' meaning less crowds, better snow conditions. We always ski the morning half day, ropes down to noon...
With respect to WT, in my experience, on Sat AM you usually will have more people but better snow, since a the slopes are always given a serious grooming towards the end of each week. On Sun AM, the crowds might be a bit less, but often they don't get a chance to groom as thoroughly on Sat night.
The very worst snow of the week is Sunday late afternoon and night. A weekend of skier traffic has chopped up the surface while it was warm and soft, and now the temperature has dropped and has frozen in the ruts and bumps, but the groomers haven't had a chance to go over it yet. In addition, since most of the weekend crowd is gone, the snowmaking staff is much less hesitant to turn on the snowguns on Sunday night than at any other point in the weekend.
Unfortunately, because of family constraints, Sunday nights will probably be one of my teaching shifts once again this year. 
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Tom / PM
At Liberty either Sat. or Sun. morning would be best for snow.
If you ski the frontside, both days generally fill up pretty fast. Last season, I can only remember a handful of days where the lines on the backside got bad. Generally, Sat. is a better choice for snow, but worse for crowds.
Physics man is right about Sunday afternoon - evening conditions. After 3 pm on a Sunday, the snow has taken a beating. I've worked Sunday afternoon/night for years and the sad thing is I LIKE icy, rutted, gnarly...
If you do come to Liberty - and all of your group can ski the backside - ski there and stay there. I've really been surprised how short the liftlines have been back there in recent years.
Also, if one of your group is not so strong a skier, there is a little cutoff from Dipsy-Doodle to Whitney's Way, that way they can avoid the ice rink - pachinko machine that is Upper Heavenly on a Saturday afternoon.
I go Sat morning to Blue Knob (from Baltimore). I have found that that extra time in the car on the way is more than made up for by shorter lift lines - I would rather be in my heated Jeep than in an epic WT afternoon lift line. Pus the long hike from the parking lot at WT is a PITA.
The extra time going home is made up for by far better terrain.
Of course the lifts are fairly ghetto there, but I am there to ski not pose.
Edit: Liberty is a waste of time (nice facilities by way too small), but I go there as my sister in law live in Emitsburg so I will get in some baby turns when we go to visit.
My favorite time to ski is actually sunday afternoon,less people than anytime during the weekend, i could care less abouy conditions cause my skis are sharp, i am sharp and i want to cruise at mach speed.
