Night Skiing after work - worth it?
February 16, 2006
Does anyone work until 5:00 in DC during the week and then drive up to Liberty or Whitetail for night skiing. I was wondering how long it takes to get up there with traffic and if you found it worth it for three or four hours of skiing?
If I leave krow in Arlington at 4:30 and have 2 people I'm at SL by 6:15
If I leave at 5:15 it's 7:45- primary stranglepoints are Frederick exits, rte 495 to I270 and narrowing at Father Hurley Blvd.
If I didn't night ski, I wouldn't have a season.
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If I didn't night ski, I wouldn't have a season.
Ditto that!!
I can be at Whitetail by 5:15-5:30 and get in a good 3-4 hours non-stop. I look at it as being equal to being at either WT or Liberty (which I hate) during a busy weekend day.
One more over here.
I have been going since they opened back in December. I have managed to just go 5 nights. In one occassion I managed to just put in two hours but the way I see it, some skiing is better than no skiing. I also have an Advantage Card so it makes it a little less painful paying for the lift ticket. Yes, I know I paid for the Advantage Card. I a just trying to get everything I can from it.
Sometimes work gets in the way and keeps me a little longer than expected. I hate when work interferes with my personal life.
At any rate, I am scheduled to be at Whitetail tomorrow night. Anybody else?
I find traffic on the Beltway and I-270 to be a bear on Friday nights when I head up to SL. Using a slug skier for HOV is key. We leave around 3pm and can be on the slopes by 5:30pm.
Coach - why do you hate Liberty?
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Coach - why do you hate Liberty?
At the risk of offending some here, my main problem with Liberty is the crowds, which is further compounded by the beltway attitudes of many of the folks who ski there. At no other local resort have I encountered the behavior that I've experienced there. Whitetail has it's days in that regard, but not to the same extent in my experience. I ski to relax and have fun. I have a hard time doing either when I get the same feelig I encounter on the roads in the DC area.
I'm also not a big fan of their layout which I'm sure plays a role in the crowding issue. The good skiing is on the backside, and they do have some good runs back there. But this terrain is grouped right together and is serviced by 2 lifts, that again, are right together. As a result, the overcrowding is highlighted by the fact that there's no easy way to avoid the masses. Contrast this to both Whitetail and RoundTop who's layout lends itself to despersing the crowds across the entire mountain, as both the terrain and the lift are evenly dispersed.
Liberty's fine for a midweek trip or an evening. You'll never catch me there on a weekend day. I do like the tavern though. 
I have to agree with Coach. I've been to Lib a few times and on some of those trails I feel like I'm in the middle of some sort of psychotic race to the bottom. It's got some nice trails but I can't deal with the crowds. It kind of sucks because my wife doesn't like Whitetail and I think that she would like Lib's trails but hate the crowds.
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It kind of sucks because my wife doesn't like Whitetail and I think that she would like Lib's trails but hate the crowds.
Have you guys been to RoundTop? They have decent terrain, and far fewer crowds than eithe WT or SL.
Thanks for the feedback, Coach. I agree that the layout is not the best at Liberty. I will say the crowd dispersement seems to improve dramatically when Sidewinder is open. That's the intermediate trail to skier's left as you get off the chair lifts on the back side. Takes the pressure off of Heavenly which is the main intermediate run to the backside - kind of like I-395 across the 14th Street bridge during rush hour!
If it helps to know at all, there has been a concerted effort this year (and last) by the patrol to slow down skiers on the bottleneck areas.
That said, I also agree that Whitetail and Roundtop are spread out a bit more leading to less bunching on any particular trail. Problem for me is that both areas are further out meaning a longer commute from the DC area.
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It kind of sucks because my wife doesn't like Whitetail and I think that she would like Lib's trails but hate the crowds.
Have you guys been to RoundTop? They have decent terrain, and far fewer crowds than eithe WT or SL.
SSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
Most of you seem to be saying that the drive isn't to bad if you can use HOV. If your by yourself it sounds like leaving at 5:00 might not leave much time for skiing. Is that a fair comment?
