I noticed they have scheduled the DC Ski expo for November 9th this year. The expo has been "ok" in the past, but we loved the free WISP tickets with $10 admission last year. Does anyone know if they plan the same offer this year and for the same resort?

Thanks.

They have not updated their web page for this season yet, but here is the link to the free ticket page they had for last year. .

Thanks. I sure hope they give away the tickets again this year!

Well, the website is now updated for 2007 and it doesn't look too good for lift tickets.

The flyer for D.C. says they will give out 500 tickets for watching the movie that are good at ski liberty. A large group of us were planning on an extended weekend at WISP using the lift tickets from this expo.

It does say at the top of the page 500 lift tickets give out...are these different from the Liberty ones? Does anyone have any firt hand information?

Thanks.

This event was more fun when it was free at Ballston Mall. I used to work at resturant there and Ski Show was busier than Xmas.

The free lift tickets made this worth while in the past. 10 bucks to get the same resort info you can get on the net seems lame. But of course I will attend.

halon73, are you still with us?

For those of you who missed the earlier thread,

http://www.dcski.com/ubbthreads33/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=29923&fpart=1

Jeremy,

I'm an optimist by nature. Since the 500 free lift tickets and free ticket to Ski Liberty promos are listed on different parts of the flyer, I'm inclined to think that these are two separate offers.

Wouldn't that be nice?

Woody

I am going, nothing beats picking up some ski info in hard copy for the reading room

Hope the previous thread on this helps improve the show.

I will:
watch the movie
buy my advantage card
try to pick up some gear
try to get some free lift tickets
enter every contest
and last but not least watch the cooking demo if its back this year

See you all there. I will be the guy in dress pants, shirt and tie (I work about a mile from there)!

I'll be coming from work too, but ill be in the standard techie attire.. shorts and birkenstocks

Standard techie attire...I like it.

Yup, I'll still be there bright and early on Friday morning on my way to work.

I like the idea of hoping they have tickets other than liberty there. Don't get me wrong, liberty tickets for $10 are great...but I'm REALLY hoping the WISP tickets are there.

500 is quite the drop from last year's 2000. Figure it's because of one of the following:

- Last year, they didn't get rid of them all
- Liberty is the only ticket being given out and that is all they want to give
- The resort or expo doesn't have enough funds to give out more than 500

Oh well, maybe we will get lucky.

In the interest of a backup plan, does anyone know a source for discounted WISP tickets? I looked on my company's clicknsave (corporate discount site) and they only have them for resorts out west and in New England. I'd like to avoid a demo days promotion, but also understand I probably won't be able to use discounted tickets on a holiday either.

An update!!!!!

I dug around on the site and found a number for the firm that is listed as handling vendor sign ups for the expo. He was VERY nice and answered my question. Here is the deal:

- Liberty tickets will be handed out when you attend the movie each day as stated in the flyer.

- WISP tickets will be handed out with admission on Saturday of the expo
- "West Virginia Resort" tickets will be handed out with admission on Sunday of the expo.
- "Tickets to another local resort" will be handed out with admission on Friday of the expo.

I am very excited about this. He was very nice and asked that I spread the word as much as possible, so here I am! (I didn't tell him I was a vendor or a patron, I just said a lot of people were asking me if they would have WISP tickets this year)

I sure am glad I decided to go to the VT vs. Miami game the next weekend and not the VT vs. Fl State Game that Saturday!

This totally made my day!

Good sleuthing Jeremy. I think you have potential as a scout for the DCSki bargain tracker section

Kudos to you, Jeremy! Thanks for doing some digging and then reporting back to us.

Do you (or anyone else) know whether everyone who attends will get a free ticket at the door or whether only the first so-many through the door will get tickets? If it's the latter, any ideas on when we ticket-seekers should arrive? I've never been to this show (and the reviews from last year seem so-so at best), but I'm willing to give it a try.

Woody

I know that last year they said they would have 2000 tickets. This year it says 500. I think the 2000 was for the whole weekend last year. I think the 500 might be for each day this year, especially since they are giving out different tickets each day. I know they are first come first serve so I plan on being there at opening (they don't open that early). There wasn't a riot or anything last year though, seemed to have plenty, I was there on the first day though.

The expo is so-so as you mentioned. They certainly try and I don't see anyone else in the area trying to do better. They have plenty of booths setup for you to get this year's maps and literature on ski resorts (which is really handy when planning trips). Liberty has their booth where you can buy and advantage card and sign up for their snow blast card. Some other resorts and organizations have booths where you can sign up to win vacations out west. They also have a ski swap that is ok, but not like (size, quality, etc) you would find at ski chalet or similar.

The National Ski & Snowboard Expo will be distributing 500 free lift passes per day. If you attend a free showing of Warren Miller's new movie, "PLAYGROUND," you'll get a free Ski Liberty pass. Admission to the Expo is $10 per person, with free parking.

The National Ski & Snowboard Expo will be advertising on DCSki in the near future, so keep an eye out for their ads in the next couple of days! I know that the organizer is passionate about putting on a good event and has paid attention to feedback offered by DCSki readers in past years.

OK, got it, thanks to Jeremy and Scott. I'll be there.

I've looked at the Expo website, at the e-flyer and at the ad on DCSki.com. Maybe I haven't had enough coffee yet, but I still can't find the opening and closing times. Any info?

Thanks,
Woody

It's on the Expo Center Website (specifically the calendar of events). It's not the easiest to find. Here are the times.

Friday 2:00pm-8:00pm
Saturday 10:00am-8:00pm
Sunday 11:00am-5:00pm

Aha! Thanks for the info. Now to plan strategy ... which day?

Cheers,
Woody

Swap meet was pretty weak on Friday afternoon, much better Saturday. Same for the boths, some don't arrive till Sat. That being said, I will be there about 4:30 friday anyway. Don't forget address labels to enter contests.

I'm planning on being there Saturday morning at opening for my WISP tickets. Not sure about Friday and Sunday. Maybe I'll try to get over there in the afternoon on Friday and sometime Sunday to see what the "other local resort" and "other West VA resort" tickets are.

At this point I'm only scheduling Saturday in my calendar though.

if i remember correctly - the ticket vouchers you get from purchasing the movie tickets are only good through the early season - until like Dec 23rd......are the 500 tickets that they hand out different than those from the movies??

The ones we got last year with admission to WISP were good for any day during the season except for Holidays. They were full day tickets. I have never gotten the ones for the movie so I'm not sure what restrictions those are.

Last year we used our vouchers the weekend of February 23rd with no problems.

I thought the expo was absolutely miserable last year. Being in the smaller of the two expo centers it was pretty pathetic both Friday and early Saturday. If people are not going to "arrive" or be setup right until Saturday afternoon, they should either 1 - not charge for entry until then or 2 - not open until they are ready.

While its worth it to simply see the movie and get a free lift ticket or two, I don't pay for a ski expo to see a pots and pans cooking demonstration or check out the latest in 6 wheel ATV offerings. Really a sad offering last year.

Since I work in Chantilly the expo is only 5 minutes from my office. I'll be happy to check in here and be proven wrong though and will gladly go on Sunday if thats the case.

The National Ski & Snowboard Expo's website has updated its information for the DC show Nov. 9-11.

The link is: http://www.nationalskiexpo.com/index.htm

Free lift passes by day are as follows:
Friday: Wintergreen
Saturday: Wisp
Sunday: Canaan/Timberline

And the free Liberty pass when you watch the Warren Miller movie.

See you there!
Woody