I'm curious about something. Starting in a few weeks I'll be working a new full time IT job in Winchester VA right near I-81. I got to thinking that with such a new job that is offering me quite a bit more pay that I need to enjoy myself by hitting up a resort at least twice a week after work. I was thinking either Whitetail or Bryce since both are 54-58 mi from where I'll be working at.

If I work day shift then it'll be 8:00am-4:30pm or if I do nights it'll be 10pm-6:30am. What I'd like to do would be to drive the 50min away to the resort and get some runs in and head home to crash and do it all over again. Maybe snag a motel on weekend jaunts up there.

With that said, Whitetail is obviously alot better than Bryce in quantity and quality of trails. I'm curious what their quality of snow is in the evenings for night riding? Boiler plate ice? Are most trails open by Christmas? Being it's east/south facing slopes is it worth the money to make it midweek at 5-6pm for a few hour runs? I'm curious since I've only been to whitetail twice in my life.

Bradley

Brad,

If memory serves correctly the trails were mostly open before christmas and then closed. I remember going in the middle of Jan with most of the snow gone and you had to hit little bridges of ice between the slopes to continue down.

But, if its cold Whitetail can be 100% in a couple of days. They will turn the guns on whenever they can. I have had a Nightclub card for the last two years. The way our winters have been we haven't had to worry about sheets of ice. But it can be interesting when the sun goes down and the temps drop and everything firms up.

Nightclub is a great deal for what you are talking about. When you don't have to be out of pocket for today's session, its a little easier to leave after 2 hours if you're not having fun. Pays for itself after 5-6 visits, but only good after 1/4/09.

Fridays and Saturdays get pretty crowded especially when the school trips start. I've never skied at Bryce so I can't comment there. I do know that I'll be at Whitetail at least 4 or 5 times after work this year (about 70 mi from work, then 85 to get home).

Steve

bawalker,

I work in Kearneysville, WV and do the NCC thing at Whitetail. When the boilerplate shows up, it tends to be over on Snowpark, where the snow gets scraped off and windblown. During the early season and when recovering from a thaw, they seem to concentrate on beginners area, snowpark, and home run/angel drop so that the parks can get up quickly. How the new slopes and lifts will effect this strategy is unknown.

No one here has made any decisions yet on a regular night to go skiing, but I was going on thursday nights last year. If you are interested, car pools could be arranged from Martinsburg.

All,

Just FYI, last weekend on the way to Ohio, we made a pit stop at McD in Clear Spring, MD which is the town I usually drive through to get to Whitetail. Anyway, I saw a 'coming soon' sign for Sleep Inn to be built next to McDonald's on rt 68 after you get off from I-70.

Is there any cheap motel closer to Whitetail than this one?

- Mark

No. There are, however, B&B's in Mercersburg.

The answer to your question is...'it depends'. I wear a name badge at WT (to put it one way). First, the resort hopes to have everything open by the holidays, after an initial opening the first weekend in December, definitely the second. However, that's totally dependent on mother nature and cold spells. Last few years haven't been quite so lucky (for a good holiday and/or January). But, as stated, if we get just a couple nights (or days) of cold, the guns will blow and the snowmakers do miraculous things.

Into the season, whether or not it firms is very dependent on the temps between night and day. On average, it warms up a bit past freezing during the day - makes for great, season round 'corn', but once the sun dips, and the temps dip, it will firm (often creating a sudden spike in business for me and my cohorts). And firm doesn't mean 32, it will happen close to 40. If it stays below freezing the entire day, all should stay nice - especially after a low traffic weekday.

But there will be just as many nights where the evening low (until 10pm) is in the 40s. Stinks over the long run, but makes for good night skiing in the short-run. Plenty of nights like these, as we all know. Enjoy them - a lot of people don't think to.

So keep an eye on the intra-day weather. Hope that helps. See you on the slopes soon!