I am looking at getting a trip together for several of my friends and myself. We are in college so we are trying to keep the cost down. We would like to go somewhere that is a reasonable drive, but still has plenty of slopes. We have been to 7 Springs, but never to Snowshoe.

Based on cost, distance from DC, and terrain what would you recommend. We are looking at going during the week and it would probably be about 6-8 people. I am looking at the Winter Memories deal at 7Springs and the packages at Snowshoe, but would still like to try and take a bit more off the cost. If it makes any difference we are looking at 2 nights/ 2.5 days lift tickets, and most of the people need rentals.

Right now I am attending school in Baltimore, and I looked into the free Snowshoe + Coke deal, but have never seen a Kroger around here.

Thanks

first off welcome to DCSki!

I am a college student as well (penn state) and my friends and I did the exact same thing you are doing two years ago. One thing you need to be aware of is that many places have age limits on how old you can be to rent a cabin/condo/hotel room. believe both wisp and 7 springs fall under that category (both have a minimum age of somewhere in the 20's). Showshoe on the other hand has a minimum age of 18 so there should be no problem there. However, snowshoe will probably also be the most expensive of all the places you will look at in the Mid-Atlantic, lift tickets/rentals/lodging are ridiculously expensive there.

Might also want to consider simply renting a cabin at Timberline, can be very reasonable during the week and you would probably find no/little crowds which would be a big plus.

Tline has better terrain also. Check VRBO, there are lots of houses for rent at Tline and they are cheap. We rented one last year that was just outside the parking lot and it was $225 a night on a weekend. It was a 3 bedroom house, so less than $50 a person per night.

Some of us went to TLine a few years ago and were not happy, as we were waiting 30 minutes for the lift, because they didn't have enough staff to run the 2nd lift. Is the place usually relatively empty during the week?


Thanks for mentioning the age limits I will have to look into that because the oldest one in our group is 20.

It's your own resort Monday thru Thursday. Rarely a lift line at all unless it'a close to a holiday weekend.

Ah yes, central reservations! An owners best friend. Thanks for bringing up that painful memory........................

Ya no problem, its really annoying.

Also, another idea, Hidden Valley has a lot of places to rent and from there its a quick drive over to 7 springs and probably less to stay. Only problem is you have to deal with individual owners of houses to find a place to stay, im sure you could get some good deals midweek.

For what its worth...if you're north of Baltimore, like Towson, Snowshoe is close to 6 hours on some pretty tough roads, esp. if the weather is bad. On the other hand, if you go north, you could hit Mt Snow or other southern VT areas in under 7 hours. Or Hunter or Greek Peak in NY in about 4:45. Greek Peak is REALLY easy - straight up I-81 to Cortland. And you could hit Sno Mtn (Montage) on the way up or back in Scranton if the weather cooperates.

All of those areas offer skiing equal to Snowhoe or 7springs. And some are far, far better, especially the southern VT areas. Mt Snow pretty aggressively courts the college crowd, too, so you may be able to get a pretty good deal.

Wow, Mt. Snow looks really nice, I'm not sure if we want to go quite that far, but I will share that place with the rest of the people and see what they say. But there prices seemed almost identical to 7 Springs, with much more terrain.

I looked up the prices for Hidden Valley too, the weekday price is only $20, which seems like a great price. How do their slopes compare with those at 7 Springs?

How can you suggest he go up 81 and hit Sno and Greek Peak, but not mention Elk. Shameful if you ask me.

definitely consider elk as well, great mnt!