Based on my occasional glances at the local hills' webcams (HV & 7S), it seems to me that the Holiday period skiing was way down. I'm sure the trail count being down, the economy and the rain on Christmas Eve didn't help. Can anybody else confirm from the other Mid-Atlantic resorts?

I can't comment on any other mid-Atlantic resorts, but I can definitely confirn your impressions of sparse holiday crowds at HV. I skied there on Tuesday (30 Dec) from 10:30 AM to 1:00 PM. I'd estimate that my longest wait in the lift line was about 60 seconds.

Incidentally, the conditions that day were surprisingly good, considering the warm weather last weekend. Condistions were groomed-granular with very little ice. This seems to confirm the superior machine-made snow at HV this year.

For the Snowtime resorts (Roundtop, Liberty & Whitetail), they're just happy to be open. Over the last few years, that hasn't always been the case. Season pass sales were very strong for them as well. I also think the snow-in-your-front-yard affect hasn't kicked in yet - for the majority who don't frequent sites like this, they don't think about a day on the slopes until they see snow at home.

Regardless, visits often don't pick up until right about now. I bet all will have a busy Saturday.

Funny timing. CNBC just did a story on East coast ski hills and did a live report from Whitetail. Looked busy in the background. Don MacCaskill, the Whitetail President was interviewed and commented on season pass sales and the hope to be the beneficiary of folks who decide against the Western ski trip this year. I'm sure a copy is on their website soon. If not Whitetail's in due time.

i was at whitetail yesteday (thurs) and it seemed pretty normal crowd-wise, given how much they had open.

7 Springs looks like it is getting hammered today.

While there have been plenty of people here at Timberline, I wouldn't call it "crowded" like you would expect during a holiday weekend. Maybe with the economy the way it is, people are afraid of coming out this early in the season and risking that there would be few trails open (as in past years)

yep, I was there today. very crowded - waited close to 20 minutes for the 6-pack lift at 1:00.

HV was actually quite busy yesterday and today --- as busy as I've seen it over the past couple of years. Decent crowd on new-years eve also. Conditions great as well. New years eve celebration in lodge/clocktower was also packed and lots of fun (I'm told as I was in bed by 11).

Was at Whitetail Friday 1/2...big crowd.