I am trying to put together a 1-day,1-night trip for our Western NoVA church youth. Hoping to get about 12-18 people to go. Wide range of experience and skill levels. Probably looking at late Feb. I have been looking at Wintergreen, Timberline, Blue Knob and WhiteTail.
- Would like to keep drive to under 3 1/2 hrs
- Trying to minimize cost, maximize trail variety/quality (Wintergreen is in running because we have a house to use for free there)

Any thoughts/recommendations on planning? I am thinking that it may be best to wait to see what conditions look like later in season instead of committing now and finding that snow is non-existent.

Does anyone know any fairly cheap hotels near Timberline, Blue Knob, White Tail which would not gross out 12-16 year old girls?

Thanks for any help!

JK

if you go to timberline, my church went there a few years ago, you wont miss out. excellent variety in my oppinion. Wood's hole at the base is great for beginners as thats where i perfected the basics, then for more advanced beginners, the salamander stretches the whole mountain, not to mention the blues and blacks. its an awesome place. there is a fly in lodge about five miles from the resort that is really nice, we stayed two days and i enjoyed it thoroughly

Timberline is a great wild singles-party place...large bar, live entertainment. Canaan (next door) is a more sedate family ski area, wider trails. If you want an organized trip where everything from transportation, lodging, lift tickets to optional lessons is all included...check out:

http://www.teenwinter.com

Yes, I do volunteer for them. We take groups like yours (and individuals) on organized all-inclusive ski trips to local resorts for the day and Hunter, Gore, Killington, etc. for overnights. Also, we're PSIA certified. Now if you're looking for a wild, drunken time where the kids can run around unsupervised, sorry ...we're not it.

Timberline has a ski dorm that it might rent out to your group. Alternatively, I would suggest contacting Canaan Realty (see the link on DCSki) and renting a large, slope-side house. It is easy to supervise kids when they are all together in a single house. The Village Inn in the Canaan Valley is also reasonable as are the slope-side condos at the resort.

I would recommend Canaan instead of Timberline. They offer a number of packages although you need 20 people to quailify as a group.

I took our youth group there last year in March and they all loved it. We are planning a return trip this year.

We stayed at the lodge which has a pool, skating rink, game room as well as a snack bar and resturant.

Also, except for Salamander, I think that the beginner slopes at Canaan are better as well as easier to get to. The Mid-station run is an excellent step up to a "blue" for the beginners. It is very wide and not real steep. In some ways it is better for beginners than Timber Trail is.