DCSki Newsroom

Irv Naylor, one of the most influential figures in the history of Mid-Atlantic skiing, died October 20, 2026, at age 91. As founder of Snow Time, he spent more than five decades developing and expanding ski resorts, including Roundtop Mountain Resort, Liberty Mountain Resort, and Whitetail Resort. His continuous investments in snowmaking, infrastructure, and resort operations helped build a thriving regional ski industry despite the challenges of unpredictable Mid-Atlantic winters. DCSki looks back at the life and accomplishments of this pioneering entrepreneur.

As snowboarding grew in popularity, ski writers and the industry searched for an inclusive term covering everyone on the mountain. DCSki’s Editor reflects back on the proposed alternatives, from “snowsliders” to “snow riders,” and explains why “skiers and snowboarders” remains the clearest choice.

DCSki compares Liberty Mountain and Whitetail Resort, two familiar Mid-Atlantic ski areas now under the same ownership and covered by the Epic Pass. Whitetail offers greater vertical, longer runs, and faster laps, while Liberty counters with varied terrain, short steeps, approachable beginner slopes, and a distinct resort feel.

During the 1990s and early 2000s, halfpipes were prominent features at Mid-Atlantic ski resorts, with Whitetail, Liberty, Roundtop, Snowshoe, and others investing in specialized facilities for snowboarders. Over time, the snowmaking demands, maintenance requirements, and growing popularity of other terrain park features contributed to their decline. DCSki looks back at the region’s halfpipe history, including Whitetail’s once-impressive 475-foot facility, and examines Seven Springs’ decision to bring back a smaller, more accessible halfpipe in February 2026.

DCSki looks back at three developments that have reshaped Mid-Atlantic skiing over the past 25 years: the rise of multi-resort passes and corporate ownership, major advances in snowmaking, and substantial investments in lifts, facilities, and year-round resort operations. Together, these changes have influenced where skiers go, how resorts manage unpredictable winters, and how mountains build businesses beyond the ski season.

Night skiing has long been a defining part of the Mid-Atlantic ski experience, allowing school groups, working adults, and budget-minded skiers to hit the slopes after dark. DCSki looks at why available night-skiing hours have gradually decreased in recent years, and why skiing under the lights remains an important regional tradition.

West Virginia’s Corridor H highway has steadily shortened and simplified the trip from Washington and Northern Virginia to Tucker County’s ski areas, including Timberline Mountain, Canaan Valley Resort, and White Grass. DCSki looks at how each completed section has changed the region’s place on the Mid-Atlantic ski map, while unfinished segments promise further improvements through 2034.

In this DCSki Interview Series installment, Woody Bousquet discusses his family’s role in founding and operating Bousquet Ski Area in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, his own lifelong connection to skiing, and the inventions and stories that shaped the area. He also shares how his collection of vintage patches, maps, brochures, and other memorabilia helps preserve the history of Bousquet and other lost ski areas.

Masks, reservations, capacity limits, and parking-lot lunches made the 2020-2021 winter unlike any Mid-Atlantic ski season before it. Six years later, DCSki looks back at how resorts and skiers navigated the pandemic and how that period accelerated the shift toward advance ticket sales, mobile passes, online transactions, and other practices that remain with us today.

Before webcams, navigation apps, digital lift passes, and group texts, Mid-Atlantic skiers relied on snow phones, paper trail maps, printed directions, and carefully chosen meeting places. This retrospective recalls the uncertainty and occasional adventure of skiing before the smartphone while considering how modern technology has made trips safer, easier, and better documented.

Once scattered across the Mid-Atlantic, hundreds of community ski hills, residential resorts, and ambitious mountain developments introduced generations to snowsports. Drawing on DCSk’s Lost Ski Areas archive and readers’ memories, this feature story traces their rise and decline, the forces that reshaped the regional ski industry, and the advantages that helped today’s resorts endure.

Mid-Atlantic ski resorts are preparing for the 2026-2027 winter season with new lifts, expanded snowmaking systems, improved skier facilities, and major lodging projects. DCSki takes a closer look at the enhancements and upgrades underway across the region at resorts such as Seven Springs, Wisp, Wintergreen, Snowshoe, and Massanutten.