Seven Springs or Snowshoe? Both rank among the Mid-Atlantic’s biggest ski destinations, but the similarities begin to fade once you arrive. DCSki kicks off its new Mountain Matchup series by comparing what each resort does best — and which one might be the better choice for your next ski trip.
From Dick Barron’s snow reports at Seven Springs to Buddy Hauk’s welcoming presence at Whitetail, DCSki looks back at the resort leaders, instructors, patrollers, retailers, and other personalities who helped give Mid-Atlantic skiing its character. The feature also recalls the wider influence of figures including Herman Dupré, Sepp Kober, Ralph “Doc” DesRoches, and Ski Chalet founder Wilbur McBay.
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.
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.
The powerful 1997-1998 El Niño brought warmth, rain, abbreviated operations, and lasting financial consequences to Mid-Atlantic ski areas. DCSki looks back at that difficult season, explores the financial risks of betting a year-round business on a few winter months, and considers whether the developing 2026-2027 El Niño might deliver rain, snow, or something in between.
Seven Springs plans to replace the three-person fixed-grip Blitzen Lift with a new four-person fixed-grip chair for the 2026/27 season, pending approvals. The resort says the project would improve reliability and increase uphill capacity by 33%, reducing time in line and getting guests more time on snow.
Sustained cold temperatures have allowed Mid-Atlantic ski areas to ramp up snowmaking and begin opening for the 2025–26 winter season, with several resorts launching operations in the first week of December. Additional terrain and activities are expected to come online soon as snowmaking continues across the region. Above, an aerial view provided to DCSki by a skiing pilot shows snowmaking underway at Maryland’s Wisp Resort on December 1.
Vail Resorts will introduce simplified “Friend Tickets” for the 2025-26 season, giving Epic Passholders six to ten discounted lift tickets — each at 50% off — to share with friends. The tickets can also be applied toward the purchase of a future Epic Pass, a move aimed at easing costs for newcomers and growing the sport’s participant base.
An arctic air mass has brought ideal snowmaking conditions to the Mid-Atlantic, enabling resorts across the region to prepare for their winter season openings, with many planning to open in early December. Resorts like Seven Springs, Wisp, Snowshoe, and Timberline Mountain are leading the charge, while others are building their bases for upcoming announcements. Photo by Heidi Lews / Hidden Valley Resort.
