Explore decades of original reporting on Mid-Atlantic skiing and snowboarding, including resort news, feature stories, historical retrospectives, and firsthand reports.
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.
By M. Scott Smith | August 24, 2026 1 Feature Story
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.
By M. Scott Smith | July 23, 2026 2 Feature Story
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.
By M. Scott Smith | August 19, 2026 3 What's New
Since DCSki’s earliest years, regular columnists and occasional guest authors have shared firsthand reports, practical advice, distant adventures, and deeply personal reflections. This retrospective celebrates the writers who broadened DCSki’s perspective while creating a collective record of mountains, friendships, changing lives, and more than three decades on snow.
By M. Scott Smith | July 29, 2026 2 Feature Story
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.
By M. Scott Smith | July 18, 2026 2 Feature Story
Pennsylvania's Camelback Resort has announced that it will run daily skiing and riding through April 12, 2026, then shift to weekend operations into the first weekend of May if conditions allow. The resort says the schedule would be its longest season on record, surpassing its previous latest closing date of April 9, 2009.
By M. Scott Smith | February 7, 2026 2 News
After a long ski season, DCSki's Editor Scott traded snow for sun on a rare 14-night Southern Caribbean cruise featuring seven ports in seven days. It was a unique itinerary that offered a very different kind of off-season escape, and Scott captures the adventure in a cinematic video.
By M. Scott Smith | April 9, 2026 2 Feature Story
Looking to double his ski days this winter (from one to two), DCSki’s Editor spent a peaceful midweek day at Whitetail Resort, where light crowds and smooth lift rides made for an unhurried outing. The visit offered a chance to revisit favorite trails, reflect on early skiing memories, and enjoy late-season conditions without the usual weekend bustle.
By M. Scott Smith | February 27, 2026 2 Firsthand Report
After a delayed start to the season, DCSki's Editor finally got back on snow with a quiet midweek visit to Liberty Mountain, finding the resort’s easygoing “vibe” fully intact. Liberty heads into the second half of February with great snow and 100% open terrain.
By M. Scott Smith | February 13, 2026 2 Firsthand Report
DCSki Columnist Robbie Allen continues his Going Further Afield series with a look at Bear Valley Mountain Resort, one of the most under-the-radar members of the Cali Pass, arguing that its high-elevation snow and low crowds make it a compelling alternative to Tahoe’s busier hills. Drawing on the resort’s terrain pods, lift network, steeps (including Grizzly Bowl and the village-facing lines), and its boom-and-bust village history, Allen explains why Bear Valley “skis bigger” than expected and stands out as a quiet value play—especially with Powder Alliance access.
By Robbie Allen | February 3, 2026 1 Further Afield
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.
By M. Scott Smith | December 27, 2025 1 News
In this Interview Series installment, we chat with Kevin Thomas to learn how he designed, built, and refined his own private rope-tow-served ski area in Pennsylvania. He breaks down how the lift works, what the steep terrain is like, and what it takes to keep the place skiable season to season—from trail work and simple grooming to day-to-day operations. Along the way, he reflects on the appeal of a stripped-down, back-to-basics approach after more than two decades of running his own ski hill.
By M. Scott Smith | January 16, 2026 2 Interview Series
