Located in south-central Pennsylvania, Whitetail is a comfortable 90-minute jog down I-70 from D.C. and Baltimore. Skiers and boarders will find 23 trails, a 935-foot vertical, and a high-speed quad. Whitetail’s convenient location to D.C. also means skiers and boarders will often find crowds — on weekends and holidays, Whitetail’s slopes can become as crowded as the Washington Beltway during rush hour. On non-holiday weekdays, the crowds completely disappear and you’re likely to have the slopes to yourself.

Whitetail has a strong track record of continuous capital improvements. Over the past couple decades, it has added new trails, expanded its base lodge, added a snow tubing park, expanded lighting across the slopes, and made significant snowmaking improvements. Whitetail’s state-of-the-art snowmaking system can quickly take slopes from bare to skiable with just a few nights of snowmaking.

Whitetail is now part of the Vail Resorts family after a 2019 purchase. Previously, it was owned by Peak Resorts, and before that, Snow Time. Its new ownership means you can purchase a single Epic pass and ski at Whitetail, Liberty, Roundtop, Jack Frost, Big Boulder, and dozens of resorts across North America.

Skiers at Whitetail are pampered by a modern base lodge and amenities such as free ski check. Food is reasonable, with cafeteria-style food available in the Market Place. Other dining options include sit-down service at the Solstice, and brick oven pizzas at Mountain Hearth Pizzeria.

Whitetail developed a residential village that lines the Northern Lights beginner ski slope, but despite this lodging, Whitetail does not offer many year-round activities except for golf and is primarily a day resort in the winter. In 2019, Whitetail was granted its first liquor license.

Photo by M. Scott Smith.