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Mid-Atlantic/SE skiing (PA, NJ, DC, MD, VA, WV, NC) for 2020-21

marzNC

Angel Diva
The frigid air made it to central Virginia today. It was under 30 at Massanutten all day. As of 10pm, it's 10 degrees in Davis, WV (Timberline, Canaan Valley) and at Snowshoe. There are probably hundreds of snow guns on tonight in VA, WV, and MD (Wisp). Also in PA and NC. It's already in the 20s at my house near Raleigh.

Screen Shot 2021-01-23 at 10PM.jpg
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
The southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions are having a stellar season in terms of snow and cold temps for snowmaking. More snow forecast for later this week.
 

HikenSki

Angel Diva
We are super excited to be heading to Timberline early next month for a long weekend. Haven't been since 2011 and the conditions weren't great even that far back. Excited for the new lift and new trails. We were at Wisp last weekend and the conditions were fantastic!
 

TNtoTaos

Angel Diva
The frigid air made it to central Virginia today. It was under 30 at Massanutten all day. As of 10pm, it's 10 degrees in Davis, WV (Timberline, Canaan Valley) and at Snowshoe. There are probably hundreds of snow guns on tonight in VA, WV, and MD (Wisp). Also in PA and NC. It's already in the 20s at my house near Raleigh.
At 8 AM when I went to walk my friend's dog (she works for TDOT - they've been sequestered at work since Sunday, and thru Friday!), it was 5° out, here in Middle TN, in the flatland! The snow is about 4" deep, and you can almost walk on top of it.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Don't know exactly where it's going to snow in WV, VA, MD, PA, but snowmaking temps have already returned.

Massanutten snow guns are on full blast as of 11pm on Feb. 16. SkiSE forecast is for possible 24-hour snowmaking temps all weekend. Although I'll be surprised if the snow guns are on during the day on green/blue trails. The base is pretty deep so that overnight snowmaking may be enough to keep snow conditions nice after the groomers do their work.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
I think the deep bases that have built up in VA/WV/MD will last past mid-March. Had a chance to check out how things are at Canaan Valley, Timberline, and Bryce this week while staying at Massanutten. All the southeast ski resorts made as much snow as possible during the frigid temps last weekend before the warm up.

Mnut will be open daily until at least March 21. Given how things have gone in recent years, they will try to be open for a week or two after that if it stays cool enough in the next month.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Massanutten is sold out for Friday and Saturday. Wintergreen still has tickets available.

Snowshoe is sold out for Feb. 26-28 and March 6-7, at least for the Basin/Western. Snowshoe is selling tickets for Silver Creek only this season. Also offering a season pass for Silver Creek only for 2021-22 for the first time.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Given the help from Mother Nature, ski areas/resorts in PA are having a banner season. Even with travel restrictions that have reduced the number of out-of-state skiers from DC/MD/VA/DE, there have been plenty of weekends when the limited number of tickets were sold out. Have heard that the lines at Whitetail have been pretty long on Fridays, as well as on the weekends. Whitetail requires reservations for those who have an Epic pass.

Feb. 24, Philadelphia Inquirer
Poconos ski resorts see their best season in years amid COVID-19 escapes, lots of snow
The snow and accompanying cold have translated to big relief for the state’s tourism industry, which has been battered by COVID-19 restrictions on dining and lodging.
https://www.inquirer.com/science/cl...camelback-shawnee-blue-mountain-20210224.html
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
The following is not really still relevant since it's almost March, but came across an article from last fall about how the Massanutten was planning for the ski season. I've spent more time than usual at Mnut in Jan-Feb. Other than having a shortage of trained lifties in Dec and early Jan, things have fun very smoothly all things considered. By the time MLK weekend was over, it was pretty clear that the limits on ticket sales were working to keep lift line waits quite reasonable. On Saturdays, the waiting time for base lifts was shorter than recent years even though lines looked longer. People learned to alternate lines. Probably did better than usual in fact. There were a few people who were surprised they couldn't just drive up and buy a lift ticket at the ticket window on a Saturday afternoon, but that was pretty unusual.

Fewer people were eating in or around the lodge, so social distancing there was quite good. The advantage of being in VA is that most days sitting outdoors to eat is pretty reasonable. The Mid-Mountain Grill was a good addition (Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon) as a food option for lunch or a snack/drink break. Lifties were reminding people about mask usage, much as they do to check for valid lift tickets or season pass. No one was arguing with the requirement, and few needed a reminder.

Nov. 28, 2020, Daily News Record in Harrisonburg, VA
Massanutten Resort Adapts For Pandemic Winter Season
https://www.dnronline.com/news/loca...cle_c634a126-16c0-5024-ae03-a60c28a26f73.html
". . .
In the weeks leading up to the resort’s winter season, which runs from mid-December to late March, Director of Sports and Safety Kenny Hess is usually working on hiring and training staff for all the activities offered.

But when a pandemic runs into the season, training begins to look different.

“It starts with training the staff on the new restrictions and what we have to do to comply with that and what we can do to keep all of our staff and our guests safe,” he said.

Hess said one of the changes the resort won’t be seeing this season is reducing the number of staff available to work. He said there will still be people needed to work and offer assistance to guests.

“We’re still in the hiring process right now, and a lot of it just depends on how the season goes, but right now I don’t anticipate any fewer employees needed,” he said. “We still plan on offering nearly everything that we’ve offered in the past, minus a few lesson programs and things like that. And in some cases we might have to have a few more employees around just to monitor traffic and things like that.”

In a normal winter season, Hess said the resort hires anywhere from 350 to 450 employees for the ski and snow tubing areas.

While some areas of employment haven’t changed, Paul Crenshaw, manager of the snow sports learning center, said there had been a significant decrease in the amount of instructors available to work this season.

“We always have a shortage of staff,” he said.

Crenshaw, who has been working at the resort for 44 years, said in order to run a 100-day winter season smoothly he needs nearly 200 snow sports instructors each year.

On average, Crenshaw said he gets 130 to 150 instructors every season and this year expects a “severe shortage.”

“I do have some senior instructors taking this year off,” he said. “But we are expecting a wonderful season. Our water supply has improved so all we need is cold weather.”

Crenshaw said a guest is never too old to try snow sports, adding that the oldest student he had was 81 years old.

“It’s the funnest job I have ever had in my life and I would encourage everyone to try it,” he said.

Planning a trip to the slopes, however, is where the major changes can be seen.

In order to visit the resort, Hess said guests will be required to purchase tickets in advance online in order to accommodate capacity restrictions.

Tickets can be purchased through the resort’s website and redeemed at the ticket window.

“We are taking a lot of the transaction part out of it,” Hess said. “But the big thing there is just it’s really the only way that we can account for who all is going to show up and encourage people not to just show up expecting that they can buy a ticket like they could in the past. It’s just a little bit more pre-planning than has ever been required before.”

A new feature the resort this season is a last chair special that offers a reduced two-hour lift ticket good for the last two hours of the day.

With capacity limits based on the amount of trails and lifts open, Hess said the biggest challenge is having limited capacities at the ski lodge and rental shop.

“We’re encouraging people to use their car as much as possible as far as putting their boots on and taking their boots off,” he said. “And maybe brown bagging their lunch as opposed to coming, expecting to get in the cafeteria.”

Food service will still be available, but seating will be limited.

There have also been changes to how the lift will operate.

Hess said only those who traveled together will share a lift, which could lead to longer lines.

“We’ve been living with this for eight months now and I think that the expectations are that you’re going to do the right thing and we need the guests’ help,” he said. “The last thing in the world we want to do is have the uptick spike up further and impose further restrictions, or even close us down like it’s happened in some areas.”
. . ."
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Just realized that Timberline has their season passes for 2021-22 on sale already. Timberline installed RFID, along with the first 6-pack detachable at a small independent hill in WV/VA. With the terrain available, it's a good alternative to Snowshoe (Alterra, Ikon) for people who live in DC/VA/Pittsburgh. It's day-trip distance for people who don't mind driving 2-3 hours one-way.

Talked to a man last week who drove 6 hours from Dayton, OH for a couple days of mid-week skiing, presumably staying overnight in Davis. While there are ski hills in OH, none have anything like the vertical available at Tline.

$359/251 for Any Day
$299/209 for Mon-Fri
$239/167 for once a week, Mon-Fri
Adult vs Jr/Sr rates

Screen Shot 2021-02-28 at 10AM.jpg
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
PA dropped travel restrictions related to COVID-19 as of March 1. I bet Epic passholders who live in DC/NoVA/MD are happy. Whitetail, Liberty, Roundtop seem to have March 21 slated as Closing Day.

Didn't know that PA had a COVID Alert app. Not surprised since VA has one. I've gotten an automatic invitation about it when I've been at Massanutten.

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Ski Sine Fine

Angel Diva
And Liberty’s out of reservations this Saturday and Sunday already. Thankfully I can go on Friday. I’ll go back to M’nut on Sunday (I am really appreciating no reservations for passholders). I also went ahead and snared the following Sunday at Whitetail. Looks like only the weekends fill up ahead of time.
 

HikenSki

Angel Diva
Super excited! Going to try to work my schedule to make Whitetail next Friday. Will be my only trip there this year and will cap my season at six days, most of them half days with sharing baby watching duties with DH. Some time on the snow is better than nothing, especially for this very strange season.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Apparently anyone who buys Ikon for 2021-22 will be able to use it at Snowshoe starting March 12. Of course, if the pass for next season gets used this spring then the deferral option won't be possible any more. Have to decide to defer by Dec, assuming nothing changes by the fall.
 

Ski Sine Fine

Angel Diva
I was able to hit Liberty on Friday and today. I was planning to go to M’nut today (Sunday), but I checked the reservation page last night around 8pm and, lo and behold, Liberty (& Whitetail too) was available for today. It was VERY CROWDED. The rental line went all the way to the ticket counters. The line for the Alpine Quad was unreal. Conditions were heavy, slushy, and choppy on the backside but the front was perfect. I took out my Black Pearl 88s for the spring condition and I had a great time.
 

Tennessee

Angel Diva
Going back up to Beech tomorrow. Had absolutely great corn snow last week so hoping for more of that. Probably the last day for skiing in the South for me because it looks to be warming up after tomorrow. Utah in April!
 

tinymoose

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I didn't make it out today b/c of schoolwork, but Mr. tinymoose says Montage wasn't crowded today.
 

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