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Mid-Atlantic/Southeast skiing (PA, NJ, DC, MD, VA, WV, NC) for 2021-22

marzNC

Angel Diva
Going to be some deep snow totals in the SE (TN, NC, VA, WV) from the snowstorm that starts midday on Sunday, Jan. 16. Cataloochee is expected to be a big winner. Brad is totally excited about the next few weeks.

 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Lift lines were as expected for the Saturday of MLK Weekend at Massanutten. For Easy Rider, probably a bit shorter than recent years because the long magic carpet on Meadow was open. So beginners could stay over there instead of dealing with the chairlift. Meadow was the original beginner terrain when Mnut opened in the 1970s. Back then there was a J-bar.

There was snowmaking all day.

Easy Rider around noon, showing 1 of 2 RFID gates. The liftie managing the merge has a tablet that presumably shows info about RFID cards.
IMG_2729.jpeg
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Those are the kinds of lines I'm used to seeing at Gore. ETA: for the gondola
Have you ever tried skiing Gore on MLK weekend Saturday?

I didn't stay long enough to time it, but in the past a line like that is 10-15 minutes unless there are a lot of beginners who messed up loading or unloading.

Advantage at Mnut is that there is never a lift line for the quad to the peak, even on a holiday weekend. My friends were skiing Paradice in the afternoon. They had a semi-private lesson in the morning so were cutting lines in any case.
 

Lmk92

Angel Diva
Have you ever tried skiing Gore on MLK weekend Saturday?

I didn't stay long enough to time it, but in the past a line like that is 10-15 minutes unless there are a lot of beginners who messed up loading or unloading.

Advantage at Mnut is that there is never a lift line for the quad to the peak, even on a holiday weekend. My friends were skiing Paradice in the afternoon. They had a semi-private lesson in the morning so were cutting lines in any case.
No, I've been lucky! I learned quickly that we had to try to plan our trips midweek. Gore has a "take your kids skiing" week, where kids ski free with a paying adult. So my three kids skied for free all week. They do it twice a year, but it's so far for us, we just always went once.
 

Lmk92

Angel Diva
Also the nice thing about the ORCA ski resorts is that they consider adult starting at 20. Plus, the last time I had my kids at Belleayre, they discounted the college kids' tickets, even though they were over 20. I'm not sure if they do that regularly, though.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Presumably 24-hour snowmaking at all the WV/VA ski slopes today and perhaps Saturday too. Although hopefully the guns will be off on all but the black trails that need more coverage. Conditions this weekend should be excellent. Snowshoe is sold out of general tickets for Sat, Jan. 22. Still some Silver Creek tickets left.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
As of 11:30am, Fri, Jan. 21, Massanutten has guns on for the upper mountain but off for the greens.

Fun to watch the beginners enjoying the new Meadow trail (where the J-bar used to be). Unlike Easy Rider (formerly Geronimo) and Southern Comfort, Meadow doesn't have a double fall line. Also no reason for advanced or even intermediate folks to be speeding down that slope, which can be intimidating on Southern Comfort at times. It seems to be what Snow Operating calls a "perfect slope." Riding up the long magic carpet takes a while though. More likely to stop than the shorter magic carpet closer to the ski school building.

There are Terrain Based Learning (TM) features in the main teaching area, now called Paul's Way. That's the area between the two shorter magic carpets right in front of the ski school building. There is a Minipipe and banked turns set up. Massanutten worked with Snow Operating during the 2019-20 season. It's made quite a difference for beginners and the rental process. Definitely an improvement compared to the old process for getting boots and skis/boards set up.

Terrain Based Learning at Mountain Creek
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Massanutten is clearly finding a lot of demand with snow still visible all over northern VA. There was snow in the shade even in southern VA on my way home to NC a few days ago.

Limiting rentals will be a good idea. For Monday Night Madness on MLK Day, it was far more popular than pre-pandemic. There weren't enough staff setting up bindings for skis and boards so that wait was an hour for some people.

MASSANUTTEN SNOW CONDITIONS
UPDATED 07:21am 01/22/2022

A bit brisk out there this morning with sunshine warming to the mid to upper 20s. Snowmaking will be shutting down by mid morning. USASA event on Diamond Jim today and tomorrow with slope share on Diamond Jim until early afternoon. Great skiing and riding today!

We anticipate reaching capacity today and we recommend purchasing your slope use and rentals in advance online to reserve your spot. Once online capacity limits are met on busy days (holidays & weekends), we will have limited availablity
for walk up ticket purchases and ski & snowboard rental may not be available for purchase. If tickets are unavailable online, we strongly recommend choosing another session or day.
 

HikenSki

Angel Diva
We arrived here at Timberline this evening. Skiing next three days, with hubby and I switching out parenting duties every few hours. We are slopeside with a view of the super fast lift that Snowshoe should have had years ago. Snow looks fantastic! Been many years since we've driven out this way and had snow on the ground. I am beyond excited since I missed skiing during our last trip out here back in March! Super rusty of course with very limited skiing the last two years thanks to pregnancy and an infant, so looking to take it easy and cruise, enjoy my dance with the mountain. :yahoo::ski2:
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
We arrived here at Timberline this evening.
If you like Italian food, the new Mama Mia restaurant next to the Ski Barn is really good. We had dinner there on a Monday and had plenty of leftovers to reheat for Tuesday. We stayed in a slopeside room at the Timberline Hotel. It's the building with balconies right below the base of the lifts.

Have fun!
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Massanutten is adjusting sales of rentals to avoid the long lines that happened on MLK Day. Even though that was a holiday, ticket prices are non-holiday and Monday Night Madness still happen. Pre-pandemic that was not an issue. But with snowstorms in the region, continued cold temps, and pandemic-driven demand there are a lot more people who want to take advantage of $25 tickets and $25 rentals to get on the slopes on a Monday from 4pm to 9pm. With all the trails lit and solid coverage, that's quite a deal.

MASSANUTTEN SNOW CONDITIONS
UPDATED 07:25am 01/24/2022

Mostly cloudy with high's in the lower 30s. The groomers have done their usual outstanding job and the hill is in superb condition again today.

MONDAY NIGHT MADNESS TONIGHT - ONCE ONLINE CAPCITY FOR TONIGHT'S MONDAY NIGHT MADNESS HAS BEEN MET, WE WILL NOT OFFER WALK UP RENTAL EQUIPMENT SALES. BUY AHEAD TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT.

We anticipate reaching capacity today and we recommend purchasing your slope use and rentals in advance online to reserve your spot. Once online capacity limits are met on busy days (holidays & weekends), we will have limited availabilityfor walk up ticket purchases and ski & snowboard rental may not be available for purchase. If tickets are unavailable online, we strongly recommend choosing another session or day.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Unfortunately Freestyle in Charlottesville has decided to close after the 2021-22 season. It's been a full-service shop for decades and well be sorely missed. It was founded by Sepp Kober, Sr. who was called the Father of Southeast Skiing.

Screen Shot 2022-01-24 at 11.08.52 AM.png
 

HikenSki

Angel Diva
Well, Timberline appears to be my nemesis. Ugh. 11 years ago I fell on a horrible icy patch here and had a bad fall that resulted in a herniated L5/S1 disc. Sixth run of the day yesterday, I had a bad fall. I had just commented to myself that the snow was getting hard to read with the lower light and clouds. No sooner did I have that thought that I hit some funky snow, crossed my tips in the turn, and went down hard. I torgued my right knee as I separated the skis from each other and slid off the side of the trail. Thankfully the fluffy snow stopped me and kept my back and head from hitting a tree. Two guys stopped to help get my skis off because I couldn't get to my bindings and my legs were stuck. I was able to get up and walk to my skis and very slowly skied back to the lodge. Picked up some baggies for ice from ski patrol and accepted that my trip is done for and it will only be my husband enjoying the amazing snow the next two days. Thankfully, my passes are good next year and I was able to get a credit for a short ski day, so not out too much other than skiing fun. :frown::cry:
 

TNtoTaos

Angel Diva
Unfortunately Freestyle in Charlottesville has decided to close after the 2021-22 season. It's been a full-service shop for decades and well be sorely missed. It was founded by Sepp Kober, Sr. who was called the Father of Southeast Skiing.

View attachment 17677
I would have liked to shop their clearance sale, but alas, they don't seem to have an online store.
 

TNtoTaos

Angel Diva
Well, Timberline appears to be my nemesis. Ugh. 11 years ago I fell on a horrible icy patch here and had a bad fall that resulted in a herniated L5/S1 disc. Sixth run of the day yesterday, I had a bad fall. I had just commented to myself that the snow was getting hard to read with the lower light and clouds. No sooner did I have that thought that I hit some funky snow, crossed my tips in the turn, and went down hard. I torgued my right knee as I separated the skis from each other and slid off the side of the trail. Thankfully the fluffy snow stopped me and kept my back and head from hitting a tree. Two guys stopped to help get my skis off because I couldn't get to my bindings and my legs were stuck. I was able to get up and walk to my skis and very slowly skied back to the lodge. Picked up some baggies for ice from ski patrol and accepted that my trip is done for and it will only be my husband enjoying the amazing snow the next two days. Thankfully, my passes are good next year and I was able to get a credit for a short ski day, so not out too much other than skiing fun. :frown::cry:
MAJOR Bummer! So sorry you crashed, but TG it wasn't worse, AFA injuries go. Hopefully you'll recover soon enough to get some Spring skiing in!
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Well, Timberline appears to be my nemesis. Ugh. 11 years ago I fell on a horrible icy patch here and had a bad fall that resulted in a herniated L5/S1 disc. Sixth run of the day yesterday, I had a bad fall. I had just commented to myself that the snow was getting hard to read with the lower light and clouds. No sooner did I have that thought that I hit some funky snow, crossed my tips in the turn, and went down hard. I torgued my right knee as I separated the skis from each other and slid off the side of the trail. Thankfully the fluffy snow stopped me and kept my back and head from hitting a tree. Two guys stopped to help get my skis off because I couldn't get to my bindings and my legs were stuck. I was able to get up and walk to my skis and very slowly skied back to the lodge. Picked up some baggies for ice from ski patrol and accepted that my trip is done for and it will only be my husband enjoying the amazing snow the next two days. Thankfully, my passes are good next year and I was able to get a credit for a short ski day, so not out too much other than skiing fun. :frown::cry:
Oh no! Once the the visibility disappears it's definitely harder to avoid the funky snow. I'm actually recovering from a knee tweak from my day at Timberline a couple weeks ago. It was snowing and I was wasn't paying attention enough for the conditions on a blue groomer. Caught an inside edge. Binding popped but a bit too slowly because of how I came to a stop. So I have a day left on my RFID card. It's pretty cool that Timberline carries over stuff to the next season if necessary.

Sending healing thoughts. :smile:
 

HikenSki

Angel Diva
Oh no! Once the the visibility disappears it's definitely harder to avoid the funky snow. I'm actually recovering from a knee tweak from my day at Timberline a couple weeks ago. It was snowing and I was wasn't paying attention enough for the conditions on a blue groomer. Caught an inside edge. Binding popped but a bit too slowly because of how I came to a stop. So I have a day left on my RFID card. It's pretty cool that Timberline carries over stuff to the next season if necessary.

Sending healing thoughts. :smile:
Yikes, hope you recover for future trips! This was it for the winter for us. Maybe a one day visit to Whitetail but unlikely. So glad can use the tickets next year's. Would be pissed if it was like Snowshoe and we paid for three designated days and if can't ski, oh well. They are calling for more snow overnight so hubby gets another fantastic day tomorrow. :-(
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Yikes, hope you recover for future trips! This was it for the winter for us. Maybe a one day visit to Whitetail but unlikely. So glad can use the tickets next year's. Would be pissed if it was like Snowshoe and we paid for three designated days and if can't ski, oh well. They are calling for more snow overnight so hubby gets another fantastic day tomorrow. :-(
I got an assessment from the ortho urgent care near my house fairly quickly. He confirmed my guess that it was a minor MCL strain. He didn't say anything after he asked when I was planning on skiing again and I said early Feb. ROM is pretty much back to normal. He gave me PT exercises to do at home. I recognize all of them from knee rehab in 2012.

Since I have the luxury of being retired and my daughter is away at college, it's easy to rest for the next week or so before I fly to Albuquerque.

Your hubby will owe you for a future trip. By then your kid will be a lot more mobile. :wink:
 

berryblondeboys

Certified Ski Diva
Hey all - We live in MD and we do all our skiing at the most local resorts. We have had passes to the three resorts: Liberty, Whitetail, and RoundTop. My son and I have only skied at Liberty as we thought it was the closest to our house, but we realized Whitetail is about the same distance. My partner has been there once and he said that for him, it had nicer advanced runs for advanced skiers (he's an experienced, good skier), but he wasn't sure how it was for advanced beginners (or plain beginners) and he wants to be sure there is enough for my son and me. When we ski at Liberty, we always go on the blue run on the front side of the mountain (Which is easier blue). On Thursday, we will try the backside Blue which is a longer run and a bit more difficult. My teen and I aren't ready for black or double black diamond). My partner could do any of those, but he felt the runs were better at WhiteTail for him than Liberty, but it's been YEARS since he's been there and we have no idea if the resort has been updated in all these years or if the routes have changed.

If you have any feedback on what you think is better for advanced beginners, I would love to hear it.
 

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