Mid-Atlantic/Southeast skiing (PA, NJ, DC, MD, VA, WV, NC, TN) for 2023-24

[marzNC]

With fall colors starting in the Appalachian mountains, it's time to start thinking about the 2023-24 snow season for skiing/boarding in North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and southern New York. If you want to discuss Big SNOW in NJ that has an indoor slope open year round, that's fine too.

NC: Sugar, Beech, Appalachian, Cataloochee*
TN: Ober Gatlinburg*
VA: Bryce*, Massanutten*, Wintergreen
MD: Wisp
WV: Snowshoe***, Canaan Valley*, Timberline, Winterplace*

PA, western: Blue Knob, Seven Springs**, Hidden Valley**, Laurel Mountain**
PA, closest to DC: Liberty**, Roundtop**, Whitetail**
PA, eastern: Elk, Montage*, Jack Frost/Big Boulder**, Blue***, Camelback***, Bear Creek

NY Catskills: Belleayre, Hunter**, Windham***, Plattekill

* - Indy Pass
** - Epic
*** - Ikon

What's new for the above list is that Blue and Camelback are on Ikon. Windham requires Ikon reservations.

For the Mid-Atlantic discussion for 2022-23, click here.

 

[Karenfrances]

Fingers crossed for more snow this year! We did manage to ski at Timberline last season, which did a great job with snowmaking and was therefore pretty crowded, given the paucity of snow at Canaan Valley/Wisp/etc.

 

[marzNC]

The Ski Center LTD in Gaithersburg is having their ski swap and sale on Sunday, Oct. 29, 8am-4pm. People who sell something get 100% store credit.

https://www.myconsignmentsale.com/index.php?SaleName=scss

HOW CAN WE HELP SKI PATROL?

Having enough goods and buyers to purchase all those items will be a significant help. 15% of the proceeds from this event will be donated to Liberty Ski Patrol to be used for training and educational purposes (even though the seller gets 100% store credit). Liberty Ski Patrol is a not-for-profit organization.

 

[marzNC]

Snowshoe is implementing new parking policies.

Parking Changes for 2023.24 Winter Season

• Top of the World Lot A will now be paid parking starting December 14, 2023, with prices ranging from $10-$20 based upon demand. Parking will be free of charge Monday-Wednesday (non-holiday), and during the early and late value season periods.
• Top of the World Lot B will be reserved for Top of the World homeowners and guests.
• Top of the World Lots C & D will be free of charge at all times. Free parking will also continue to be available at Silver Creek and The Inn at Snowshoe. Shuttle services to and from these lots will be available.
• The Village Lot will be reserved exclusive for Village lodging homeowners and guests at no additional charge (including Allegheny Springs, Expedition Station, Highland House, Rimfire and Seneca lodging complexes).
• The Primo Pass Parking Lot will return to the lot adjacent to the Big Top.
• The Skidder Lot will feature premium paid parking, conveniently located slope side and Village adjacent. Pricing will range from $10-$25 daily, first come, first served.
• The Ravenswood Lot will be reserved exclusively for employees and volunteers.

 

[marzNC]

The lift to the summit at Massanutten has changed from a quad fixed-grip that took 7 minutes to a detachable quad that gets people to the top in just under 4 minutes. It opened up in time for fall colors and will operate Wed, Sat, Sun until the end of October.

I stopped by to take a look in early September. The load test had been recently completed.

Looking forward to skiing under the lift line on the new trail called No Hessitation in honor of long time leader for snowsports Kenny Hess. It's rated Double Black. I've walked the top section (dropped a glove) and know how steep and narrow it is up there.

View of the base of the Peak Express, Sept. 5, 2023

 

[marzNC]

Wintergreen has a new website. Also has an app apparently. The trail map looks new.

A feature of Wintergreen is that there are lift ticket specials for home school students.

Wisp is also part of PGRI. The Wisp website has the same look.

 

[marzNC]

Apparently a fair amount of work was done to get the snowmaking infrastructure at Whitetail probably set up. Snowmaking pipe was replaced on one of the trails. More importantly, an air compressor that hasn't been working for two seasons was finally replaced. That should mean Whitetail will be able to run at full capacity when Mother Nature provides the right cold and dry weather conditions.

Anyone get a Northeast Epic pass to use at Whitetail, Liberty, and/or Roundtop?

 

[marzNC]

The Powder Monkey lift at Snowshoe will be a new fixed-grip quad. The goal is to have it ready for opening day on Nov. 23. The old lift was a triple that dated from 1977, which was taken down in April.

There are pictures on the Snowshoe website of progress over the last few months.

Powder Monkey Lift Replacement - Snowshoe Blog

Reading Time: 6 minutes That’s all folks. Powder Monkey is up and running! Thank you for following along on this adventure. Powder Monkey Lift Grand Opening The time has arrived! After many months of…

blog.snowshoemtn.com

 

[marzNC]

Fall colors look like they will be about at peak this weekend at Massanutten. Needless to say tickets for scenic lift rides are sold out. What's unusual is that from the summit, it's possible to see the entire Shenandoah valley because the slopes are in what's called The Kettle at the end of a mountain range.

Massanutten, Oct. 24, 2023


View from the summit of the Kettle in September 2004
from above the old Lift 6 quad that was replaced by Peak Express detachable quad in 2023

 

[Karenfrances]

Your photos are inspiring me to play hooky on Friday and go hiking (which I was already contemplating) .... and in response to a question up-thread, I did not even consider the Epic Northeast pass -- the conditions were so abysmal last year I did not even consider it. I bought Ikon base passes this year so we may try Snowshoe for the first time, or return to Timberline.

 

[marzNC]

Anyone in the DC/NoVA area interested in ski swaps?

Massanutten is having a sale and swap on Saturday, Nov. 18, 8:30am-12 noon, at the ski lodge. Part of the proceeds will benefit the Massanutten Ski and Snowboard Team.

Pro-Fit Ski & Mountain Sports in Leesburg, VA has a swap on Nov. 19. That benefits the Whitetail Ski Patrol.

Ski Center LTD in Gaithersburg is having a swap this Sunday, Oct. 29, 8am-3pm. That benefits the Liberty Ski Patrol.

For more swaps this fall in NoVA and PA:

CALENDAR – SKIDOME

skidome.org

 

[marzNC]

Your photos are inspiring me to play hooky on Friday and go hiking (which I was already contemplating) .... and in response to a question up-thread, I did not even consider the Epic Northeast pass -- the conditions were so abysmal last year I did not even consider it. I bought Ikon base passes this year so we may try Snowshoe for the first time, or return to Timberline.

Snowshoe is worth checking out after all three sections are open (Basin, Western Territory, Silver Creek). You know it's an upside-down resort I presume.

Would you go for a weekend? Staying slopeside or off-mountain?

 

[marzNC]

Mostly for future reference . . . here are how season pass price change for Wintergreen. Definitely worthwhile to make a decision well before early October. Note that a season pass doesn't include the late December holiday week or Saturdays 9am-4pm in January or February.

Wisp has the same schedule for season pass price increases. But not the same restriction for busy Saturdays. Seniors 75+ can get a pass for $29 at Wisp.

PGRI has added College and Military discounts. Now that PGRI owns Jay Peak, Wintergreen and Wisp pass holders get 4 days at Jay.

The websites for PGRI were redone. The look is now consistent for Wisp and Wintergreen (and Ragged).

 

[marzNC]

Massanutten pass prices go up on Nov. 1. Prices are higher than last season. Not too much of a surprise with the new lift to the summit and the trails on the upper mountain that opened last season. The pass prices didn't change for several years before the 2.5 mile water pipeline was installed that significantly increased the water supply for snowmaking.

 

[BlizzardBabe]

I'll be at The Nutt all weekend. Colors should be excellent!

 

[Flowergirl88]

Fingers crossed for more snow this year! We did manage to ski at Timberline last season, which did a great job with snowmaking and was therefore pretty crowded, given the paucity of snow at Canaan Valley/Wisp/etc.

hey! How crowded was 'crowded?' We're thinking of going President's Day weekend.

 

[Karenfrances]

When we were there it felt pretty crowded -- we generally had to park at the mini-mart (I think it's a mini-mart?) and take the shuttle up to the lodge, seating in the lodge was hard to find, the lift line for the main chair could get pretty long, and the slopes felt pretty busy. But this is not to disparage Timberline, which I generally enjoy -- last year it was one of few places near DC that was meaningfully open thanks to their snowmaking capability and it certainly was the only one in that corner of WV/Western Maryland, so folks flocked there. We could see the bare slopes of Canaan Valley as we drove down from Davis. And it wasn't crowded like an I-70 resort on a Saturday (ahem, Winter Park). If we have a better year for snow (and even cold temperatures) I would expect area skiers/boarders to disperse a bit across the resorts.

 

[marzNC]

we generally had to park at the mini-mart (I think it's a mini-mart?)

The little market is owned by Timberline. It has fresh baked goods and coffee, along with prepared dishes that could be good for someone staying in a condo.

 

[marzNC]

Pretty cold driving through PA today. Even saw a few flakes after I-81 turns north towards Scranton. Stopped by to take a look at Montage since @Ski Sine Fine has never been there. We are spending a little time in the Berkshires before heading to Boston for Snowbound Expo. Going to be in the 20s tonight at Jiminy Peak.

Pics taken from webcams today for 7Springs, Hidden Valley, Laurel Mountain showed all white slopes.

 

[marzNC]

Really cold in the NC moutains last night! SkiSE reported the temps and the fact that it SNOWED in WV. There are pics in the article.

November 1, 2023

Natural SNOW This Morning at Southeastern Ski Resorts. See Where!

The first snow of the season for Southeastern and mid-Atlantic ski resorts fell today, November 1st, 2023. See how much and where!

www.skisoutheast.com

" . . .
This morning’s temperatures are f-r-i-g-i-d as we’re seeing:

18° at Appalachian
12° at Beech
18° at Cataloochee
13° at Sugar
18° at Hatley Point

Those not cold enough for you? How about 13-16° at various mountaintops into Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland WITH natural snowfall!?!?!
. . .

The more significant snows fell into West Virginia and Maryland as perhaps 1-2″ of snow has blanketed Snowshoe Mountain, Canaan Valley and Timberline Mountain. A nice dusting of snow also fell at Winterplace Resort. However, the only West Virginia ski area making snow this morning is at Snowshoe Mountain where it is 16° – and they are creating a virtual snow-globe effect across much of their mountain, including over on the Silver Creek side of things.
. . ."