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Mid-Atlantic (VA, WV, MD, PA) for 2012-13

marzNC

Angel Diva
Now that slopes are open all over, it's time for a thread for the folks in the mid-Atlantic. Mostly that means Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland (Wisp), and Pennsylvania, although NJ and parts of NY are within driving range for some mid-Atlantic ski nuts.

Some popular places were featured in this Dec 2012 article for folks living in northern VA and the DC metro area. A good start for beginners and intermediates wondering where to go. But missing Wisp and Snowshoe. Covers Canaan Valley, Timberline, Bryce, Massanutten, Wintergreen, The Homestead (tiny), Liberty, Roundtop, and Whitetail. Reasonable overviews based on what I know. They did goof up for Mnut by saying it was 30 years old when actually Mnut celebrated 40 years last season.

https://www.northernvirginiamag.com/travel/travel-features/2012/12/10/hit-the-slopes/
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Has anyone been to Canaan Valley or Timberline this season? I gather the Tline webcam is fun to watch.
 

Olesya Chornoguz

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I haven't been, but I agree it looks like Timberline great conditions judging from web-cam and almost all trails opened.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Seven Springs is starting early to drum up late season business. Folks with a season pass to ANY ski area will be able to get a FREE lift ticket on Mondays in March. It's on this PDF on the right (next to snowboarding pic).
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
I posted a TR for Massanutten for Jan. 6 here.

Quite unexpectedly, I found that a Charlottesville ski shop, Freestyle, is having a free demo tent at Massanutten this weekend. Not only good selection of women's skis, they brought short ones! With temps in the 60's, it was spring skiing conditions. Way better than testing on ice though.

Freestyle has a shop at Wintergreen. Don said everything they brought today is available for demo there for $40/day, which can be applied to any purchase. Freestyle does a demo tent on the holiday weekends at Wintergreen. But I've never been because of the crowds on any weekend at Wintergreen.

I got to check out the Scott Luna, Rossi Temptation 82 at 152 and 160, Nordica Wild Belle, K2 SuperGlide. They even had a K2 SuperGlide at 146cm that my daughter tried out. For me the winner was the Temptation 82 at 152.
 

va_deb

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Has anyone been to Canaan Valley or Timberline this season? I gather the Tline webcam is fun to watch.

Not yet, but we're big fans of Timberline. That's where we've done most of our ling weekend local trips in past seasons. Wish we could get there more often! Their long green run, Salamander, is really fun for confident beginners and low intermediates. I think it's the longest run in the mid-Atlantic, and it can feel more like a low blue than a green depending on the conditions.
 

va_deb

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
For folks who have been to Timberline, Wisp and Seven Springs, how would you compare the three? We haven't been to the last two, and wonder if we should mix it up a bit.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Snow in the forecast! The ski areas in the mountains of NC, WV, VA are expecting snow on Thursday. Could be 4 inches or more even in the places that don't usually get much. :snow:
 

vickie

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
For folks who have been to Timberline, Wisp and Seven Springs, how would you compare the three?

I've been to Timberline once, Seven Springs maybe 3 times, and Wisp 5 or 6 times. Other than Salamander, what do you like or not like about Timberline?
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
I've been to Timberline once, Seven Springs maybe 3 times, and Wisp 5 or 6 times. Other than Salamander, what do you like or not like about Timberline?
Did you stay overnight when you went to 7Springs or Wisp? If so, where?
 

va_deb

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I've been to Timberline once, Seven Springs maybe 3 times, and Wisp 5 or 6 times. Other than Salamander, what do you like or not like about Timberline?

It was a pretty laid back atmosphere and not very crowded; short lines, reasonable prices. Liked the instructor we had there. Also have found reasonable places to stay and it's just a pretty area overall. You can check out a nearby waterfall and do some hiking if there isn't too much natural snow on the ground. We found it very relaxing.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
The wind has shifted in northern VA! Down 5 degrees near Mnut since midnight. 42 degrees as of 7:30am. Local TV station prediction is for a high of 41 with 80% chance of snow, then cold temps at night consistently for the next week, including teens by MLK Day. Looking good for our long weekend Jan. 25-28 at Mnut with friends! :clap:
 

vickie

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Did you stay overnight when you went to 7Springs or Wisp? If so, where?

Stayed at Seven Springs once -- convenient, but expensive

Stayed at Wisp's hotel once -- we weren't planning to, but stopped in to get lift tickets for the next day and just asked how much they charge for rooms. In the end, for two of us, (Ski 'n Stay cost) - (full price lift ticket cost) = $12 a night. Couldn't beat that deal. I don't know that that kind of price is normally available, but may be worth checking out.

Otherwise, I have stayed at the Comfort Inn on Garrett Hwy just in front of Wisp and have stayed at some other dog-friendly hotel near(er) Frostburg when my dog was with me.

It was a pretty laid back atmosphere and not very crowded; short lines, reasonable prices.

I don't think Seven Springs or Wisp will compare with Timberline in any of those areas. I can't speak with certainty re: Seven Springs' crowds during prime time; I've been there mostly on a weekday or when the weather was nasty to begin with. I think what some like about Seven Springs is that it gives you a big resort feel even though it's not.

Wisp is nice for that +/- intermediate level skier. It's at the edge of a town so you have plenty of facilities nearby. It does get busy on weekends, but the lines are mostly at the lifts that are right behind the building and mostly in the afternoon. If you plan your runs, you can avoid those lifts quite a bit.

My preference, in that area, is to park at a hotel and commute to a couple of places. Wisp is an hour or so from Timberline and Canaan Valley in one direction and an hour from Seven Springs in another. IIRC, we hit that area and then scooted on up to Blue Knob on one trip ... about another hour+ north of Seven Springs. (That should get a 'hmmm' from Marznc for her February trip!)
 

Olesya Chornoguz

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Timberline sounds very attractive! Never being to 7Springs or Wisp, although heard good things about them. DH thinks these too are a bit too far for a day trip and it's hard to convince him to do a weekend trip. We go on 1 week-long ski vacation every year since we started skiing two yeard ago, but I always want more skiing. :smile:
 

Pandita

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I am a regular at 7 springs. I ski weekends. During the holidays some lift lines are longer than others, but it isn't bad 5-7 minute wait to get on the lift, depending on the lift. Lots to do. I always have a great time. There is always something fun going on. Just like many mid-atlantic resorts it has some nice intermediate terrain, about 7 black diamond runs, NASTAR, half-pipe, terrain parks.
 

vickie

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Thanks, Pandita. I was hoping you'd see this thread and give some insight on 7 Springs.

A side note ... 7 Springs is where I did my first black diamond. A fond memory. We were night skiing. The lift went over this trail that looked like a blue. When I got back to the lodge, I asked my (advanced skier) friend to ski it with me. I survived it, without falling. That's the night I learned that lifts are like rear view mirrors ... objects appear very differently from them than they are in reality.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
One of these days, I'm going to spend a few days checking out western PA, Wisp, and Davis, WV. For this winter, I'll mostly be at Mnut with perhaps a mid-week day or two at Wintergreen.

Working on a plan to get to BK to meet up with DCSki/EpicSki folks Feb. 22-23. If anyone is interested in sharing a motel room that Friday night, send me a PM.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
It's 30 degrees at Mnut, dew point 9 . . . snow guns are blazing! :clap:

Icy roads in central NC this morning because first it snowed 1-5 inches starting about 8:30pm and then the temps went down to just below 32. Closest temp at 7am was around 30. Some schools are closed for the day while others will open 1 or 2 hours late. Accidents on bridges all over the place.
 

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