Had a very good time with my teen ski buddy and @wernerslab at Big SNOW on Sunday afternoon, July 27. Always fun to ski with a new Diva. 
There was a demo tent for snowboarders, but in general there were fewer people on the slopes than I expected. Might be because there was a large outdoor festival that day. In any case, it was well worth the 1-hour drive from Shawnee in the Poconos where I was relaxing for a few days.
Since my friend who came with me from NC had never been to American Dream, she and I arrived early. That made it easy to get great parking in Lot A near the door next to the elevators. Although I missed the usual entrance and had to wander through the drop-off area. Found the entrance on the other side, which is actually easier for parking near the door. The traffic was far worse getting to the Lot A later on when @wernerslab arrived.
Big SNOW opens at 10:00am. Almost everything else inside the mall doesn’t open until 11:00. We walked around the area that includes the waterpark and other activities. The rink was operating as a roller skating rink. After an early lunch at the food court on the third floor we headed to Big SNOW for the teen’s 12:15 entry time. Since it wasn’t busy, we were able to go into the locker room shortly after 12:00. I was using a 6-pack I bought on sale in August 2024 so could go in anytime. There were people who had clearly started at 10:00 and were in the process of leaving. We made use of the changing rooms near the restrooms.
There were a few differences from a year ago. Big SNOW is enforcing the 1-year expiration for multi-packs now. I happened to see a man trying to enter who found out that his multi-pack had expired a few days before. You walk directly into the center of the locker room instead of by the gondola cabins that used to show an introductory video for newbies. They stopped using wristbands and simply give out an RFID card to everyone who doesn’t have one pre-loaded.
My friend did the full package that includes rental jacket, pants, boots, poles, and skis. She brought her own helmet, gloves, and ski socks. The last few years her mother opted to get seasonal rental boots from our local shop in NC. She’s been using skis I don’t use to ski Massanutten (northern VA). The first pair of boots was 2 sizes too big, based only on asking for shoe size. I told her to get one size smaller, which worked out okay. There weren’t any poles the correct length handy so she just skied without poles. She’s a solid intermediate skier who likes to do little snow jumps and skating is easy for her. After a few runs, she opted to ditch the insulated jacket and was more comfortable in a sweatshirt.
I was happy to have an insulated jacket and insulated pants. Wore a long-sleeve shirt, yoga pants, and a mid-weight vest, and used warm gloves. Since we skied for almost 2 hours without a break, I was comfortable enough but could've used used a warmer base layer shirt. Just hard to keep warm with 1 min runs. Even when there wasn't much of a wait to load the quad lift.
All in all, a fun excursion to get in a few turns during the summer.
The line of people waiting for the water park to open at 11:00
The main slope at 1:00pm on Sunday, July 27
Snow playground, demo tents near the wall
There was a demo tent for snowboarders, but in general there were fewer people on the slopes than I expected. Might be because there was a large outdoor festival that day. In any case, it was well worth the 1-hour drive from Shawnee in the Poconos where I was relaxing for a few days.
Since my friend who came with me from NC had never been to American Dream, she and I arrived early. That made it easy to get great parking in Lot A near the door next to the elevators. Although I missed the usual entrance and had to wander through the drop-off area. Found the entrance on the other side, which is actually easier for parking near the door. The traffic was far worse getting to the Lot A later on when @wernerslab arrived.
Big SNOW opens at 10:00am. Almost everything else inside the mall doesn’t open until 11:00. We walked around the area that includes the waterpark and other activities. The rink was operating as a roller skating rink. After an early lunch at the food court on the third floor we headed to Big SNOW for the teen’s 12:15 entry time. Since it wasn’t busy, we were able to go into the locker room shortly after 12:00. I was using a 6-pack I bought on sale in August 2024 so could go in anytime. There were people who had clearly started at 10:00 and were in the process of leaving. We made use of the changing rooms near the restrooms.
There were a few differences from a year ago. Big SNOW is enforcing the 1-year expiration for multi-packs now. I happened to see a man trying to enter who found out that his multi-pack had expired a few days before. You walk directly into the center of the locker room instead of by the gondola cabins that used to show an introductory video for newbies. They stopped using wristbands and simply give out an RFID card to everyone who doesn’t have one pre-loaded.
My friend did the full package that includes rental jacket, pants, boots, poles, and skis. She brought her own helmet, gloves, and ski socks. The last few years her mother opted to get seasonal rental boots from our local shop in NC. She’s been using skis I don’t use to ski Massanutten (northern VA). The first pair of boots was 2 sizes too big, based only on asking for shoe size. I told her to get one size smaller, which worked out okay. There weren’t any poles the correct length handy so she just skied without poles. She’s a solid intermediate skier who likes to do little snow jumps and skating is easy for her. After a few runs, she opted to ditch the insulated jacket and was more comfortable in a sweatshirt.
I was happy to have an insulated jacket and insulated pants. Wore a long-sleeve shirt, yoga pants, and a mid-weight vest, and used warm gloves. Since we skied for almost 2 hours without a break, I was comfortable enough but could've used used a warmer base layer shirt. Just hard to keep warm with 1 min runs. Even when there wasn't much of a wait to load the quad lift.
All in all, a fun excursion to get in a few turns during the summer.
The line of people waiting for the water park to open at 11:00
The main slope at 1:00pm on Sunday, July 27
Snow playground, demo tents near the wall
