Mid-Atlantic 2021-2022 Mid-Atlantic Ski Resorts/Conditions/Meetups

[cantunamunch]

Yes. Obviously a lot can change and it depends on the weather app, but if it's 60 degrees and rainy at Snowshoe, that does not bode well for skiing far into March. (And it bodes even worse for the North Carolina resorts, who can typically expect temperatures that are even hotter.)

Sunday sure is looking ugly - but might be good for Killington. After that I don't even want to look. Good thing my new bike brakes arrived.

 

[pipestem]

what a come-down - 2 weeks ago the best conditions of the year and then a crash. I did not go to WG on Sunday - the next day forecast was for 55F while 4 days earlier it was 37F. Saturday might have been their last half-decent day of the year (mid-30s). No one is going to last long at this rate. Several years ago I had one of my best Snowshoe days on April 4, how times have changed.

 

[pipestem]

I hope you all saw Chip Chase's recent post in the facebook group....

 

[cantunamunch]

what a come-down - 2 weeks ago the best conditions of the year and then a crash. I did not go to WG on Sunday - the next day forecast was for 55F while 4 days earlier it was 37F. Saturday might have been their last half-decent day of the year (mid-30s).

I was wrong when I posted this ... by ~9 days. At least we got that week and a bit.

You have about 3 more weeks of relatively decent season here (read: drive less than 4 hours for not slush) . Don't miss it. After that it's a destination sport.

 

[Decreed_It]

Trip report from Scout trip to Winterplace Feb 26-27

2 days of warm rain prior to arrival didn't help the WROD, er BRODs much. However it turned cold Friday evening and the guns came on, and with some heroic grooming Saturday skied ok. Not great. Not good. Just ok. Very thin in places, obviously. Still the Scouts skied bell to bell and a group of them, my son included, got run off the hill at 9 PM by Ski Patrol

Since Saturday was much cooler only reaching 36ish the sno-er-ice pack recovered somewhat and Sunday AM was downright acceptable. Actually got some carve turns on my new Blossom No.1 RCs - good times. A very few turns as Winterplace is a mere 603 ft top to bottom and those feet are heavily broken up. But some nice turns were had nonetheless.

Other observations. They specialize in group trips. The cabins were very nice relative to other bunk house style cabins our Troop has frequented. 12 beds in the form of 4x3 stout bunks - they're rock solid, no shaking or wobbling even w/ 2 or 3 growed-ass men up on there. 2 sink, 2 head, 1 shower bathroom, 4 of these per cabin, we had 2, Dads on one side boys on the other. Worked out fine. Nowhere to "après" though, literally nothing but bunks and floorspace.

The lodge is what you might expect, huge cafeteria style room, old, run down, as is the bar. Which was fun as I snuck away from afternoon skiing to catch Carolina - State basketball game and observe the local wildlife. Take me home, country roads indeed (they of course had the token dude playing guitar and singing songs, gotta love it). The food is . . . about 1 notch above prison industrial. I've had my allocation of bad french fries for the quarter that's for sure.

Interesting/weird - they have a fixed quad next to a fixed triple in several places - the quads were off and didn't look to have been run in some time. The triples smacked me good to the point I have bruises on both calves - took a while to re-learn to catch the danged things. That's a big capital investment not in use, or even needed. Lines on Saturday at the main one at the top of the hill servicing their only black runs (2) got to maybe 7-8 minutes wait.

Sad to see how much trash is under the lifts. Way more beer, truly cans, airplane, pint bottles, trash, and more wayward poles, gloves and hats than I'm used to seeing. At least in NC they put trashcans down there for people to try to hit. There's a reason Appalachia has a trailer trash stereotype, particularly WV and that kind of mess ain't helping. Was a bit of a bummer to *slowly* pass over it again and again . . .

Turkey Chute their arguably blackest and best run - a mere dusting on it from the overnight guns, no base, and a guy from another Scout troop who's been every year said he'd not seen it open in at least 3 years. I get it, it's a beginner hill and snowmaking is expensive, but I'd love to ski it if I'm ever there again and it happens to be open.

Hat's off to the staff and owners for persevering in the face of stiff headwinds. I imagine if not my lifetime, absolutely our kids' lifetimes there won't be skiing at that elevation/latitude in the SE US. Kind of miraculous there was skiing this past weekend as it is. Was surprised to find max elev was 3600, base at 2990ish - a good 2000 feet lower than NC's highest (ok 1800 but close enough). The vibe was beginner cool, families, and affordable. If not for the independents like Winterplace the sport would be less accessible for normal people than it already is. Someone out there this weekend got the bug for life and will be a skier and THAT is good news.

All in all - if not for this Scout trip I wouldn't have gone. Glad I did. The boys had an absolute blast and end of the day, that's all that really matters!

 

[johnnyvw]

Extended forecast is looking a bit warm up in the mountains the next 12 days. Pretty much resigned myself that I'll be waiting until next year to ski in NC. Oh well....

 

[crgildart]

Wow, Turkey Chute was ALWAYS skiing well the times we went, but again MLK weekend 2020 was the last time we went before the kid aged out of the troop. Yes it rained then too hahaha

 

[Decreed_It]

Wow, Turkey Chute was ALWAYS skiing well the times we went, but again MLK weekend 2020 was the last time we went before the kid aged out of the troop. Yes it rained then too hahaha
View attachment 161417

From the looks of it they hadn't bothered to blow any snow on it all season - it was as bare as the surrounding territory

 

[pipestem]

That's too bad. About 16 years ago, I took my 10 and 8 year old kids to WP on 2 overnight trips in feb and march to introduce them to skiing. Both times it was 100% open and we happened to hit 8+" snowfalls. All lifts running and the entire place seemed smalll but seemed well run. They had an operating Nastar slope. As typical we brought our lunches and could park near the lodge. Kids were hooked. Turkey had killer diaganol ice rut moguls. Over the next few years we generally went once a year but none in the last 10+ years.
ps: scout trips always to Timberline and then Snowshoe (yes I found scout quarters for both).

 

[wgo]

Couple of hours today at Mnut on the 2 hour last chair special. Got there about 20 minutes before the RFID card would activate so I had no choice but to enjoy a beer in the sunshine on the deck. Then a couple of hours on the short line of soft bumps on Paradice. Good times!

 

[wgo]

And I am not sure what the rest of the local season looks like for me. Maybe another day at timberline on the 12th or 13th depending on conditions. Hopefully something before my trip to Abasin the first week of April.

 

[skidrew]

Sad to see how much trash is under the lifts. Way more beer, truly cans, airplane, pint bottles, trash, and more wayward poles, gloves and hats than I'm used to seeing. At least in NC they put trashcans down there for people to try to hit. There's a reason Appalachia has a trailer trash stereotype, particularly WV and that kind of mess ain't helping. Was a bit of a bummer to *slowly* pass over it again and again . . .

Kind of wonder if the barrels are seen as a challenge leading to more dumping? Fortunately haven't encountered this . . . just trash barrels at the bottom and top of lifts at other resorts. Doesn't seem too hard to hold your trash for the full lift ride and then drop there, but, hey, maybe that's just my attitude towards litter.

Poles/gloves/hats are just folks not used to having to hold on to their equipment I'd guess.

 

[Decreed_It]

Doesn't seem too hard to hold your trash for the full lift ride and then drop there, but, hey, maybe that's just my attitude towards litter.

Mine as well.. They do have no alcohol signs posted up so I wonder if people think tossing the cans and bottles off the lift is "hiding" it.

 

[cantunamunch]

 

[pipestem]

Kind of wonder if the barrels are seen as a challenge leading to more dumping? Fortunately haven't encountered this . . . just trash barrels at the bottom and top of lifts at other resorts. Doesn't seem too hard to hold your trash for the full lift ride and then drop there, but, hey, maybe that's just my attitude towards litter.

More like defiance. I take it you didn't grow up in this region.

 

[crgildart]

View attachment 161540

Learning to t-mark in warm GRABBY snow is additionally challenging. Ask me now I know.. Didn't go over the handlebars, but thought I was going to scorpion several times.. They had that during one of the gatherings we had there a few years back. It worked out well skiing with my youngest in greens. Going/trying freeheel made it more fun for me.

 

[SCWVA]

Wow, Turkey Chute was ALWAYS skiing well the times we went......
View attachment 161417

When Turkey Chute at WP was cut, they left a lot of the tree stumps. For the first couple of years it had stumps and bumps for your skiing enjoyment.

Also, having a trash can before the last lift tower is pretty common. Got to get rid of the evidence somewhere. The trash barrel at the top of 7Springs' six pack was always full in heavy use.

 

[crgildart]

PSA This is $125 at Durham ReStore. Didn't see keys but unlocked. You can probably get new lock cores for it.

 

[SCWVA]

View attachment 161540

The clinic at TLM was pretty well attended today.
They ended up having 32 participants. Good day on the snow.

 

[jdm00]

Great conditions at Silver Creek this morning. Maybe the best I’ve skied this year.