SWriverstone Posted February 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 You've got a point...except I love other snowsports besides carving—I've dreamed for years of living someplace where I can X-C ski every day all winter—right from my front door. Ditto for snowshoeing and backcountry skiing. I want to live right there, without having to commute to play (I've been doing that for 20 years and am kinda burned out on all the driving!) To me, the worst winters of all are winters without snow...which is exactly what we have in the Mid-Atlantic. Temps in the 30s with clouds and freezing rain and sleet are a living nightmare—you can't do anything in that crap! But a winter that's below freezing day and night for months, with perpetual snow cover blanketing the ground? I'll take that any day. Still, I hear you—I wouldn't be miserable in a place like Reno (or Bellingham, Washington or Bend, Oregon). Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvrocks Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 I was the same, thought someone got hurt... I think its not that you need to get out of the mid atlantic, you just need to expand your range a bit. Snowshoe, Timberline, Wisp, maybe 7 Springs. They will all be open into late March. Tline and Snowshoe will make it to the 1st or 2nd weekend in April. There is still plenty of great riding to be had and crowds will be getting smaller every day. I rode fresh pow Monday at Timberline with maybe 100 other people. I do agree that Snowshoe can suck on weekends. Way too crowded to carve comfortably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvrocks Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 You've got a point...except I love other snowsports besides carving—I've dreamed for years of living someplace where I can X-C ski every day all winter—right from my front door. Ditto for snowshoeing and backcountry skiing. I want to live right there, without having to commute to play (I've been doing that for 20 years and am kinda burned out on all the driving!)To me, the worst winters of all are winters without snow...which is exactly what we have in the Mid-Atlantic. Temps in the 30s with clouds and freezing rain and sleet are a living nightmare—you can't do anything in that crap! But a winter that's below freezing day and night for months, with perpetual snow cover blanketing the ground? I'll take that any day. Still, I hear you—I wouldn't be miserable in a place like Reno (or Bellingham, Washington or Bend, Oregon). Scott Chip at Whitegrass in Canaan Valley is reporting 85 skiable days and 171 inches of snow this season. Its closer to you than you think. only problem... bring your own job. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWriverstone Posted February 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 You speak the truth wvrocks. :) And the reality is that I probably *will* get to T-line and Snowshoe in March. Like I said, the commuting just gets to me. I've spent two decades driving a total of probably over 100,000 miles to get to whitewater rivers...hang gliding sites...carving resorts...etc. You might not be there yet...but eventually all the schlepping around catches up to you. You reach a point where you just say "Screw it, life's too valuable to spend a third of it in the car." That's why I'm jonesing to move someplace that's 15 minutes from everything. Such places do exist...but you definitely have to bring the job with you! I'm a writer, so that's feasible for me (just need to build up the client base a bit more before moving...) Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrapster Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 What kind of writing do you do? Now the fine the wordsmithing in your original post has been placed in proper context. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWriverstone Posted February 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 What kind of writing do you do? Now the fine the wordsmithing in your original post has been placed in proper context. Eh, I just banged that original post out. :) For a living, I write a lot of marketing/communications BS for corporate and business clients. (Website copy, brochures, press releases, video scripts...the usual stuff.) Recently I've begun to write more purely human interest material for magazines, mostly regional publications in this area. That's what I plan to start doing more of...as it can result in much more freedom! Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvrocks Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 You speak the truth wvrocks. :) And the reality is that I probably *will* get to T-line and Snowshoe in March.You might not be there yet...but eventually all the schlepping around catches up to you. You reach a point where you just say "Screw it, life's too valuable to spend a third of it in the car." Scott Drop me a line before you come to T-line, I'll hook you up with lift tickets. I completely understand your dislike of commuting. I had a 4 hr roundtrip commute for 3 years, then a 1 hr RT for 2 years. I'm down to 30 min now and its great. Spending your life in a car sucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWriverstone Posted February 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 Waitaminit wvrocks—I might know you! Did you come to a MAC Tracks event at Ski Roundtop in PA in the past few years? I remember meeting a couple from Canaan Valley...whose names escape me at the moment...but they both carved—I think he might have worked in fire and rescue, and she was a GIS person for an environmental organization... If that's not you, maybe you know them? Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boarderboy Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 Do you guys actually like riding Snowshoe? I started riding Snowshoe 20+ years ago, which wasn't that long after Doc Brigham (a dentist, I think) founded the place. It was basic and rough-edged. It also had decent grooming/snowmaking, the most terrain around, and (often) the best natural snowfall south of New England. From Raleigh, N.C., it was a trip, lengthy at best, but when you got there, you felt like you were really in the boonies. Because you were really in the boonies. You had to work (drive) for your turns, And the latter stages of the trip could be picturesque (if it wasn't 2:00 in the A.M.) as you passed through unique, but declining, Rust Belt villages like Iron Gate and Clifton Forge and White Sulfur Springs and Marlinton, (W.Va.). The route often paralleled clear, rushing, trout streams. There were also bucolic valleyscapes and long stretches when the oh-so-green Monongahela Forest seemed to swallow up the highway. And if your trip coincided with nighttime snowfall, things could get very, very dicey - (and icy.) But it was all worth it because of The Shoe's aforementioned virtues. Some of its trails were, indeed, winding and narrow, but that forced you to become a better rider. There were a couple of gladey patches that could be your (forbidden) intro to tree boarding. And some of its wider slopes were OK for a carving neophyte. In short, the terrain was varied, snow cover and grooming were often quite good, and it did often come through with spring storms that offered the best glisse south of Stowe. Finally, and this was very important, it had a "cancel the day before" policy that allowed you to back out on reservations with no penalty if the weather turned bad, and even in the coldest winters, Cheat Mountain was not immune to rainy spells. (7-8 hours is a long haul for sloppy mushburgers.) When Snowshoe bought neighboring Silver Creek, that made things even better because weekend/holiday crowds seldom concentrated there and some of its wide Blues were (by my eastern standards), quite good for alpine. And yes, I did attack its Blacks with some success. (As you now know, by "Out West" criteria, even Bear Paw is barely "gray"!) Back in the Center Ring, even black runs Widowmaker, Cupp, and Upper Shays Revenge became doable and fun for me. (I tried Lower Shay's just once, when it was hard-mogulled with Checker Marathons, and it beat the bloody hell out of me.) And then along came IntraWest (or maybe Shay's was opened by IntraWest) - can't remember. If you've followed this forum a bit, you'll know IntraCest is both praised by a few (mostly employees, it seems) and reviled by many. Some have said it's a realty company that happens to build in ski areas. It, I think, is associated with intensive development in high-profile resorts. Astronomical prices seem to follow wherever it buys and builds. My only experience is with Snowshoe, so I'll limit my comments to what I've observed there. Those IntraWest Bastards are Soulless! They have opened new terrain. They have, probably, improved snowmaking and grooming. They have built the place up like crazy. (But I personally don't give a Whit - sorry Willy - about Faux Bavarian Villages and Five-Star dining. I just wanna ride, dammit.) They have replaced independent, quirky on-mountain vendors and shops with spiritless, company-owned purveyors. They have scraped and gang-raped significant portions of the mountain peak into the the most Godforsaken parkingscapes I've ever seen. And they have raised prices... like I said, Astronomically. They even, for a time, ditched the 24-before cancellation policy until the masses rebelled and they lost too many reservations. It's back, I think. So there you have it. Snowshoe/SilverCreek have given me the very best of my cherished winter memories. I'll doubtless go there again - off-season - if the snow dictates and the wallet allows. (It doesn't right now.) From my sad, selfish, little perspective, IntraWest, and IntraWest's Snowshoe debacle, are the penultimate expression of decades of greed and excess and insensitivity writ large on a once-beautiful mountainscape. I hope they go bankrupt, but they probably never will. fin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWriverstone Posted February 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 Well written boarderboy! Your description rang true based on my experiences at Snowshoe. Soulless is right—that place is so frickin' sterile it's hard to believe any life exists there. (Even Snowmass...not exactly a lightweight in the world of mass commercialization...pales in comparison!) Still, I guess it's all we have in the Southeast (that approaches being as good as the New England resorts). I'd probably think better of it if I could go during the week and have the place to myself... Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvrocks Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 Waitaminit wvrocks—I might know you! Did you come to a MAC Tracks event at Ski Roundtop in PA in the past few years? I remember meeting a couple from Canaan Valley...whose names escape me at the moment...but they both carved—I think he might have worked in fire and rescue, and she was a GIS person for an environmental organization... If that's not you, maybe you know them? Scott One and the same. Both Volunteer FF/EMT's, ski patrollers. I'm an engineer in real life, she does GIS. Darren and Janette. Not a single unit anymore but that's another story... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik J Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 The general progression of my season.... Stage 1 - Before the lifts open for the season I am agitated but ready to go. I will try to ride on a single snowflake if the opportunity comes my way. I am excited, anticipating the full season ahead of me. Stage 2 - Lifts are open, only manmade snow graces the slopes with a single white ribbon of death to carve on. Seven million people are all trying to go down the slope with me at the same time. I am still anxious to scratch that carving itch at all times. Stage 3 - Sweet conditions. Most/all of the mountain is open. I am fully basking in the glow on the snow season. I'm able to really enjoy carving as I now have a good amount of days under my belt for the season. Life is gooooooood. Stage 4 - It's still cold out, but a freeze thaw here and there starts to take away the magic of midseason. I start to sense that the end is near, so I run for the hills whenever possible. Stage 5 - It's just plain rained all day, then frozen solid at night. I know the end of the season is coming, so I grin and bear the crappiest ice imaginable. I still have fun, but it now it hurts. Stage 6 - I have almost a full season under my belt. The carving itch has been fully scratched. I ride just to ride and really enjoy myself. Conditions are really soft.....and a lot of fun as I seem to spend 3/4 of my run in the air, hopping mounds of wet, mushy stuff. Everyone is laid back on the hill. Tshirts come out, etc. I go home smiling and wet. Reggae usually plays from the lift shacks. Stage 7 - On the verge of Death. The slope is just downright pathetic. There are trenches on the trails from runoff. It rains for 2 days in a row and doesn't freeze at night. The snow is brown, yellow and gray, like the mouth of an old smoker. The mountain starts to close some midweek days or only run half of the lifts. The place is eerily empty, like zombie movie empty. I am afraid of whatever is in the lift shacks. I go riding anyway but I feel dirty and violated. I start wondering how to get my motorcycle to start. I know I had a good full season. Stage 8 - Death. The mountain has closed. I leave my gear out anyway for a last minute trip to somewhere that may or may not happen - it's just wishful thinking. But I've ridden until the bitter end...cause I can. SW - just around the corner from Stage 5 is Stage 6.....and it's a lot of fun. Don't put your stuff away yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Dahl Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 But Sunday, combine my snowmobile and my 192 Tanker, and guess what you come up with?? A lil' bit o sled accessed backcountry turns. If the weather cooperates, you might even get some photos! End schmend!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b0ardski Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 well put Erik, "to the bitter end" but Jon is right, we live in the land of post season & slednecks:eplus2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petrol Posted February 26, 2009 Report Share Posted February 26, 2009 Do you guys actually like riding Snowshoe? I ask because the two times I've been there have been NIGHTMARE experiences. Not because of slope conditions...but because of INSANE crowds (I waited 40 minutes once to get on a lift—no ****!) I also found most of the slopes to be WAY too narrow for my tastes.Granted, I think I've only been there on a weekend, so I should give it a chance during the week. I do think Silver Creek is much better for carving... Scott unfortunately it's the best within 3:30 from my door. I prefer 7 Springs but it's 4:30 one way which is really a bit much for a day trip. Wintergreen & Massanutten (both a 2hr drive for me) are really best left to mid-week Farris Bueller 1/2 days off due to very crowded weekends, astronomical lift tickets considering the very few runs you get, conditions that mostly suck and very short seasons. Whitetail I haven't been to in yrs So in short, I take what I can get and for a weekend daytrip, it's Snowshoe where I hit the shoe side early and make my way over to Silver Creek 'round noon when the lines at shoe peak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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