Snowshoe received it's first coating of snow today. Therefore, it's time to start this season's thread of groans, complaints and maybe even some love for the shoe.
Regardless of your thoughts about SS, it's nice to see white stuff coming out of the sky.
While my family tends to prefer CV and TL over SS, I still enjoy making turns there. Wondering if SS will be making improvements over the next several years.
Peak Rankings did a review of Snowshoe. What do you think?
The write up is excellent, but the overall score (44) could have been a few points higher,
specifically in the categories of Snow, Resiliency, and Mountain Aesthetic, each at +1.
My 2 cents.
Bird Dog wrote:
The write up is excellent, but the overall score (44) could have been a few points higher,
specifically in the categories of Snow, Resiliency, and Mountain Aesthetic, each at +1.
My 2 cents.
Thanks for taking a look.
Hadn't really looked at the numerical ratings. I agree on Snow and Resiliency for sure. Haven't been for a while so don't have as strong an opinion for Mountain Aesthetic.
From the article:
"Snowshoe's upside down layout is unique for the Mid-Atlantic, let alone anywhere in the United States."
Fail - c'mon, there's another example of an upside-down resort just a few hours away in Wintergreen, and two more just in PA IIRC.
Keith_Moon wrote:
From the article:
"Snowshoe's upside down layout is unique for the Mid-Atlantic, let alone anywhere in the United States."
Fail - c'mon, there's another example of an upside-down resort just a few hours away in Wintergreen, and two more just in PA IIRC.
Yeah, that's not even remotely true. As you note, there are many "upside-down" ski resorts in North America. According to this story on BraveSkiMom, inverted East coast resorts include Blue Knob, Blue Mountain (which has parking lots at the top and bottom of the mountain), Jack Frost, Laurel Mountain, Ski Big Bear, Wintergreen, and Snowshoe. I guess it's fair to say Snowshoe is unique in the state of West Virginia (of the four downhill areas there).
Scott wrote:
Keith_Moon wrote:
From the article:
"Snowshoe's upside down layout is unique for the Mid-Atlantic, let alone anywhere in the United States."
Fail - c'mon, there's another example of an upside-down resort just a few hours away in Wintergreen, and two more just in PA IIRC.
Yeah, that's not even remotely true. As you note, there are many "upside-down" ski resorts in North America. According to this story on BraveSkiMom, inverted East coast resorts include Blue Knob, Blue Mountain (which has parking lots at the top and bottom of the mountain), Jack Frost, Laurel Mountain, Ski Big Bear, Wintergreen, and Snowshoe. I guess it's fair to say Snowshoe is unique in the state of West Virginia (of the four downhill areas there).
It;s not even true nationally - there are other upside downers. It is true that the relatively high top side elevation plus the relatively high basin elevaation provides an optimized micro climate, at the acceptable expense of vertical on that side.
Honestly, I have not been to Shoe in several years but I am afraid to read that ranking it might not be kind. I'm actually surprised they did that one.
swoop wrote:
12/5 opening? Lame. Got the gift of a foot of snow and a few cold nights ahead of the weekend, high elevation and great SM. Should be able to open 11/30 for the weekend with some limited terrain. Corporate lame. Well I guess all my chips on are Tline (pun intended).
A foot of natural snow doesn’t do much… take a look at the current webcams this morning. Unfortunately, I’m going to guess timberline is probably looking at sometime between the 5-7th. Snowshoe takes a lot of snow to get the top of the mountain open.
Snowshoe would love to sell $90+ lift tickets this weekend for a handful of trails this weekend if they could.
Some of the mountains in Colorado have between 60-80” of snow since late October and the non snowmaking terrain is still closed/filled with obstacles after being opened a few hours.
Gotta open the right way and not the wrong way.
Open the wrong way and any potential base is gone, and then...
Gotta start over.
In CO, A-Basin just opened to the top yesterday....Nov 25th.
They now have 2 lifts open and 4 runs; and they opened Nov 2nd.....Not great.
Every resort is different and needs to do what is appropriate for it's own unique circumstances.
Conditions need to be safe in order to open too.
rbrtlav wrote:
A foot of natural snow doesn’t do much… take a look at the current webcams this morning. Unfortunately, I’m going to guess timberline is probably looking at sometime between the 5-7th. Snowshoe takes a lot of snow to get the top of the mountain open.
Not a guess anymore for Timberline. They sent out email today announcing Dec. 5 as opening day.
This was a big part of the problem last year, never got a decent base and always playing catchup.
Bird Dog wrote:
Gotta open the right way and not the wrong way.
Open the wrong way and any potential base is gone, and then...
Gotta start over.
In CO, A-Basin just opened to the top yesterday....Nov 25th.
They now have 2 lifts open and 4 runs; and they opened Nov 2nd.....Not great.
Every resort is different and needs to do what is appropriate for it's own unique circumstances.
Conditions need to be safe in order to open too.
Bird Dog wrote:
In CO, A-Basin just opened to the top yesterday....Nov 25th.
They now have 2 lifts open and 4 runs; and they opened Nov 2nd.....Not great.
Every resort is different and needs to do what is appropriate for its own unique circumstances.
A-basin is VERY water restricted compared to the other summit county resorts. Based on their Facebook page this morning it looks like they will be opening quite a bit of new terrain with the natural snow they just got.
Sticking with my original notion that Shoe/Tline could have opened today (11/30) with limited terrain, certainly tomorrow (12/1) at very latest, but... oh well, just glad we are finally getting the weather! Looks beautiful. Wax 'em baby!!!
The new midweek daily reporter for SkiSoutheast is Jen Shannon. She and her husband own and operate the Waffle Cabin at Snowshoe. Needless to say, her reporting about Snowshoe this season won't be based only on webcam views. She worked at Snowshoe's Ski&Ride School for twenty years.
Last year's First Trax reporter was Josh Sullivan. He was great, but too good at his day job. Got promoted and moved out of NC.
Ok, I'm jealous!
Blue Don 1982 wrote:
Winter Storm Watch for the Shoe on Wed night into opening day!
https://www.wunderground.com/severe/us/wv/slatyfork/KWVSLATY6
don't be jealous...be there
Dumping snow in sheets currently! Expecting 12"-20" overnight throughout tomorrow.
Serious powder day hope your here.
We did have a layer of ice/sleet overnight which is keeping the totals down somewhat. Still reported 17" last 2 days. Snowing good now with 3" or more to come
This am through noon was like sierra cement as temps warmed. Was out till 4:00. As the afternoon progressed everything firmed up and dried out. Off piste was okay not great like over the weekend. That was some dry snow very easy to blast through!
It's not stopping. Still snowing with most likely another 2-4" from this mornings report. This upcoming Friday-Saturday storm is suppose to drop another 6-12" and a clipper system is predicted to arrive on Monday!
The last time we had what looks to be a great cold & snowy season you would need to look back to 2012-2013 when 20' fell along the Appalachian mountains.
This is AWESOME.
Cupp run is amazing with powder.
Shotmaker wrote:
It's not stopping. Still snowing with most likely another 2-4" from this mornings report. This upcoming Friday-Saturday storm is suppose to drop another 6-12" and a clipper system is predicted to arrive on Monday!
The last time we had what looks to be a great cold & snowy season you would need to look back to 2012-2013 when 20' fell along the Appalachian mountains.
Been a great 2025 so far!
100 inches by Jan 8? Can we double down by March?
It's still snowing! Currently the sun is breaking out but light snow remains. Yesterday went out expecting a few inches but we ended up receiving 10" over the last 24 hours. Very cold but excellent conditions with light crowds.
Amazing!! Looking forward to getting out there for the Friday/Sat storm!
We're heading to Snowshoe MLK day and staying 3 nights. We're trying to decide whether to drive our town and country mini van or 4wd Jeep grand Cherokee. We'd prefer to drive the van so that we'd have more room for our 3 sons and luggage, but I'm concerned that we'll need 4wd. We would buy chains for the van, and it has nicer tires then the Jeep. Or should we do chains and the Jeep? We drove our van the last 3 years we visited, but two of those time we got snowed in, and now I'm worried about getting snowed out!!
And advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Lindsay
I don't know the answer, but I'll tell you some of my experiences. Many years ago, I used chains with front wheel drive sedans. One time I went to Snowshoe where nothing showed up on the radar and nothing was predicted, but we still got a surprise storm, and I would not have made it back without my chains (weather prediction is probably better these days). I felt invulnerable and enjoyed many snow storms using just chains until one day I was heading up to Wintergreen, and there was an ice storm where the chains would not grip the ice. Other four wheel drive cars would drive right around me as I was stuck. Chains are amazing, but there are some types of ice conditions where they don't grip. After that I always got four wheel drive vehicles. One day coming back from Wintergreen I had bad tires on a four wheel drive, and it was about the scariest driving memory I have trying to come down the mountain. I wasn't sure I was going to make it and had to go about 5 miles per hour the entire way. Ever since then I always make sure to have good tires, and I carry chains. I have not needed the chains since then and have never put them on a four wheel drive car, but carry them anyway. So, I think the answer depends on how bad the tires really are on your jeep. For many types of tires, when the tread gets low, they are terrible in the snow, and I would feel better with chains. Even with that bad experience with the chains, I could still stop, I just couldn't climb. With the bad tires with the four wheel drive I couldn't stop. If I was you, I would go out and get good tires on my four wheel drive and take that and still carry chains. I don't know if it makes sense to have a four wheel drive vehicle if you don't keep up the tires.
Though, maybe you're fishing for whether people think the weather will be that bad. I don't think we can know this far out, but my philosophy with ski trips is to hope for the best, and the best means a huge snow storm. So, why shouldn't I be prepared for my dream coming true? It seems like if I'm not prepared for it, then it's guaranteed not to happen, at least for me.
Tires (new, newer with good tread depth) is the most important consideration!
Best: studded snow tires, then snow tires, then mud & snow tires.
Drive: 4w, then all wheel drive, then front wheel drive.
Most people can make it up the mountain with any combination above. When people have trouble is on badly worn tires. With AWD when it's snowing hard (accumulating) and other vehicles are getting stuck or sliding around you at least want decent tires.
We get a lot of people from the south many don't drive in snowy weather so other than rain (think hydroplaning) many will drive on worn tires until the inspector tells them they need new tires.
I haven't used chains since the early 1980's when I lived in South Lake Tahoe. I did have studded snow tires with front wheel drive back in those days and got around just fine never getting stuck. Only put chains when I was required to do so.
Stephen and Shotmaker, thank you both so much for the feedback!
I'm from Maryland, but have been living in the south for 20 years and am guilty of driving on bald tires. Fortunately, they got so bald last month that I had to get a new set. So they may not be snow tires, but at least they're new?!
I'll get the Jeep maintenanced this weekend and purchase some chains. Hopefully we can make it up on regular tires, with chains as backup, new ones just aren't in our budget.
Thanks again and happy skiing!
I've used all season tires with M/S rating with AWD, and it's gotten the job done if the tread is new (with chains as backup). Once it gets closer you may be able to rule out snowy conditions and take the Minivan.
lindsaykesler wrote:
Stephen and Shotmaker, thank you both so much for the feedback!
I'm from Maryland, but have been living in the south for 20 years and am guilty of driving on bald tires. Fortunately, they got so bald last month that I had to get a new set. So they may not be snow tires, but at least they're new?!
I'll get the Jeep maintenanced this weekend and purchase some chains. Hopefully we can make it up on regular tires, with chains as backup, new ones just aren't in our budget.
Thanks again and happy skiing!
It might be difficult getting up the mountain today!
With the 4" overnight and blizzard like conditions now we are well over 120" or TEN feet of snow for the season!
Walked through drifts of snow up to my knees about an hour ago getting to the car.
It just doesn't get any better than the conditions today and for this season.
It's even better than I thought!
10-1/2 FEET on the season! Around 1 foot of fresh snow now a blue bird day.
There was a rainy warm spell right before/on Christmas, and it really did a lot of damage to the snowpack. They have been blowing hard ever since it got cold on New Years Eve, but they had to blow on the trails that they already had open to get them back in shape, and now they are almost 100% open, I'm guessing this weekend everything will be open (not including the glades, although most of them are open now).
Last weekend was epic at the 'shoe! Saturday it snowed all day, keeping things fresh and fun, and then Sunday was a beautiful bluebird groomer day!
RodneyBD wrote:
Why isn't Snowshoe 100% open? Not complaining, just curious. Is it staffing, grooming, other?
eggraid wrote:
There was a rainy warm spell right before/on Christmas, and it really did a lot of damage to the snowpack. They have been blowing hard ever since it got cold on New Years Eve, but they had to blow on the trails that they already had open to get them back in shape, and now they are almost 100% open, I'm guessing this weekend everything will be open (not including the glades, although most of them are open now).
Last weekend was epic at the 'shoe! Saturday it snowed all day, keeping things fresh and fun, and then Sunday was a beautiful bluebird groomer day!
RodneyBD wrote:
Why isn't Snowshoe 100% open? Not complaining, just curious. Is it staffing, grooming, other?
I concur with Egg. All the glades have been open...marked and unmarked. Good base is set up and hopefully a refresh will come.
Today was a great almost perfect day. No wind few skiers and warm temperatures (25 degrees). Fast track perfect for western territory. Big whales on the flats to lower shays. Looks like that should be opening in the next few days certainly before MLK weekend.
Choker opened was a fast blast down the run. Lots of skiers in the glades off sawmill & knot bumper. Feels like every day is 9/10 or 10/10 type day.
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