DCSki Forums

(Anonymous)

February 9, 2003

Hello All..

I have never skied before and wanted our family to learn together. I knew of such resorts as Seven Springs, Hidden Valley, and the Wisp. I was looking for the ideal learn-to-ski resort. I was looking for top-notch instructors, first class learning facilities, and most importantly affordability. My journey took me to Farmington, PA and Nemacolin Woodlands Resort and Spa. Several of my friends had visited the resort in the past and always had positive things to say. I looked into the resort further on my own and discovered they had a ski facility. When I called to book the reservations for my wife and two children (ages 6, 9), I was told about this Kids Sleep, Eat, Ski program. The reservationist told me children under the age of 12 could stay at the resort free, eat breakfast everyday free, and also receive a complimentary lift ticket!!! This was the ideal affordable family getaway I was looking for. I booked this reservation before she could tell me she was kidding; I couldn't believe what I was hearing. We arrived at the resort on Friday, dropped our bags and headed to the slopes. The mountain was not overcrowded and I was able to schedule a group lesson for my family. Our instructor was fantastic! He was a great skier himself, but he understand that he was instructing beginners who had no idea how to even put their ski's on. We were the only family in the lesson and received incredible one on one instruction. In the first 30 minutes we were taught to side step and snowplow on "Easy Does It". The towrope was a nice unexpected touch. I sure am glad I didn't have to carry my family's skis to the top of the hill. After the group lesson was over, my wife and I were still struggling with the "basics". Our instructor sold us on a private lesson for the next day. We arrived for our lesson and the staff was exceptionally courteous and anticipated our every need. Our instructor (Mindy) met us right on time. We reviewed the basics on "Easy Does It". We then progressed onto "First Step" and "Geronimo". Mindy told us Geronimo was a green circle and was the easiest slope that used the chair lift. My wife and I made it the bottom of the hill with Mindy's help and words of encouragement. Mindy helped us avoid the line at the chair lift (a super bonus included with the lesson). She guided us off the chair and down towards "Geronimo" again. During our lesson Mindy mentioned she had taught children with visual impairments to ski. What a great person to learn from. Her instructions and advice was right on the money. After our lesson she brought us hot chocolate and gave us a few more pointers for the rest of the weekend. We saw her in other lessons and every time she passed she said 'hi" and made sure we were still learning and enjoying our experience. Our entire family was able to ski all the slopes by Saturday afternoon and truly enjoyed the experience and learning to do something as a family. My family and I have made reservations for next year already! I hope they offer the same kids program they had this year. It's great for the family on the budget and the service resort-wide was exceptional. Hands down this is the best resort to learn to ski and I am certainly glad I chose Nemacolin above the others. I will certainly recommend this resort to my family and friends, as well as submit my story to websites such as yours.

Sincerely,

Kevin

PhysicsMan

February 10, 2003

Member since 11/20/2001 🔗

218 posts

Hum... two glowing posts about Mystic / Nemacolin only 14 minutes apart, seemingly by two different authors, even though historically, I don't remember a single previous post (on this ski discussion group) about the place.

I'm glad "Kevin" and his family apparently had a good time there, but I must confess that my spam detector was firing pretty seriously as I read these posts.

With respect to the suitability of this resort as a *SKI* resort, as I recall, lodging rates were astronomical, the vertical drop was just a couple of hundred feet, and there were only 10 trails but no trail map on their web site. I'm sure it serves a niche clientelle very well, but I'm equally sure I'm not in this group .