I'll be traveling from Texas to Baltimore around Feb. 22nd and hope to ski the 25th thru the 27th. Where should I go? I want some varity of slopes and some decent length runs. Do I have to go to Vermont? Help!

If the weather continues the way it has been around here lately, you better be interested in water skiing not snow skiing.

Seriously, tho, there clearly are no ski hills in the mid-Atlantic here as big as in New England, so to answer your question, we have to know your threshold for acceptability.

For starters, take a look at
www.skiwhitetail.com and see what you think. Its about 1000 vert. foot and is one of the closest / largest ski areas near the Balto/DC area.

The other two close ones are Ski Liberty and Ski Roundtop, but both are smaller than Whitetail. Snowshoe and Timberline in WVA are (I guess) officially in the mid-Atlantic as well, but by the time you get to them, a lot of people feel that one might as well drive north the same number of hours and get to more dependable snow at places like Elk in PA or Greek Peak in NYS (about 4 and 5 hrs, respectively, door to door from BAlto in good weather). If you are heading north from here, my personal opinion is to kiss off all of the Pocono and other resorts near NYC (especially Hunter).

Just my $0.02,

Tom / PM

For local skiing, Snowshoe, Timberline, or 7 Springs will probably be your best bet. Keep checking this web site and the resort web sites because conditions could improve considerably by 26 February. 7 Springs might be your best bet because of its proximity to Baltimore.

Physics man is correct about Hunter. Skip it and head for VT if you have the time. This past week, Stowe mainly got snow rather than rain. It, along with Jay Peak, probably gets the coldest weather in the NE. When it rains everywhere else, chances are good that Mount Mansfield will have snow. Also, Stowe gets incredible lake effect snow from Champlain.

3 weekdays in late Feb means nice small crowds wherever you ski! If you want to stay near Balt I'd try a day each at Liberty(most variety near Balt), Blue Knob(2 mile trails) and Seven Springs(short but numerous runs)-all in southern PA, 1.5-3 hrs from Balt, but conditions could be questionable at that time of season (entire East is having warm winter). If Vermont is an option, Killington is about 9hr drive from Balt and offers most terrain and best snow within that driving range, expensive, but large enough for 3 days of variety, some 4 mile intermediate runs.

Baltimore...then there's no question:
Southwest Air BWI to Manchester, NH (about an hour and a quarter, usually $79 r/t) short drive (rentals cheap). I take the 7:00am flight, check-in, dress, on the slopes way before noon.