Does anyone remember going to Snowshoe/Silver Creek before intrawest bought them. Anyone have any info on quality of snow, what trail improvemments Intrawest has done, food, lodging, who all owned them (I've heard the Snowshoe area changed hands alot before Intrawest took over), when Silver Creek opened for business, etc.

Intrawest purchased Snowshoe in 1995, and the company has been investing steadily in the mountain ever since. However, the most significant improvements thus far from a skiing perspective were probably made in 1997-98. During this year, Intrawest installed high-speed quads on both the Basin side (Ballhooter), and in the Western Territory (Western Express). The company also cut Shay's Revenge during that same period

There's a pretty good WV ski history chronolgy here:

http://www.wvagency.com/wvoutdoors/skiing/skihistory.html

[This message has been edited by johnfmh (edited 03-06-2003).]

I skied Snowshoe a couple times in the early '80s and then more recently. The consistency of overall operations wasn't as good back then. In particular, the Western Territory (back then only Cupp) was less frequently open, as the resort concentrated their smaller snowmaking capacity on the basin side. As you can imagine, there were fewer food and lodging options too. IMHO Intrawest management has been great for the mtn, but since I've never been a Snowshoe regular, can't give you a complete picture. Maybe some longtime Snowshoers will chime in.
Here's a link you may have seen on WVA skiing history, including some pretty good info on Snowshoe. Dr. Tom Brigham, a legendary southeastern ski entreprenuer, was the founder back in '73-74. Silver Creek came later and, I believe, was an independent operation, eventually taken over by Snowshoe about 10 years ago.
http://www.wvagency.com/wvoutdoors/skiing/skihistorystory.html

John beat me to the punch. I wonder if the Snoeshoe website has a history section?

You can also get a flavor of some Snowshoe history at the height of the Intrawest improvements in two DCSki articles from '98:

http://www.dcski.com/news/08_28_98/snowshoe.shtml

http://www.dcski.com/news/08_28_98/lift.shtml

The latter provides a firsthand account from the installation of the Western Express chairlift.

Intrawest still has big plans for Snowshoe, and the next major (real estate) development, the Seneca, will launch soon. Older buildings at Snowshoe will also eventually be revitalized.

Next year, Snowshoe will celebrate its 30th year anniversary, but the most exciting years have undoubtedly been the recent ones.

Hey, thanks for the links. I also saw something online just browsing about a book by Dr. Brigham, the guy that started snowshoe. It was called "Snowshoe - A Journey through the Early Years" and i guess he was at snowshoe last June signing books. Anyone ever heard of the book? I found it on Pocahontas times online or something. It seems pretty neat for a history nerd like myself