I arrived Friday for a timeshare swap for what I hoped would be a nice get away for some decent skiing, I wasn't expecting Killington or something great, but I was hoping for some enjoyment, but I got hardly anything.

First, I was hounded almost everyday to take a tour, at first I would be compensated $50 in 'Mad Mass bucks', but since I was only planning on staying until Tuesday, in order to see my family for Christmas, I politely declined their offer, having to say No about four times. The place we stayed at was nice, a 2 BR/2 BA place at the Summit on the very top of the resort road. Get up get to the lifts at 9:20 AM to see that there is no Advance terrain open, and just two intermediate slopes open,but this was really an overstatement as these 'Intermediates' were really just oversized beginner runs that were pretty crowded for 9:20.

Finally around noon they open up Diamond Jim which is nothing more than Wood's Run at Winterplace with maybe one steep section that last about 15 feet before it flattens out once again. So I ski this run about 30 times and leave around 5 PM.

Get back to the room to see I have a message, guess who it is, the friendly staff at Massanutten asking if I would be interested in taking a tour with a compensation of $75 in money for 90 minutes, so I ignore it, only to recieve a phone call at 7 PM asking if I would like to schedule a tour, I once again say no four or five times and am finally done for the night.

Sunday, I head down to the James Madison University area to watch some football and don't get back to the resort until 5:30 to yet another message, this time wanting to give me *$100* if I would take the tour on Tuesday, so once again I ignore it, but before I get ready to walk out the door to go night skiing I get a call from the SAME guy that called last night saying they were short for their tuesday breakfast and would compensate $125, this time I got a little ticked and basically told the guy to suck my foot more or less and tell him I was leaving Tuesday so that would not work, I was told the Monday breakfast was also open! I politely decline and ask to not be called again. So I go for some night skiing, and the 'Diamond' Jim run is so iced down it's like skating on an ice rink.. Not to mention I was screamed at by the lift 'worker' for trying to cut in front of some newbie that had fell in the lift line..

So this morning I wake up, and once again recieve a call from another person asking if I could make the tour on Thursday, I basically hit the roof and hang up on them and leave to go skiing, first lift I get on some ski school lady screams at me for trying to get in front of her newbies that are taking 20 minutes to load on the only lift up to 'Diamond' Jim. I ski until 3 and basically leave because there are only so many ways you can ski a trail before you just give up. As I leave to go back to my condo I check the lift line from the only trail that goes up to the blues and blacks and it's about 30 people deep. But I think they are finally getting the message, I came back to see there were no messages and no calls from sells people trying to get me to take the tour before I leave.

All in all this trip sucked, I got to ski but I could basically save 5 and a half hours and just go to my local ice rink and get the same experience. But there were a Few good things, one was that they offered $20 lift tickets for people staying on the property for day use, and if you bought a multiple day ticket, you were given free night skiing, but I seriously doubt I will be returning any time in the future.

[This message has been edited by ICEHOCEY77 (edited 12-22-2003).]

Does the "time share swap" mean you were invited to stay there in the cheap in exchange for "a tour"? Or do you own a time share and were simply using the "swap" service. If the former, well what did you expect? If the later, then you may have an issue with your time share management company - not neccesarily Massanutten (aside from the conditions/status there).

Its Decemeber, the time of year for newbies and lousy conditions. The temps have been above 50 for the past few days. I don't know about the others, but I considered Mass to be a local resort, not really a destination place. I don't think its big enough to spend 2-3 days skiing.

Its not clear why the people would be so persistant to tour you arround. Also, how did they get your phone #? What are Madd Mass bucks? Like airline miles?

It was a swap with a time share that I owned, I own 2 weeks in the TN mountains that I just use to trade out, but yes I have sent a nice letter to my time share company expressing my beef. As for how they got my number, I guess that they have a list of all the numbers on the property and have a list of who all are owners and who are traders. The Mad Mass bucks is basically money that can be used for activities on site at the resort.

ICE, don't give up on Massanutten yet. It can be a great place for a day or weekend trip. During the mid to late season, there can be some excellent spring skiing on Diamond Jim and Paradice (if it's open). There usually isn't much of a lift line on the number 6 lift, so you can put some real vertical in. Plus, the temp. is often mild at Massanutten, which can be nice if you want to take a break from bone chilling cold. Massanutten also gets more sunny days than many other ski areas. Of course, they are really aggressive with their time-share sales, too bad you were bothered so much.

I feel sorry that you feel that way but who would honestly "waste" their time at a resort in Virginia?, day trips is about the only good thing for that place or if you are a student at JMU. My advice? buy some twin tips and start hitting the jumps as they have probably the best terrain park around. Whitetail's is horrid, Liberty's is a little better and i won't even mention roundtop. Its a "quaint little resort that is family oriented." Its not going to have some 45+ degree runs in a foot of fresh like MAmmoth or Utah. Next time get a timeshare out west and actually enjoy yourself. Even VT has some good stuff but then agian what would expect for December?