Was wondering if anyone on this forum has purchased Blue Knob season pass in the past? They have an early season sale until April 30th.
Can someone comment if it'd be worth the purchase?
Compare Blue Knob and Snowshoe:
1) Driving: I live in Alex., VA, based on Goggle map, BK seems to be a shorter and easier drive than Snowshoe. It won't be a day trip. LIkely I will stop in Bedford for an overnight stay. Can someone comment?
2) Terrain: I've been to BK once and will go again this wknd for 2nd time, I visited Snowshoe 3x in the past ~5 years? Personally, I found BK is more appealing terrain wise.
Based on the 2 comparsions above, I am leaning toward getting BK season pass. Before I pull the trigger, I'd like to hear input from someone who has skied at BK ..... Thanks!
Yes, it is worth the purchase. The early season price for the various pass options are very good.
BK is about 1 hour closer than SS for me but I haven't skied there since the 1980's. I have 300+ day on the snow at SS. Can't say how much BK has changed but I had a good time while there. Each time went to BK with good friends. Staying in Bedford will save you $.
I am still of the opinion you need to go to the Catskills to get better terrain than SS.
I go to SS in all seasons you can't beat a 75-80 degree summer day here where you can smell the fresh air see the mountain ranges many miles away and not the smog and swelter in 95-100 degree heat & humidity in Alexandria. I believe the all time high recorded in the village at SS is 82? SS is my east coast Tahoe!
BTW-I grew up in Alexandria.
BK's season will be no where near the length of Snowshoe. BK will take longer to cover due to aging infrastructure and labor intense snowmaking. They haven't made snow on Extrovert for several years now and didn't make snow on Lower High Hopes this season. The good news is new owners are making an honest but limited budget attempt to keep BK operating.
Conditions should be good at BK this weekend. They got more snow than the Laurel Ridge lately and it has been cold all week. The snow that fell in the last week and a half has not gone thaw/freeze and is still soft.
Snowshoe is isolated and the drive there is brutal. If you stay in Bedford or other areas nearby, you have the opportunity to also ski 7S, LM and HV. With Snowshoe, you can ski Snowshoe. That said, I think the ski conditions may be more consistently good at Snowshoe.
My 2 cents.
BK is not a primetime player .... YET. $199 is very appealing but you get what you pay for. Has not and will not be 100% open for second year in a row. Their lift tickets are reasonable so why commit to a season pass? I say give them a year or two and see how things progress.
SS - a bear to get to, but history has shown their commitment to snowmaking. You know you'll be skiing from Turkey Day unitl late March. If you are willing to drive from Bedford each day, you can stay in Cass to save on lodging. If you plan to ski out west, the Ikon pass may make sense which is not an option at BK.
What about 7S / HV / LM - More expensive pass, a littler longer drive but committed to snowmaking, wide variety with 3 mountains. Reasonable lodging is nearby. They rival SS on days open and may be an easier drive than SS.
That said - it's 6:30 AM and I'm off to HV in 15 minutes!!!
Hmm, $199 for BK based on staying over night and driving from Alexandria. I'm obviously biased, but depending on the number of weekends feel like the $235 Special Value Pass or even the Full Season Pass at 10% discount for Massanutten is worth considering.
Certainly easier road driving to Mnut than BK as long as can avoid Friday afternoon/evening rush hour traffic out of DC. If did the drive on Sat in time to start skiing at 4:00 into the lights, then Sun start and 9:00 and ski as long as possible, could easily get in quite a few turns. Mnut has invested a lot in their snowmaking infrastructure in recent years. With any help from Mother Nature, the season is mid-Dec to mid-March, with the possibility of a weekend or two in early Dec or late March on core trails.
I've done the drive to SS from Raleigh. Was not worth 6-7 hours of driving in comparison to Mnut when I was taking my daughter for weekends when she was in elementary school. Not just the time involved, driving in snow in WV is not of interest with a NC minivan that is not going to ever have snow tires.
Thank you all for your valuable input. They are exactly what I want to know from you guys (and not aware of before this posting).
I work full time and can only make to the hills weekends. I will be taking mutli-week adult development program at Liberty, therefore I will spend 6 weekends for the winter season at Liberty.
I am looking to "fill" the remaining weekends at other places, if I am not traveling out west (usually 2 or 3 trips per season). Therefore, BK season pass comes to my mind.
I will get the Ikon base pass next season for sure, so SS is "covered". As you guys mentioned, the drive to SS is a bear (i'd use the word horrendous). Unless someone else will do the driving, I probably won't be bothered to go there..... it is just too stressful. I can only make to SS on weekends and it is always crowded. Plus the terrains are not "connected", you need to take shuttle to Silver Creek and the black diamond trails.... it is another bear by itself.
I like LM, never been to HV, 7S is way too crowded on weekends. The cost of season pass probably does not justify the # of trips I will visit these 3 places.
WIth all that said, I will hold off the purhcase and wait for a season or 2 to see if things will change at BK. I am aware they are under new mgmt (I called and talked to a sale rep) and are committed to snowmaking to prolong the season (weather permitting).
Say what you will but my mantra has alway been quality before quantity. That said I get in 30+ days at SS most years. It snowed all day here not sure how many inches but with the natural snow this past week we easily added 18" new snow with strategically placed snow machines which added to the solid base. Every time this year I've gone to upper/lower Shay's it's been great!
It's easy to make a couple 3 ski day trips here from the DC area per year so I'm not sure why many think the drive is so bad. Lots of people come from inside the beltway travel here a lot. The vibe is real been coming here for 40 years it's a great mountain with great people.
I would expect the void left by the demise of TL4S will be filled to some degree by Blue Knob. I bet those slopeside and close walk to ski houses will be harder to book with Timberline out of the picture next season.Good for them!
I'm doing a season pass to Blue Knob this year. It's a diamond in the rough for sure, but they're investing in the mountain and trying to improve it. This year was a lot of catching up on years of deferred maintenance, which unfortunately, the more they fixed, the more problems they found. The good news is that the owners are invested in it as they were BK skiers too. They're quite engaging with the public and are honest about their shortcomings. See the open letter they had earlier this season explaining why they didn't have as much open as they wanted.
I can't beat $500 for my son and I to ski. They're being quite generous in giving him the military discount as he's a cadet in his high school's JROTC program. It's marginally more than what I paid for my pass alone at ST this year. If we even get 5 days out between the two of us, it's worth it. But even if I don't, or they have a crap season, I see it as an investment in a hill with great potential.
Shotmaker wrote:
Say what you will but my mantra has alway been quality before quantity. That said I get in 30+ days at SS most years. It snowed all day here not sure how many inches but with the natural snow this past week we easily added 18" new snow with strategically placed snow machines which added to the solid base. Every time this year I've gone to upper/lower Shay's it's been great!
It's easy to make a couple 3 ski day trips here from the DC area per year so I'm not sure why many think the drive is so bad. Lots of people come from inside the beltway travel here a lot. The vibe is real been coming here for 40 years it's a great mountain with great people.
Snowshoe was where I fell in love w/ skiing, it was my 2nd ski trip. (1st ever ski trip was to Breckenridge in CO, I hated the expeirence but the SS visit changed everything.)
Believe me, if the drive were easier, I'd go more often. I have ADD (asian driving deficiency), last time I drove back from SS, I created this long train on the highway, 20+ cars behind me, it was beyond stressful. After that, I told myself never again driving to SS. It must be someone else driving if I go back again...
I found a ski friend, her husband likes to go to SS and they agreed that I can tag along. I purcahase the Ikon pass, likely I will be going to SS few times nex year.
And I decided not to get the season pass at BK.
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