It was such a wonderful day this Saturday, that Dave and I quickly decided to drive to one of the nearest ski resorts. Our choice was the Massanutten ski resort located in Virginia’s beautiful Shenandoah Valley in McGaheysville. It was a new place to visit for us and our drive with the Blue Ridge mountain view was very pleasant.
In December, Dave and I started a new ski season at Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia. We enjoy this resort very much, even though it takes us about 5-6 hours to get there depending on weather. Usually, we take a road trip and stay there for 2-3 days, but this time we decided to take a one day bus trip for the first time. We started our ride very early and completed it very late, but we had a whole day of fun skiing. The only drawback was the lack of sun.
The end of our snow season has arrived. We had a weekend retreat at Snowshoe again, thanks to our season passes. We had only one full day of skiing, but it was an unforgettable experience for me. The whole day was full of fun. The main reason was that, for the first time, I skied on the expert/black diamond slopes and felt comfortable doing it. It was unseasonably warm, 50° F, so it was also my first time skiing in the rain with thunder and lightning. Here is Dave on the Widowmaker slope. I can feel the rain looking at this picture. 🙂
A trip to Vermont was a highlight of our snow season. It was my first time to Okemo mountain with the largest vertical drop in southern Vermont, 2,200 feet (670 m). Besides, it was my first visit to Vermont. The 8-hour drive was a little tiring, but interesting. I was impressed with the size of the resort, high-speed lifts and the resort’s amenities. There are the nicest facilities and dining options available at Okemo. Here is a painting of Okemo mountain by James Niehues.
from jamesniehues.com
Our second trip to Snowshoe was enjoyable as well. The post about our first Snowshoe trip can be viewed here. It was snowing all 3 days of our stay at the resort. My husband and I took a long weekend trip with some friends, and had a great experience. Snowshoe has wonderful trails for every skill level, good natural snowfall and snowmaking and about 6 large terrain parks. The lodging at the resort is nice, as almost every residence is situated as a ski-in, ski-out location. This time we rented a condo right on the edge of the Main Village. We had a choice to take a shuttle to the different ski areas, or just walk up long steep stairs and start skiing from the top of the Basin. Dave was snowboarding and I was skiing. It was nice to ski/snowboard on fresh powder. It takes about 4,5 hour to get there, but it is worth it. You can’t find another place with such a big drop and long runs anywhere near what Snowshoe has.
Snowshoe Mountain is worth a visit if you like winter sports. Snowshoe Mountain is the name of the resort, not the name of the mountain itself. It is located in the bowl shaped convergence of two mountains, Cheat and Back Allegheny. Snowshoe Mountain Resort has some of the best skiing in the mid-Atlantic region and the entire east coast. It’s fairly remote, out in the middle of nowhere in West Virginia, but generally has colder temperatures and more snow than other ski areas in the mid-Atlantic. With so much area for skiing, it is not as crowded and congested as other ski areas in the region we have visited.
