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Snowshoe WV Early Season.

4K views 27 replies 11 participants last post by  JBthe3rd 
#1 ·
Hey guy. I'm thinking of heading up to snowshoe for a couple of days after thanksgiving. My question is, is it worth the trip? I know they will have limited terrain but how limited? Any help will be appreciated. Paying 225 for 2.5 days of snowboarding and lodging plus food cost so its not to much just wondering how much will be open.
 
#7 ·
I visited there last year and am traveling there the 29th of December.

They probably will not have any park open. Last year was a little warmer and dry and they only had one park open until Mid January. I recently spoke with someone there during Sandy and she said that that snow would not stick but they would try to use it as a base anyway. I would think it will be a little icy right now.
 
#11 ·
I'm driving out from ohio so about 4.5 hours. I am hearing a lot of mixed answers right now lol. I think there going to have about 8 runs and i heard a staff member say they will have a some park feature but not a full park. I'll be making the trip up regardless. Snow is snow.
 
#12 ·
"Snowshoe will be open from 9:00 am – 4:30 pm with at least two top to bottom runs and Ballhooter, Powder Monkey and Skidder lifts spinning. Silver Creek will be open from 2:00pm – 9:00pm with at least one top to bottom run serviced by Mountaineer Lift. There will also be some features available from our Mountaineer Parks crew."

Straight from there website. Good enough for me!
 
#14 ·
fyi this is one of their earliest openings. They could have done so sooner but their staff , locales in many regards, were dealing with the aftermath of the blizzicane. 2' of heavy snow on trees with leaves still on them caused some mayhem. They opted not to try to call people in, and citing 'warm ground' for their reason not to groom to open sooner.

It setup for them to have a pretty ok base though in some areas. If anything, it surely cooled the ground to allow for snowmaking and a good base.

They have received a bit of snow since, and have made alot of snow allowing them to have more than enough for this early season. Sure you will get tired of the same thing after awhile but you have the whole season to look forward to expanded openings.

They will not open cupp runn or shays for awhile. This is the only reason for me to go. Otherwise, I have the same as snowshoe 50 minutes away at 7springs vert wise, with fast lifts. Cupp Runn and Shays , when I get tired, I meander over the street back to the front and hit some of those slopes just to cross them off my list, then head back to cupp for a few more before I call it a day at the bottom with beer on a sunny deck, watching people get on the lift or collapse at the bottom from exhaustion as they arent used to the length of the run, most of them. 1500 vert diamond and double diamond.

If you time it right, best time to go is right after or during a snowstorm. Good luck getting in and out though as parking is at the top of the damn mountain! Those that have sat on that hill for well over an hour watching someone from Florida with bald tires and no snow driving skills knows what Im talking about.
 
#15 ·
Went up friday and came back sunday. had a great time.

Friday- was okay. 2 top to bottom runs. Small hike to park. Got boring after a bit.

Saturday- SICK! Snowed all of friday night and they were blowing like crazy opened a few more side runs. Still a little icy. Went over to silvercreek at night. They had 1 top to bottom run and a nice park. It was practically deserted. Fun time and practiced my park skills quite a bit

Sunday- similar to friday

I had fun and coming from ohio skiing anything in november is a plus. When the temps are low enough there blowing so i expect them to be open somewhat soon.
 
#17 · (Edited)
The silver creek lodge has many very small studio rooms with pull down beds that you can easily get for $100 / nt. I booked something last minute and found one for $90 midweek.

DONT waste your time looking for anything off the mountain. There is nothing as snowshoe is literally in the middle of nowhere and, you still need to haul your butt up the mountain once you get to the mountain which is like a 15 minute experience.

VRBO is the place to checkout honestly. Get in good with an owner and you'll get discounts as they trust you wont trash the place if you intend on renting often.

Most places want a minimum commitment but midweek and early/late season you can almost name your price and stay just one day.

There are ALOT of property owners at Snowshoe that are angry that it never turned out to be this big resort that was promised to them when they sold real estate. Many people hate owning their places and just want them sold, even at a loss. So if you have $ and need to spend it...

It kills me to see so many condos/apartments / houses going for triple, quadruple that it would in a nice neighborhood only because its at a resort. Ends up drawing nothing but wankers I think. And leaves property owners with a big bill to pay each month instead of those big rentals they thought they would have.

Snowshoe needs to open more lengthy terrain. It's the only draw for me and many others I know. Otherwise I have similar right in my back yard as do most others that live in my area which is a good part of their customer base as we are only 3.5 - 4.5 hours away depending on which party of the city you are from.

Anyway, if you are looking for cheap checkout VRBO and silver creek. You may find some other snowshoe areas too for cheap. The bigger you go with more people, the nicer the place and the cheaper it becomes. There was a mansion basically for rent there, not sure where the heck it was located, and it was like $5500 / wk but slept like 26. You can shuttle back and forth if you pick silver creek ,and silver creek has night skiing so. The bar / restaurant at silver creek is kinda - eh. I'd rather eat a hot dog at teh bottom of cupp runn.

good luck. Oh and if you have never been there, for god's sake please make sure you know how to drive in the snow and are prepared to drive up a bigass hill while it's snowing. Chances are it wont be, but if it is, strap in and drive!
 
#18 ·
Yes, stay in the village. Just by looking at snowshoe you can tell its overdeveloped for the hill. It pretty much has out west prices for east skiing. Still a fun mountain but i would recommend trying to rent from an owner as everything else is ridiculously expensive.
 
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