Midwest Resort

I'm in Ohio as well and have done a lot of trips to Seven Springs for long weekends.

Staying on the resort can be a bit expensive for lodging, at least when you are in your 40's and splitting a single bedroom condo with 8 guys is no longer an option for you. If you have a group and can split the costs, it won't be bad. Alternatives is renting a cabin just off the property or we've even done cheap hotel rooms (i.e. Quality Inn) in Somerset which is just a 15 minute drive to the resort.

The Foggy Goggle is the best damn resort bar in the world. On a nice day, drinking and partying on the deck is a great time. One of the advantages of lodging on the property is you can really have a good time at the Foggy Goggle and not worry about driving.

I find Seven Springs to get really crowded on the weekends. I usually spend most of my time on the North slopes and try to avoid everything directly in front of the main lodge. They do have nice parks and the urban park right by the Foggy Goggle is pretty killer. Far more advanced than my ability so I usually watch the action from the deck of the Foggy Goggle.

Did I mention The Foggy Goggle? Yeah, great place.

MeanJoe

From Toledo, it looks like Nubs Nob/Boyne Highlands (MI), Holiday Valley (NY), and Seven Springs (PA) are all in the 4:30 - 5:00 hour range.

My personal opinion would be to do trips to both Holiday Valley and Seven Springs and see which you like better. Seven Springs would have the advantage if you like a lot of park. Holiday Valley if you like exploring different areas. (There's also Holimont next to HV, but it's a private club and open to the public only on non-holiday weekdays.)

So I say Holiday Valley or Seven Springs over any of the MI resorts. (Unless, maybe you're talking real late season when the MI places might still be open and the others not.) Driving from Toledo to Holiday Valley, keep in mind that from Cleveland to NY, you're in the prime zone for lake-effect snow.

(I actually don't like HV very much, for some completely irrational reasons, but I find myself recommending the place to other people. If I'm going to western NY, I usually go to Bristol Mountain instead. (Bristol doesn't have much lodging within 20 minutes, and there's no nightlife unless you head into Rochester or suburbs. For me, these aren't big minuses. For others, they could be deal-breakers.))

MikeIn248 said:

From Toledo, it looks like Nubs Nob/Boyne Highlands (MI), Holiday Valley (NY), and Seven Springs (PA) are all in the 4:30 - 5:00 hour range.

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These would be my suggestions, too. There's a veritable shitload of ski hills in Michigan, but most of them are hills of convenience for those who live nearby. I would not, for example, recommend making a weekend trip to Pine Knob or Cannonsburg (unless you really want to ride their park).

Nub's and Boyne Highlands are basically across the street from one another, and while there is no on-site lodging at Nub's there are plenty of privately owned vacation rentals/cottages/cabins in the area, and I think it's not too far from Petoskey which should at least have some hotel options that would be affordable.

Boyne Mountain is about 45 mins closer, but equally boondocks; Gaylord the nearest town with bars & restaurants, about 20 minutes from Boyne Mountain but you can always get a hotel room there that's pretty decent for under $100/night.

I've never been to Seven Springs or HV, both are on my short list since they're a reasonable drive from Metro-Detroit (not too much farther for me than Nub's/Highlands), but I've just never made the commitment to get out there yet.

Also Snowshoe, WV but that might be out of driving range google maps puts it at just about 7 hours from you. I've never been there but I have done some research on it before, it's smack dab in the middle of bumfuck Egypt, I think lodging options are really sparse except the resort properties, which are predictably expensive. IIRC the nearest hotel was about an hour away. It's really in the middle of nowhere. But it also has 1200ft vert or something like that.