It's now April and pretty apparent that SKI WEST 2010 didn't work out that well. Since no one other than the Capt. would commit to a ski trip, SKI WEST 2010 turned into SKI EAST 2010. I was determined not to go a year without skiing, but it just wasn't feasible for me to go it alone to Tahoe. After checking ski conditions at Tahoe, I determined that this might be a good year to try some mid-Atlantic skiing.
This was about the time of the Olympics and if you remember there wasn't a lot of snow out west this year. Interestingly, the East and primarily Washington DC, Virginia, and West Virginia were having record snowfalls and cold weather. After a weekend researching ski destination in the mid-Atlantic region I rented a condo at Snowshoe and decided that this year would be a driving ski trip.
Snowshoe WV is one of those places that could be described as "you can't there from here" and it doesn't matter where "here” is. It is a 10 hour drive from our home in Georgia, which is about the same total time I would be traveling by air to Tahoe. AND, more importantly, Delta doesn't stop at Cracker Barrel for breakfast and lunch! Hugh does – advantage driving trip.
Susan and I left early on a Sunday morning and made it to Snowshoe by mid-afternoon. Let me give you one small piece of advice if you ever plan this trip. If you or your passengers suffer from seasickness, have some Dramamine onboard just in case it’s needed. The closest interstate highway to Snowshoe is 60 miles, and those last 60 miles are up and down mountains on one switchback after the other. It took us over two hours to make those last 60 miles.
West Virginia is some of the most beautiful country I’ve ever seen, but I felt like I’d been on a yacht race in a hurricane. On a sailboat “coming about” is a command often heard. Trust me when I tell you that we were on a dead heading into the wind on those 60 miles and we were constantly tacking. If you know anything about sailboats this makes sense. If you don’t, then just read on.
I spent three days skiing Snowshoe, and mostly by myself. Literally, I didn’t share a lift chair with another soul for two days! I never waited in a line and I was often the only person I saw on an entire run. It was the third day before I rode up a lift with someone and I was a little giddy when it finally happened. Let me recommend mid-week skiing to anyone who has flexibility in their schedule.
The snow conditions at Snowshoe were as good as any I’ve ever skied. It snowed every day we were there, and the powder was so dry you couldn’t make a snowball. I won’t bore you with the details, but there's another post below to a review I wrote about skiing Snowshoe for OnTheSnow.com.
On Thursday, Suze and I started the trek for Washington DC and a visit with her niece in Chantilly, VA. I’ll cover that part of the trip in another post. Overall, it was a good decision to check out Snowshoe this year. It wasn’t skiing out west, but it was certainly a good option. The lesson to be learned here is “follow the snow.” I love skiing out west, and usually feel confident in making my plans months ahead of time, but this year I would have been disappointed if I’d spent the money on a trip to Tahoe and had poor conditions.
Click here for a link to photos from Ski Snowshoe 2010.
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