The Ski Season is Up and Running -; at a Steeplechase Track!

Plans are well underway for a full and ambitious ski season at the nearby local areas of Liberty, Whitetail, and Roundtop. But, before the season starts, a large group of strong supporters and snow enthusiasts met at Shawan Downs in Hunt Valley, Maryland for the annual Legacy Chase on September 24th. Some of the events are sponsored by Diane and Irvin Naylor, the founders of Snow Time, Inc., which operates the local ski areas Liberty, Ski Roundtop, Whitetail, as well as New York’s Ski Windham.

The horse races benefit the Bedford Research Foundation, which is working on stem cell research in hopes of curing such infirmities as spinal cord injuries and a host of diseases. The races also benefit the Greater Baltimore Medical Center and a variety of hospitals. Great to know you can spend a day at the Steeplechase, in beautiful horse country, and do some good at the same time.

But, what we saw of the magnificent steeds jumping over the hurdles (and crashing in at least two cases) looked scary to me, and I am a rider. Luckily, none of the hospitals received any new business that day. But, I will stick to snowsports -; closer to the ground and a lot less expensive.

Liberty, Roundtop, and Whitetail have been busy preparing for the upcoming winter season. Liberty has upgraded its lighting system for brighter slopes this year, and has also expanded the Boulder Ridge Snow Tubing area. Ski Roundtop has enhanced snowmaking capacity and upgraded the inventory at its rental shop. Over at Whitetail, visitors will find a newly expanded rental shop, now the largest of its kind on the east coast. All three areas are planning festivals for this fall. Liberty will host its Fall Festival and Customer Appreciation Picnic on Sunday, October 16, while Ski Roundtop will hold a Fall Festival on October 22-23, complete with a Ski Swap. That same weekend, Whitetail will also host its Great Outdoors Festival.

The three resorts are also stepping up plans for Ski and Snowboard Instructor Training. The resorts need instructors to be on hand every day of the winter season, 7 days a week. Strong intermediate skiers and snowboarders, who are skilled and patient teachers, can apply to take the courses. They must then pass tests to qualify. But, if you are interested in them, the areas are interested in you. Contact the resorts directly, and they will give you more details when they are available. For Whitetail, contact Sue Slick on sslick@skiwhitetail.com or call her at 717-328-9400, extension 3663.

I may even take some of the courses myself, and tell you what they are like. I doubt I will ever make it as an instructor, but my husband and I look forward to helping out with Adaptive ski programs. Sadly, with more of our magnificent soldiers returning from war with injuries or missing limbs, there is more need to help them out if they want to cruise the slopes. They have sacrificed so much -; they should not have to also miss the joys of skiing and snowboarding if they are anxious to return to the slopes!