Massanutten, Bryce, and Wintergreen have slopes open for the holidays but it was a struggle with the recent warm weather.  The few days with cold nights and even some daytime snowmaking hours made a difference.

Massanutten has a 20+ inch base on the core trails: DJ, Southern Comfort, and the newly named teaching area, Paul's Way.  Couldn't keep enough snow on Showtime when it got warm.  Snow tubing has been open on weekends since Thanksgiving.

Bryce has about half the trails open, including two ways down from the top.

Wintergreen is open, but barely.  The Blue Ridge Express is running for Upper and Lower Dobie.  No snow tubing yet.

squeakywheels wrote:

Bryce actually has 3 top to bottom trails open. One green and two blues, plus the bunny areas. Considering the weather, it's quite an achievement.

Not surprised. Bryce began operations as a 4-season resort way back in 1965.  Like Massanutten several years later, the ski slopes were a key amenity from the start.

During a pandemic, a small local ski area with decades of experience has a lot of advantages.  Given that Bryce completed major construction and renovations to the base buildings just before 2020, they were is a good position for last season.  Bryce was considered a Top-25 Family Friendly ski areas in by Yelp a year ago.  Joining the Indy Pass was probably good for them.  I stopped in for the first time during the first season Indy existed as a day trip from Massanutten.  Was impressed with the operation and the food.  I would guess Bryce will have a good season for 2021-22.

These Are the Top 25 Family-friendly Ski Resorts in North America, According to Yelp

Massanutten got 8 inches of natural snow out of the storm.  Blue skies and a manmade blizzard happening today on the snow tubing and ski slopes today.  Re-opening on Wed, Jan. 5.

Great news about Massanutten's snow, marzNC!

In regard to the College Days discount, does it apply to students only, or are staff and faculty also eligible?

Woody

bousquet19 wrote:

Great news about Massanutten's snow, marzNC!

In regard to the College Days discount, does it apply to students only, or are staff and faculty also eligible?

Woody

 If someone has a college ID, might work for faculty/staff.  I suggest calling the snow office to ask.

marzNC wrote:

bousquet19 wrote:

Great news about Massanutten's snow, marzNC!

In regard to the College Days discount, does it apply to students only, or are staff and faculty also eligible?

Woody

 If someone has a college ID, might work for faculty/staff.  I suggest calling the snow office to ask.

 Thanks 

I asked via Massanutten’s Facebook page.  The offer is good for anyone with a college ID - students, staff, faculty.

bousquet19 wrote:

marzNC wrote:

bousquet19 wrote:

Great news about Massanutten's snow, marzNC!

In regard to the College Days discount, does it apply to students only, or are staff and faculty also eligible?

Woody

 If someone has a college ID, might work for faculty/staff.  I suggest calling the snow office to ask.

 Thanks 

I asked via Massanutten’s Facebook page.  The offer is good for anyone with a college ID - students, staff, faculty.

 Good to know.  Mnut has been paying pretty close attention to their FB Page in recent years.  Questions or complaints get a reply pretty quickly from what I can tell.

Bryce, Massanutten, Wintergreen all open as of Jan. 5.

Since Wintergreen doesn't have Acorn open, the line for the Blue Ridge Express looks like a 5-10 min wait for skiing Dobie.  Good thing that's a detachable so it doesn't stop often.  The beginner double chair is running too.  

No lines to speak of at the base lifts for Massanutten.  Still getting used to the names: Easy Rider and Creekside for the former Lift 3 and Lift 4 quads.  Used to just call them Geronimo and Southern Comfort.  But Geronimo was also renamed to Easy Street.  Southern Comfort is still Southern Comfort.  Creekside is easy to remember since the lift goes right along the main creek.

Bryce has White Lightning open.  From the webcam, empty per usual for midweek.

wgo wrote:

Just bought a 4 hour ticket for Friday. Plan is to ski from opening until around lunchtime. If they get more terrain open over the weekend I may return for a last chair special on Saturday.

 Maybe a picture or two? :-)

Snowing at Massanutten as of 10pm Thu evening.

Be careful driving in the morning.

Fun morning skiing at Mnut today. No issues getting there - roads were cleared. I had the AWD just in case. My son and I were booted up and ready a few minutes before 9. Mostly stuck to DJ - powder turns available to skiers's left until 10:30 or so. You had to be careful - there were places where the snow was very nice, but other places where the ungroomed machine made snow mixed with the natural and made for some tricky turns. But it was pretty easy to figure out where these stretches were. I brought my rock skis since I knew I would be off to the sides of the trails but they were not really needed.

Top of DJ:

Top of DJ, showing some cut up pow:

DJ Headwall, early in the day:

Thanks for the pics!

Saw that snowmaking will start on Paradice soon.  Going to be really good for MLK weekend when my friends will be there.

wgo wrote:

Paradice scheduled to open on Sunday.

 I also see that there is snowmaking on Upper Mass Transit and YeeHa. :-)

Massanutten opened Mass Transit and Yee Ha.  That provides the connector between the Ridge Triple (Lift 5) trails and the Peak Quad (Lift 6).  Pacesetter will be a terrain park by MLK weekend.

Massanutten opened the Meadow and Boardwalk trails for the first time ever today.  That's the beginner terrain where the big terrain park was in the last decade or two (with the J-bar).  The new long magic carpet is called the Flying Carpet.  Lift lines are not that bad as of 1pm.  But the line for getting rentals was pretty long all morning.  The rental process is set up well, but there are plenty of people who didn't start quite early enough.

There are machines for getting a RFID card/ticket based on buying in advance online in multiple places.  So the line for lifts tickets and rentals isn't too bad.

Scott just published an interview with Kenny Hess of Massanutten.  I saw Kenny running around this morning helping out as the holiday crowds started arriving.  Help to move a bench was one task, among many others I'm sure.  I knew he's been around Massanutten for a long time but didn't realize he started when at JMU.  Kenny and all the staff for snowsports are great people.

Interview Series: Massanutten’s Kenny Hess

Massanutten is 100% open as of Jan. 16.  MakAttack is probably pretty flat but it will be open.  Also the new trail Rock Drop that is under the lift line.  Rock Drop more or less existed last season.

Started snowing at Massanutten right around 11am.  Up until about 5pm, it was fluffy powder.  There was at least 5 inches on my friend's car that was sitting all day.  Started sleeting about 6pm.

With the usual few people on resort who don't know how to drive on snow, it's nice to be staying on the mountain for this MLK weekend.  Per usual, the resort roads are being plowed very regularly.  But when the snowfall was heavy, it didn't take long for the road to look all white.

Potential for a bit of a delayed opening today at Mnut, per their website.

wgo wrote:

Potential for a bit of a delayed opening today at Mnut, per their website.

 I wasn't skiing this morning but I don't think there was much of a delay opening up the lifts.  At least, not the base lifts.  With having to dig out cars and clear ice off glass, my friends weren't ready to ski until well after 9:30 in any case.

Per usual, the resort roads were in good shape at 8am.  No idea about US33.

There was a crust of ice on top of the snow on my car that was at least half an inch thick.  My friend's car is fully iced.  We're going to wait until Tuesday to deal with getting it ready to move.  We're up on Litten Lane, the road highest up on the side close to the trails off the Ridge Triple (Lift 5).

The cold front pushed into northern VA today.  Temp was under 30 at Massanutten after noon.  Snowguns going full blast as of 11pm with temps in the high teens.

Conditions are going to be very very good at Massanutten, Wintergreen, and Bryce.

I drove back to NC from Massanutten yesterday.  The odd part of this storm is that there is expected to be more snow EAST of I-95 in NC.  All the schools in the counties near Raleigh have cancelled school for Friday, Jan. 21 because of snow and icy roads.

Presumably 24-hour snowmaking at all the Virginia ski slopes today.  Conditions this weekend should be excellent.

Massanutten has guns on for the upper mountain but off for the greens.  Fun to watch the beginners enjoying the new Meadow trail (where the J-bar used to be).   Unlike Easy Rider (formerly Geronimo) and Southern Comfort, Meadow doesn't have a double fall line.  Also no reason for advanced or even intermediate folks to be speeding down that slope, which can be intimidating on Southern Comfort at times.  It seems to be what Snow Operating calls a "perfect slope."  Riding up the long magic carpet takes a while though.  More likely to stop than the shorter magic carpet closer to the ski school building.

Massanutten and Wintergreen were sold out for day tickets for Sat, Jan. 22.  They are limiting tickets on weekends and holidays.  

Massanutten is also limiting rentals as needed.  Not quite requiring online tickets yet, but getting close for potentially busy times when staffing isn't going to be at 100% for rentals.

Snow conditions are going to be fantastic in VA this week.  If I weren't headed to Taos soon, I'd probably make the drive for some bonus days on my Massanutten season pass.

ok, I'll try to help you out on this thread.  On Friday morning, WG was pure hardpack, some death cookies on the Acorn side, but no glass anywhere.  Softened during the day to some nice stuff on top of yet more hardpack.  Very cold day.  It was a day trip and glad I did not stay around for Saturday -- thanks for the warning.  Photo of Outer Limits, which I heard has not been really open for 10 years.

wgo wrote:

Fun skiing at Mnut last night. Snow was nice and chalky in places, firmer but still really carveable in others. Paradise had tons of whales/rollers with air time opportunities if that is your thing. Skiing down rock drop the peanut gallery in the lift above was pretty vocal. Virginia's version of Hollywood Cliffs!

 Paradice with whales is so much fun!  Plus it means the snow is more likely to last into March. :-)

How big were the bumps on Rock Drop?

MrYardSale wrote:

It was a great day with the fam at Mnut today. First time there this season and my biggest takeaway was how great Meadow is for young skiers. What a great addition to the trail lineup to help transition littles from the true bunny hill to the standard greens. My seven year old ate it up and I think he’s now got the itch.

 Meadow is a great addition for beginners.  Also means the lift line for Easy Rider isn't as long when there is a crowd on weekends.  Haven't seen many magic carpets that long.  At least not in the east.  Not having a double-fall line like Easy Street (Geronimo) or Southern Comfort is a definite plus.

The bumps (especially the first one) were pretty large, but spaced far apart so that it didn't really ski like a bump run. And I did not really want to launch off them, given the relative narrowness and firm conditions of the run - I was fine just skiing around the bumps.

The upper Mak to Rock Drop combo was a lot of fun and pretty advanced by Virginia standards. Once Mak gets bumped up more it will be even more fun.

marzNC wrote:

How big were the bumps on Rock Drop?

When Mother Nature is being helpful, not having night skiing on Tue and Wed nights makes a big difference for the base and beginner terrain at Massanutten.  Looking at the webcams at 6:30pm, the amount of snowmaking happening on Meadow, Easy Street, and Southern Comfort is intense.  It's 21 degrees and the high today was 27.  High was 44 yesterday before the cold front moved through.  During open hours, once there is a good base snow guns are rarely on where newbies are concentrated.

The change in night skiing hours started before the pandemic.  So seems pretty normal at this point.

kemperski wrote:

Sounding pretty great at Massanutten, hope to get in a partial day there either tomorrow or Monday-- I think its been 3 or 4 years since I was there

 Day tickets for Saturday may get sold out.  Wintergreen is already sold out for Jan. 29 as of this morning.  Monday will be busier than pre-pandemic.  All the snow and cold in NC and VA is clearly getting more people headed to the slopes on non-holiday weekends.

Have you looked at the expansion plans for Mnut?  Rock Drop under Lift 5 is already officially open.

Hard to tell in the screenshot from the Mnut webcam, but it's definitely snowing around 3:30pm on Fri, Jan. 28.  Temperature on the mountain is 29 degrees.  I have a feeling the night session is going to be pretty busy.  Tickets are still available for Sat.

First time I've seen Massanutten max out rentals at the ticket window.  That's good though because there were times over MLK weekend that the rental line wait was way too long.  Wonder if the local ski shop, Powder Shack, will run out of rental gear today.

wgo wrote:

Fun couple hours yesterday at night on the $20 Last Chair special at MNut. With the snowfall this month and the extended cold there were a few places where you could pop into the woods. Lift 5 (err, Ridge Triple) liftline (including Rock Drop) was really fun and there are very nice moguls on ParaDice. 

Sounds like plenty of fun! Going to take a while to get used to the new names for the lifts.  Although they make more sense than 3, 4, 5, 6. :-)

The conditions report mentions the Paradice bumps.

My friend, JF, and her son are skiing at Massanutten.  He has a 4-day long weekend off from his public high school in NC. Her luck with snow at Mnut is amazing!  Probably had snowed there more than half ski trips she's been there in the last decade and she usually only goes during school holiday weekends.

Rock Drop is the relatively new black under the Ridge Triple. It's pretty steep and narrow so needs some extra base to hold enough snow to keep from hitting the rocks underneath. Note that while can be snowmaking using portable snowguns on Rock Drop, it can't be groomed. Need to know how to ski bumps to ski Rock Drop.

MASSANUTTEN SNOW CONDITIONS
UPDATED 09:04am 02/14/2022

9:05 UPDATE: Rock Drop will be closed for snowmaking today. 

5"+ new snow yesterday and overnight snowmaking makes for an awesome Monday. Snow making will continue today in select areas with highs in the mid to upper 20s. Monday Night Madness tonight! $25 Slope - Use and $25 equipment rental, purchase online to reserve your spot. 

Massanutten and Wintergreen sold out online tickets for Sat and Sun of Pres. Day weekend.  Wintergreen sold out for the Fri before too.  Massanutten had some Sun night tickets available as of Fri morning.

Massanutten is continuing to limit resort rentals.  Have heard they are adjusting the rental staffing in the hopes of moving people along faster for the holiday weekends.  The new digital process has advantages but requires more space for the computers so even if staff is available, can't have as many stations as in the past.

After temps in the 50s on Thursday, the cold front came in fast and noisily last night at Massanutten.  Was in the 30s by Friday afternoon.  Snowguns were on full blast as soon as the lifts closed in the evening.

wgo wrote:

Another fun couple of hours at Mnut yesterday. Soft bumps with a decent line at the top of Paradice, a couple fun lines on Mak Attack and Showtime where the snow was very nice, and a beer on the deck. Coverage should be fine for this weekend (tho it is supposed to hit 72 degrees in McGaheysville this Sunday). The big news is the progress being made on the new Mueller's Mile run. The heavy equipment is out, cutting the trail. I spoke to someone on ski patrol - he told me that over half the trail has been cut already. 

 Good to know.  I'm going to be around Mnut for Snow Moon Fest this weekend.  Could hear the machinery in action a couple weeks ago.

Top of new blue trail from the peak, as of mid-Feb 2022

As of early March, Bryce and Wintergreen are selling tickets online until Sun, March 13.

I think late season rates start on March 7 in VA in general.

Massanutten is fully committed to staying open until March 20.  Expecting temps to be good for snowmaking this weekend.  Might even get some natural snow.

The groomers were out until the last minute on Tuesday morning, March 8.  They were pushing down the extra snow on Upper MakAttack and Lower Mass Transit.  Looked like the terrain park on Pacesetter was flattened out too.  That allows for three routes down from the top of the Ridge Triple (Lift 5) for advanced and adventurous intermediates.

Pics at 8:40am on March 8

Bryce changed Winterfest to Sunday, March 13, because of the snow expected on Saturday morning.

Rather unusual forecast for mid-March in Virginia.  OpenSnow has someone actively reporting about the mid-Atlantic this season.

Sunday, March 13, should be good anywhere in VA.

wow.  too bad I am going to..... Steamboat :)

thanks for the reports !

pagamony wrote:

wow.  too bad I am going to..... Steamboat :)

thanks for the reports !

 Still going to be a lot longer runs at Steamboat than in the southeast. :-)  Plus it seems to be finally snowing in Colorado.  Have fun!

wfyurasko wrote:

I think I may have to use my birthday boy prerogative and go to Massanutten tomorrow. How are the rentals there? I have my own boots, but haven't gotten skis yet.

 If basic skis are okay, my friends stops in at Powder Shack to get rental gear.  $15 for the day.  Look for the sign for Kline's and the Thunderbird Cafe.

Wind is blowing hard at Wintergreen.  May be a while before the lifts start running there this morning.

Here's the early morning update for Massanutten.  Sounds like snowguns could start up before the day ends.  The investments in recent years in automated snowmaking can pay off for a short window of opportunity like this.

marzNC wrote:

wfyurasko wrote:

I think I may have to use my birthday boy prerogative and go to Massanutten tomorrow. How are the rentals there? I have my own boots, but haven't gotten skis yet.

 If basic skis are okay, my friends stops in at Powder Shack to get rental gear.  $15 for the day.  Look for the sign for Kline's and the Thunderbird Cafe.

 I tried to reserve at Powder Shack, but they only do in-person. Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to taking a half-day tomorrow.

Wintergreen is open, but barely.  This is closing weekend.  There are 7 slopes listed as open.  More or less one way down off the three main lifts.  I'm guessing there wasn't enough base left on the other trails.

Bryce closed Hangover (black) and the terrain park.  The Winterfest was moved to Sunday, March 13.  Starts with a polar plunge and ends with a pond skim.  Sounds like a fun day.  Sunday is closing day for Bryce.

Massanutten closed Upper MakAttack and Pacesetter.  Mass Transit and Yee Ha are still open.  Meadow (new green) was done for the season after last weekend.  Season passholders can get a free 4-ticket for a friend on March 13.  Mnut will have the only open slopes March 14-20.

wfyurasko wrote:

marzNC wrote:

wfyurasko wrote:

I think I may have to use my birthday boy prerogative and go to Massanutten tomorrow. How are the rentals there? I have my own boots, but haven't gotten skis yet.

 If basic skis are okay, my friends stops in at Powder Shack to get rental gear.  $15 for the day.  Look for the sign for Kline's and the Thunderbird Cafe.

 I tried to reserve at Powder Shack, but they only do in-person. Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to taking a half-day tomorrow.

 You shouldn't have trouble getting skis on March 13.  It's a small family-owned operation.  But they have enough skis to deal with holiday weekends.

One of the unusual aspects of Powder Shack is that they only open for the winter season.  Unlike other ski shops that become swim and bike shops the rest of the year.

wfyurasko wrote:

marzNC wrote:

wfyurasko wrote:

I think I may have to use my birthday boy prerogative and go to Massanutten tomorrow. How are the rentals there? I have my own boots, but haven't gotten skis yet.

 If basic skis are okay, my friends stops in at Powder Shack to get rental gear.  $15 for the day.  Look for the sign for Kline's and the Thunderbird Cafe.

 I tried to reserve at Powder Shack, but they only do in-person. Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to taking a half-day tomorrow.

 Powdershack is 19.99 and easy mid week.  Weekends can be dicier.

wojo wrote:

 Powdershack is 19.99 and easy mid week.  Weekends can be dicier.

 $15 is what Powder Shack has posted on their sign this season.

My friend drives up from NC for holiday weekends.  She tries to get to Powder Shack before 3pm on Friday afternoon.  That's when the line starts getting long.  A fair number of locals rent for night skiing on Fridays, which starts at 4pm.

Massanutten had to start limiting rentals from the resort shop on weekends because the wait was getting too long.  So far, they aren't using a scheduled pick up time approach.  I noticed that Bryce has been trying that, but some people haven't shown up on time so there were still busy times when waiting was an aggravation.

marzNC wrote:

wojo wrote:

 Powdershack is 19.99 and easy mid week.  Weekends can be dicier.

 $15 is what Powder Shack has posted on their sign this season.

My friend drives up from NC for holiday weekends.  She tries to get to Powder Shack before 3pm on Friday afternoon.  That's when the line starts getting long.  A fair number of locals rent for night skiing on Fridays, which starts at 4pm.

Massanutten had to start limiting rentals from the resort shop on weekends because the wait was getting too long.  So far, they aren't using a scheduled pick up time approach.  I noticed that Bryce has been trying that, but some people haven't shown up on time so there were still busy times when waiting was an aggravation.

 chalkboard on the front said 19.99 last two times we rented.  they must have something that rents for 15$ as I see that sign every time I drive by :-)

marzNC wrote:

pagamony wrote:

wow.  too bad I am going to..... Steamboat :)

thanks for the reports !

 Still going to be a lot longer runs at Steamboat than in the southeast. :-)  Plus it seems to be finally snowing in Colorado.  Have fun!

 Thanks I’m not planning on regretting it. 

A little snow today to send us off!  Good karma  

It was 17 degrees at Massanutten when the lifts opened at 9am.  Daylight Savings Time shifted things a bit.  Supposed to go up into the high 30s eventually today.  Should be a fun late season Sunday.  Snowmaking last night was on the open beginner trails, Showtime, and DJ.

A couple pics from my friend who skied in the fresh snow at Mnut on March 12.  He said it felt really cold, with wind chill in the low teens.

marzNC wrote:

It was 17 degrees at Massanutten when the lifts opened at 9am.  Daylight Savings Time shifted things a bit.  Supposed to go up into the high 30s eventually today.  Should be a fun late season Sunday.  Snowmaking last night was on the open beginner trails, Showtime, and DJ.

MASSANUTTEN SNOW CONDITIONS: UPDATED

 08:17am 03/13/2022

4" - 5" new snow yesterday and overnight snowmaking have transformed us back to winter. Sunshine with highs near 40 will make for a splendid day on the snow.  There are still some thin a narrow areas out on the hill so please ski with caution.  We plan to ski and ride daily through March 20. Ready, set, we're not done yet!  

10:00AM UPDATE: Patrol has dropped the ropes on Upper Mak Attack and Pacesetter. Both trails are now open.    

wfyurasko wrote:

Is Massanutten charging less for lift tickets right now? I think it was $42/50 yesterday and that is less than I expected.

 Late season rates started on March 7 at Massanutten.  That used to happen after the first weekend of March even before Mnut created the Snow Moon Fest.

The Mnut Special Value Pass is good on Saturdays during late season.  Otherwise good Sun-Fri, plus Saturday night sessions (after 4pm).