Would appreciate some advice on getting a season pass for next year (trying to take advantage of early bird specials in March). Based in NOVA. Main goal: stick to the best resort that would allow a 6 year old to progress in his skiing. He started this year and is getting pretty good in linking his turns, but still needs work. We keep him on the longer greens (description below). We have been very deliberate in easing him into learning the turns (I see so many kids just riding blues down on a pizza) but he is getting comfortable enough where I think next year he will be ready for some easy blues. This is key for us - having some long hard greens/easy blues where he can practice. Here is our experience and what we are looking for.
- Roundtop WhiteTail Liberty etc - it’s a zoo most of the times to be honest so we’d rather avoid.
-Massanutten - not enough easy (long) blues for a young one to practice. Their short green is good for him but too short. Their long green doesn’t cut it.
-We really enjoyed BlueMountain in PA. That’s where he learned. He learned on the smaller hills and then did their long green run once (Paradise). I think it’s really a blue rather than green - much more challenging than most greens I have seen. He did 1/2 of it linking turns and 1/2 of it on pizza. It’s probably an ideal run for him to practice and grow next year. Really only downside with BlueMountain was how packed it gets with NY NJ crowds.
- Timberline Mountain - Their long green (Salamander) Is perfect for a kid to learn to link turns, at least in our experience. But it’s not something where he can continue to grow next year.
So as far as passes go, here is where we are. IKON would give us Snowshoe. Epic would not give us anything in the driving distance to DC that would accomplish our goals. Getting Bluemountain pass would be OK, but then would not give us an opportunity to either take him to a trip out West or Vermont. Indy Pass kinds of puts us all over the map -I’d rather have one resort with a few long runs where he can continue to grow and practice. I’m leaning towards IKON, but it’s also hard to find lodging for holiday weekends in Snowshoe. Thing that was great with BlueMountain in PA is that there are a ton of hotels 20 mins away. So maybe IKON or Bluemountain or other resorts you can all recommend in the Poconos? It’s been hard to nail it down, because so many discussions are not really focused on kids progressing through stages to get better and more confident on blues (lots of recommendations on where kids can learn). Thoughts? Ideas?
I’d recommend a different approach. Find out about kids programs, where the same group of kids ski with the same instructor every weekend. The kids make friends and learn from each other. They compete with each other. My 3 grandsons did that and made incredibly fast progress. Don’t worry about the terrain and the pass; find the best kids program.
edited to put in a plug for the best kids ski programs I know about, where my 3 grandsons learned their skills starting with the rockin’ robins and progressing to the freeski team. It would take a lot of commitment to do this every weekend from the DC area. However a surprising number of families from NY, NJ, Boston do it. You can’t do any better.
When did you last ski at Massanutten? The new Meadow green with a long magic carpet is plenty long for a 6yo to show off lots of turns. With few, if any, fast skiers buzzing past. The Meadow is where the big terrain park was for a while, in between the teaching terrain and the snow tubing.
The progression from Meadow to Easy Street (was Geronimo), Lower Showtime (blue), to Upper Showtime (steep at the very top), to Paradice (black) is hard to beat in the region. My daughter (starting age 4) and my friend's kids (starting age 4 and 6), and my friend (learning as an adult) were all skiing Alta blue trails after learning for 3-4 seasons at Mnut. They all took lessons at Mnut and Alta, especially the first ski trip of the season. They were only skiing 6-10 days per season, mostly the holiday weekends (4 days on skis).
The Mnut Children's Program was wonderful. But with staffing issues and other considerations, don't know if that will come back or not.
Novalex wrote:
He did easy street at Massanutten this January. He had a ton of fun but I feel like he progressed past it by the end of the afternoon. I felt like Massanutten has blacks but not enough lounger medium level blues for kids to take their time and practice. But I could be wrong - I stick to blues my wife does it all 🤫Today he made it down Upper Dew Drop in Timberline linking turns (not on Pizza) which made me happy (he got on skis this January).
For what it's worth, I learned fundamental skills at Massanutten as an advanced skier that have helped when skiing big mountains out west. Long trails are not necessary. It's not about how many turns happen on a given run, but what type of turns.
For a kid, as long as they are having fun, really don't need long runs. What I like about the Ridge Triple is that the mid station exists. By the time my daughter was 7, she was mature enough to wait for me when I felt like riding to the top and skiing Upper Showtime.
Was your wife an instructor at some point? Linking turns is one thing and certainly good. Linking C-turns and not Z-turns is another.
We loved timberline. Their new lift is super fast.
snowsmith wrote:
Not sure why you say the Epic pass would not provide the terrain you’re learning youngster needs. 7S, HV and LM are a 3 hour drive from DC, same as Wisp and Timberline. All of these mountains have a variety of terrain. Additionally, you have the option to ski Liberty, Whitetail and Roundtop. If you want to expand a little, you could go to Okemo or Mt. Snow in Vermont. Not sure why Timberline does not meet your expectations. They have the best terrain in the area.
I'm in a similar boat. My 6yo just started skiing this year and is making progress and is primed to make big advances next year. You may know me as the dad yelling "Make Turns!" down Heavenly/Whitney's way at Liberty. Yes, he'll pizza most of the way until he hears me yell and then switches to small wedge turns.
From my point of view, the more time on the mountain, the more he'll progress. We are going to get Epic Local passes next year. The Epic Local pass allows us to get the slopes often, which means more time to practice and develop. He's also going to do the Junior Ski Development lessons. It's four kids to a group, 3 hours, 4 Sat or Sun in a row. A family part of the LMRT told us that their daughter did the Ski Development lessons and progressed enough to join the race team the next season.
ATruGator wrote:
I'm in a similar boat. My 6yo just started skiing this year and is making progress and is primed to make big advances next year. You may know me as the dad yelling "Make Turns!" down Heavenly/Whitney's way at Liberty. Yes, he'll pizza most of the way until he hears me yell and then switches to small wedge turns.
From my point of view, the more time on the mountain, the more he'll progress. We are going to get Epic Local passes next year. The Epic Local pass allows us to get the slopes often, which means more time to practice and develop. He's also going to do the Junior Ski Development lessons. It's four kids to a group, 3 hours, 4 Sat or Sun in a row. A family part of the LMRT told us that their daughter did the Ski Development lessons and progressed enough to join the race team the next season.
Just like the end of Kingsman I
Hidden Valley caters to families. It's much more chill and is a great place for kids. Terrain isn't as challenging, and you don't have the crowds and craziness of 7S. I think the terrain's a bit more varied than 7S too. Their snow is arguably better quality (newer TechnoAlpin system vs 7's HKD kludge that has a mix of new guns and old ones that still date back to the 90s). I think HV does a better job at grooming too.
Their customer service has always been top notch too.
I've rarely had a bad day at HV. I've had plenty at 7S. That was true even this weekend. Snow was a lot better at HV.
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