Hi. Never been to WISP. I'm an expert, but my wife's a moderate skier and my 9 and 5 year olds are pure beginners. We've gone to Wintergreen a few years, but I'm not crazy bout the culture or the soft snow. Thinking about whether WISP will be right for the family, including ski school and children's programs, rentals, and lodging. Certainly the snow conditions must be better.

Is WISP the right family place for the President's Day weekend? How are the rentals? What about lodging?

Thanks!

I'm familiar with all the areas mentioned. Under the right circumstances they can all be great. I've written some recent favorable first hand reports on Wisp and Seven Springs. I agree that Seven Springs and Snowshoe have more resort type amenities adjacent to the slopes, in case you'll be devoting energy in that direction. And Wintergreen has more in that department then Wisp. Seven Springs/Snowshoe/Wisp definitely tend to have much better natural snow conditions then Wintergreen. Just a guess, but Wisp might be slightly less crowded then the others on a Holiday weekend. It is also easier to get to from points east between Baltimore and Norfolk (aside from Wintergreen if you live south of DC). There is a Comfort Inn close to the base of Wisp, not sure about other motels. Many visitors stay at rental properties of which there are quite a few owing to nearby Deep Creek Lake, a big summer vacation spot. If you go to resort profiles section of DCSki, you can click on links to check out lodging possibilities at any of the ski areas.

I love all 3 but never been to Wintergreen. Snowshoe and 7 springs have the best night life. If you want family program and decide on snowshoe stay at silvercreek. If you go to wisp get a family suite slopeside. My guess on 7 springs is that they are booked by now.
I'd go to Canaan/Timberline personally.

I find (in general) the snow at wisp and WV is drier.

I would recommend Seven Springs in Pennsylvania. It isn't far from Wisp, and depending on the route you take , may not take any longer to get to. Seven Springs has more trails of much more variety, more slopeside lodging and appears to have a much bigger ski school. My son, his friend and I skied at both places the end of Dec., and Seven Springs had much better conditions, VARIETY and crowd dispersement.

I agree Seven Springs is quite nice but my favorite is SnowShoe in WV.

SnowShoe has a very good ski school that has special 1/2 and whole day programs specifically for kids. This allow the parents time to get off and ski by themselves. My better half is an expert skier and enjoys himself on the Western Territories' Killy designed Cupp Run and Shays while I stay on the bowl side on blues and greens. There are several sections on the bowl side that are laid out in such a way that a black and blue/green skier can make their seperate runs down and ride up together in the same lift. Nice for huggin' your honey!

Accommodations at SnowShoe are you get what you pay for as indicated in another thread. We have been very satisfied 90% of the time.

In any case Presidents Day weekend is full contact at any resort in the area. Expect big crowds and harried service if you eat out, longer lift lines, etc. And ... you had better book -now-! I booked us at SnowShoe for that weekend about 10 days ago and they were definitely low on accommodations. If you decide that SnowShoe might be the place for you, book thru their reservation system for best service, see ... http://www.snowshoemtn.com/ .. for phone numbers and information.

Have fun!

Hi,

I like Wisp, but it is not really a resort. Although it is Ski-in/ski-out. I don't have any first hand knowledge of the ski-school or family programs. It has not been very crowded, the times I went and the snow was always good. I would agree with JCP's assessment of 7 Springs and if you read the threads on Snowshoe you will see the divergent opinions on that subject.

The lodging at Wisp is Holiday Inn style but nice.

Wherever you go, you should probably hurry and book something quick!