Snowshoe! Whos going?
April 11, 2005
Well, I could not resist temptation and decided that I'll make the 4 1/2 hour treck from Freddyburg to Snowshoe on Sunday to catch that last bit of skiing before it is all done and over with!
Just curious who I'll run into out there, as I'd like to get to meet some of you in person (and perhaps ski a few runs together).
Look for the fairly big guy with the shoulder length wavy/curly blond hair skiing on a pair of red Volkl Supersport 5-stars. I'll most likely be wearing a black long-sleeved "Under Armour" shirt and black fleece vest with (if I don't forget) a DCSki pin.
I want to go but all my so called friends are dropping like flies, anyone from pittsburgh(south hills/ mon valley) want to drive down together? A 4 hour drive alone is not only boring but dangerous.
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A 4 hour drive alone is not only boring but dangerous.
Oh, I've driven farther than that by myself (such as those 9 hour drive to Columbus, OH to visit my parents). XM Radio and/or a good supply of CD's takes care of the boredom.
Anyway, I am driving up to Massanutten tonight and staying there overnight (one of the perks being on the patrol there - access to cheap lodging), and then go the rest of the way sunday morning. At least that'll get me half way there, as Snowshoe is only about 2 to 2 1/2 hours from Massanutten.
Thinking about going Sunday. I'll be going by myself; can't talk anybody into going with me. SkiBum, I'll won't be far behind you; I'm leaving from Luray. It's about a 3 hr drive. How can you loose with a $15 lift ticket, even if you only ski for a few hours.
Well, I just got back! Was quite an interesting day of skiing. Some pretty challenging conditions today! Knotbumper was pretty interesting dropping in. Basically, two tiny, narrow strips of snow, barely wide enough to even get a turn in. After that, a friggan sink hole was forming on the right, in the middle of that one narrow bit of snow that you needed to go through to get around the large bare spot. I dang near fell in. Cupp Run was still pretty decent, although sloppy in a couple places. Near the bottom, it was getting pretty well spent, with one pretty narrow strip to ski through, which was also starting to show bare.
Me, I got to ski free, (thank you ski patrol!). For this late in the season and as warm as it was (to the point where I was just wearing my vest, with no shirt - I was getting that hot), there was still a bit of snow to work with. There were a lot of bare spots to dodge, and more were forming. I guess now was probably as good as any to finish up. There is no way they could go on another weekend, especially as warm it is supposed to be over the next few days.
There was hardly anybody there. At one point, I pretty much had Cupp Run all to myself. All the lifts, including Ballhooter, was ski-on! No lines whatsoever.
Overall, it was a fun day of skiing, albight a bit on the warm side. Was a great way to finish up the season. I honostly thought I was pretty much done after Massanutten closed up, but I just could not resist to make the drive up to Snowshoe to get that last day in. Unfortunatly, that is such a difficult drive to get there. I swear, they must've hired a friggan roller coaster designer when they made those roads! Those roads had more damn curves than the entire Dallas Cowgirl cheerleading squad! Friggan RT 250 from the Washington National Forest until a few miles before picking up RT 28. And that dang RT 66, especially from Cass right up to the entrance of Snowshoe (not to mention that road leading up the mountain itself!). I was wondering if I was going to wear out the clutch and brakes on my brand-new car, even before I make the first payment, with all the downshifting and braking I had to do to nogetiate those friggan curves! I am so friggan glad to be back home, though!
Alss, it truly looks like I'll be putting up the boards until around December. A New England trip is still a slight possibility, but I am not holding my breath on that one.
All week I talked myself in and out of making the trip to Snowshoe this weekend. Finally decided to go early Saturday morning about 6am. I loaded up the jeep with snowboards and my 10 year old son for company. We stayed at Allegany Springs and enjoyed 2 very nice days of boarding. I have to agree about the curvey roads. It wouldn't be so bad if there was a gas station every 30 miles or so. All in all it was a great season and I got in 40 days of skiing and boarding at 7 resorts
Sorry I missed it. Sounds like vintage spring shoe. I've done the last days of corn there in the late 80s and early-mid 90s. Cupp sounds typical. Some years we skied straw to make it to the lift.
ANYWAY, I'm looking forward to next November when they get the hill open again. I logged 43 days this year, down from my typical 50+
Hey SkiBumMSP, that drive is nice on dry pavement. I used to do it all winter on Friday nights when I instructed on weekends. Try 66 up Cass on white roads! WHAT A RIDE! I used to do it in 3:15 from Culpeper. Some nights it took somewhat longer depending upon how many flatlanders I would get behind. It was always our Friday night game to see how many times people had used the guard rail as a means of slowing down
. Cass used to be more interesting when there were no guardrails, and the main access road was not paved.
Hey SkiBumMSP, that drive is nice on dry pavement. I used to do it all winter on Friday nights when I instructed on weekends. Try 66 up Cass on white roads! WHAT A RIDE! I used to do it in 3:15 from Culpeper. Some nights it took somewhat longer depending upon how many flatlanders I would get behind. It was always our Friday night game to see how many times people had used the guard rail as a means of slowing down
. Cass used to be more interesting when there were no guardrails, and the main access road was not paved.
Driving to Snowshoe on dry pavement is a piece of cake. The first or second time I drove in from MD was in the middle of the night during near white-out condidtions. Nothing like having the explorer in 4WD-low, barely crawling along, and still feeling the car slide. White-knuckle driving the whole way.
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Driving to Snowshoe on dry pavement is a piece of cake. The first or second time I drove in from MD was in the middle of the night during near white-out condidtions. Nothing like having the explorer in 4WD-low, barely crawling along, and still feeling the car slide. White-knuckle driving the whole way.
Seems like 75% of the time I make that drive, it's in the middle of a snowstorm. There have been several cases where it's sunny and 40F when I leave Williamsburg, and it's in the teens and snowing when I reach the mountains. Some of it's my fault for trying to hit powder days, but even when we plan regular weekends in advance, we tend to hit storms on the way up. I have never been so happy with my Subaru as those trips. The car is just amazing in the snow and will soldier through anything if driven sensibly. Still between the poor visibility and curvy roads, it's a white knuckle experience. I need about three beers to relax after that drive.
On a trip in early March, we arrived Friday night in a snowstorm at 11pm and had to negotiate about 20" of unplowed snow at Top of the World for checkin. I was so excited about the new snow that I didn't even notice we were making first tracks with the car until we parked and practically had to wade through the parking lot....
Craig
