WInterplace...
November 27, 2005
Nobody talks about Winterplace in this site...
Has nobody been there? or do they think it is not worthy of talking about...??
WInterplace has nearly 100% of its terrain open the entire year...year after year...I grant you its not a 1000 ft vert or slopes with 45 degree angles or anything...but if your from southern WV, southwest VA, or central NC...Its your best bet..
Plenty of lifts, nice trails...not that challenging...but at least 99% of the trails are open...Right near Beckley for all your night life needs...clubs, bars, food, shopping, the works...
Just trying to get their name out there...You all should at least try them once...if only once...its a nice experience....
I have wanted to try Winterplace. It's an easy 3 hour drive for me. I've read different post that say they have a lot of groups on the weekends. How is it on the weekend?
I live about 1 1/2 hours from Winterplace, and make numerous weekday trips. Yes, the crowds can be really bad on the weekends, I think mainly because it's so easy to get to (1 mile off I-77). I never go on the weekend. Their lifts are very slow and runs, especially the black diamonds, and pretty short. But, the blacks at the top have a heck of a first drop! They never seem to have too much in terms of terrain features (rails, etc), if you're into that.
They have the biggest tubing hill I have ever seen, something like 10 or 12 lanes, for those who like that.
Most of the DC crowd would have to drive (sort of) past Snowshoe to get there - which I am sure would divert 90% of that crowd.
I've been there once last winter- it's a good practice hill but they also have some powder stashes they keep ungroomed after the storms. The level of skier there is pretty low, so very few people venture into the untracked. The result is you can yo-yo seven or eight runs in powder until it gets chewed up (this is midweek I'm talking about here).
They also have a lodge halfway down one run where you can stop and get a beer (or two). Turkey Chute looks nice but it was closed when I was there. Those are probably my three favorite things about the place.
Oh, don't go on the weekends unless you have a death wish. Every church group within a hundred miles shows up for their annual ski outing and most of those folks probably shouldn't be allowed on sleds, much less with equipment strapped to their feet on ski slopes. Imagine missles being aimed at random targets and you get the picture of skiing there on the weekends.
Hay WegewZee
, sounds like a better place for an aiurboard park than CV?
as the original poster said, best bet for snow conditions for a drive from central NC, though wintergreen has nicer advanced terrain and facilities. also got to be the highest lift to slope ratio of anywhere in the world. stay on the 'upper mountain' (no kidding) and buy the 9am to 10pm ticket to skip the noon to 3pm crowd. the kids and I were there last year for 13" of new ungroomed freshies and had a blast. its southern skiing, don't try to compare it to anywhere else, just go with the flow. also relatively good customer service and ski school policies.
Cascade is pwetty much an awbowad pawk aweady, Jimmy.
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also got to be the highest lift to slope ratio of anywhere in the world.
I calculated it once. Running at full capacity (which they are on any given weekend) the lifts can put something like 150 people on ever acre of terrain they have. And most of those people are straight-lining it down cascade. Fortunately, the majority of the people stick to the lower 150' of the mountain and the upper mountain is a little less crowded, especially after a fresh dump when they don't groom the upper slopes.
I just like going there because the people there make me feel good about my ability level 
I'm considering getting a job at Winterplace this winter as an instructor, so in my free time I can build and minishred the park however I want... they have a decent park there for jibbing (the story goes, a bunch of snowboard instructors got the owner pretty wasted, then talked him into buying about 20 rails and boxes) and the gapers stay away.
Winterplace does have some plusses, in the sea of inexperienced minuses at a resort that doesn't even offer season passes:
5. Shredding the trees between Wood's Hole and Plunge.
4. Poaching Nightmare.
3. Taking that first turn down Turkey Chute and realizing it's solid ice.
2. Making every kid on the mountain drop their jaw as you rip by.
1. Hucking off the top of Rendevous (potentially clearing a patch of grass) and spinning a rotation of your choice and hearing people holler from the chairlift above (and you holler for clearance at the top of Cascade below!).
This should be kept in mind too vis-a-vis Winterplace: the owner is the dude who wants to build Almost Heaven (Bill Bright). What you see there is a preface of things to come, I imagine. And, frankly, I don't think he did a half bad job with the hill- there's just not much to work with there.
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I'm considering getting a job at Winterplace this winter as an instructor
Let me know if you take that job and I'll sign up to take a lesson.
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5. Shredding the trees between Wood's Hole and Plunge.
I saw someone try that once. They hit a relatively narrow section of Woods Run at about 90 degrees and slid straight across it into the valley below. I saw him crawl up on all fours a few minutes later. Pretty funny. Only thing funnier than watch someone bust is wathcing someone bust that's trying to look cool. 
I twice bought my 2 kids (10,12) lessons there last year and found the policies and instructors very good.
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5. Shredding the trees between Wood's Hole and Plunge.
unlike a lot of places, they don't seem to mind if you want to risk your life in the trees, nice. i've never been more proud than when i found my 12 year old son coming out of the trees under the main liftlines next to cascade, i could have shed a tear as he said "i needed to find some fresh".
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1. Hucking off the top of Rendevous (potentially clearing a patch of grass) and spinning a rotation of your choice and hearing people holler from the chairlift above (and you holler for clearance at the top of Cascade below!).
that's a tighty whitey there for a landing - if you can huck it I am indeed impressed.
