1)Snowshoe but just by a hair. In fact if I were to rate the resorts with the presumption that everything was open I would give the prize to Timberline.
Suggestion-Advanced and expert terrain! This is an area where Snowshoe lags behind Timberline. With 180 inches of snow/year, Snowshoe should put in many glades. Also it needs to add some more terrain on the Western Territory, maybe a narrow twisty(classic New England) trail for a change. Also I would suggest to only groom half of upper shays Revenge as well.

2)Timberline, the most underrated mountain in the Mid Atlantic. Its terrain is the best in the mid atlantic with maybe the exception of Snowshoe. Glades, cruisers, steeps, 1000 vertical, it has it all.
Suggestion-I cant think of much except maybe a little better snowmaking. Maybe clearing a little bit of the underbrush on some of the glades so they will open more often. Obviously a high speed quad to the top would be nice, but it will never happen with Timeberline's present financial situation. A base resort is definately needed to bring.

3)Canaan Valley an okay place nothing special
Suggestion-put in glades, they also receive a good amount of snow and would be able to have them open on many occasions.

I think you are pretty much right on Southskier. I read some of Snowshoe's projections a while back where they hope to add a number of slopes, but for now except for the two trails in the "Western Territory" the mountain isn't any bigger than Wisp, and way overcrowded in a lot of areas. I'm excited to see what Intrawest does in the future.

Timberline would be my favorite if they spent a little money on the lifts and developed a base resort. Not much to do when you aren't actually skiing.

Canaan is great for beginners. If you are looking for much improvement, don't expect it witht he state in control. They desperately need decent facilities at the bottom, including a couple more eateries at the base of the slopes.

While Snowshoe is receiving skads of Intrawest money, I still have two fundamental problems with the resort. 1) Except for the Western Territory, even the more advanced runs quickly turn into beginner runs once you ski past the headwall. 2) It's so darn far from anywhere (5 hours from D.C.).

While I appreciate the excellent snowmaking and rather abundant natural snowfall, I'm hoping that Snowshoe will expand the Western Territory area with a few new runs. I had the opportunity to ride up the Western Express with a Snowshoe executive last season and he said that there used to be another run past Shay's Revenge, but that it was closed years ago due to problems keeping snow on it. I say that if you already have a run cut on the mountain - OPEN IT. With the advances in snowmaking, I'm sure the snow difficulties of the past shouldn't present the same problem.

I do agree with what everyone is saying about Timberline. I've skied there for several years and love it. The lifts are slow and old, and the snowmaking leaves something to be desired, but the slopes have a consistant pitch (unlike Snowshoe) and Timberline offers more terrain diversity.

That trail your thinking of is I think called the Hawthorne Trail. I once talked to a guy who skied and he told me it was one of the worst trails he ever skied on. He said the trail constantly turned to one side and was not worth skiing. ALso I think Snowshoe wants to keep its 100% snowmaking claim.