WINTER FUN BEGINS IN WEST VIRGINIA

Greetings -

The sound of snow guns have been heard recently in the mountains of
West
Virginia. Since early this month, the veteran snowmakers at Snowshoe
Mountain have been making snow whenever Mother Nature has allowed, over
150
hours worth of covering the slopes with man made white stuff. Thanks
to the
snowmakers and groomers efforts, alpine skiing in West Virginia will
commence for the 2007/08 season, this Wednesday at Snowshoe Mountain.
Nordic skiing actually got underway this past Friday, November 16 at
White
Grass Touring Center in Tucker County, due to natural snowfall in the
West
Virginia Mountains that reached a half a foot in some areas.

Mother Nature has allowed Snowshoe Mountain's snowmakers to produce
nearly
200 hours of man made coverage on 27 acres of slopes. When the ropes
drop
Wednesday morning at the Pocahontas County resort, seven trails will be
available, serviced by three lifts. A great way to celebrate the
Thanksgiving holiday. Even though the ski slopes will not be open,
Canaan
Valley Resort will be offering family activities such as guided nature
hikes, turkey bowling on ice, pie eating contest and much more. Other
resort
openings include Timberline December 6 and Winterplace December 7 and
Canaan
Valley on December 22 (earlier if weather allows).

Timberline Four Seasons Resort and Canaan Valley Resort have joined
forces
for the 2007-2008 ski season to offer guests the ability to ski both
mountains at their leisure for one price. Guests taking advantage of
the Ski
The Valley Pass will have 76 trails and four terrain parks at their
disposal
and the option of skiing the two mountains when and how they want.

The Pass will be sold as a two-day lift ticket and can be purchased at
the
lift ticket windows of both ski areas. The cost for the pass is: $40
for a
two-day pass during Value Season (Dec. 14-24; Mar. 17-23); $65 for a
two-day
pass during weekdays in Prime Season (Jan. 1-Mar. 13); and, $95 for a
two-day pass during weekends in Prime Season (Jan. 4-Mar. 16). The
ticket
will not be available during the Christmas (12/25-12/31), Presidents
Day or
Martin Luther King Day holidays.

Speaking of passes, the West Virginia Ski Areas Association is again
offering The West Virginia Mountain Pass. The pass provides 30 passes
to
each resort in the state and 10 passes to the two Nordic areas. The
cost of
the Mountain Pass booklet is $2500 and the passes are interchangeable.
For
more information call 304-720-5466.

It looks like there is a chance of snowmaking conditions and natural
snow
later this week in the higher elevations. This week's snowmaking will
be
critical for resorts wanting to open within the next couple of weeks.
For
daily news and action photo, go to http://www.westvirginiaski.com .



Joe Stevens
Director, Communications & Development
The Media Center