I have already booked lodging on top of the mountain at Snowshoe and we are planning to leave DC around 2 PM in a mid-sized SUV. Another group of friends are leaving as early as possible on Friday 's morning in a full-sized sedan. The current forecast is calling for 12-18 inches of snow at snowshoe (which is awesome) but we are concerned about the drive there. How will the road condition be? If we manage to get there, will the road clear up on Sunday's afternoon for the commute back to DC (Especially Rt 28 through Monogahela NF). Any thoughts?

I've always dreamed about getting snowed in at the ski area, never been that lucky. Best to get the trip down done before dark. Why worry about Sunday? I'm Headin to CV before this starts and i Hope you/i don't get out til TUESDAY, so there, that's my thoughts .

Anyone else hope me and snowglobe get snowed in?

This has been such an awesome year! Last week I was at WTG with fresh 10 inches.. I really wish I could stay after Sunday.. let's see.. maybe I will call in sick! =D

Rots a Ruck.

If the forecast holds up (I alwasy expect some changes up until the last minute), travel will be difficult Friday through Sunday. Winter driving skills will be at a premium. The earlier one leaves Friday, the higher the likelihood of a safe arrival. A 2PM DC departure is begging for trouble. A late Sunday return should not be too bad. But you need to understand that in won't take much to change things from bad to worse. You should leave home prepared for the worst.

Thanks for the warning Rusty, I think I will try to leave earlier in the morning..

I think this Sunday will be an epic day.. great powder and no crowd on the Super bowl day!

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php...nit=0&lg=en

Snowglobe,
The site above is the official NOAA forecast for Snowshoe issued out of Charleston, WV. The present data shown is not at the Shoe, but rather at the Warm Springs, VA airport at a much lower altitude.
I have personally twice been snowed in at the Shoe, once in real late March during a 30" drop!
The Colonel

The forecast has already changed since this morning. If you want to be stuck at a resort this weekend instead of stuck somewhere without lifts, you need to be playing it by ear. Real skiers know how to travel in this kind of weather, but we also know that the biggest danger is "the other guy". The proper advice is to either travel well before/after the storm or just stay home. If you do venture out into the thick of it, please be careful.

We drive this often. They will plow the roads but thru the MNF the roads will likely become snow covered - maybe a few inches deep. The worst part is from Cass up Rt66 - that can be very bad. During the last big storm, we saw three cars stuck on the sides of the road. Take it slow and if you have front, AWD, or 4-wheel drive you should be ok. As far as the sedan, if rear wheel drive, they will need to be extra careful. We've seem folks unable to make it up the 4.5 mile drive on the MNF climb and have to turn around. If you have major problems thru MNF, you will likely have serious problems thru Rt66 - which is even harder. If RT66 is really bad, the first turnoff going up to Snowshoe could be a challenge. You have another option of just continuing on Rt66 until you get to the base where the SS Inn is located. Then use that road to drive up the mountain - it's not as steep.

If you think you'll have problems going thru the MNF, another longer route would be to turn at Seneca Rocks and go thru Harmon to Elkins. Then take Rt219 South. This route is longer but traveled more and usually better during very bad storms.

I think you'll be ok coming back on Sunday - at least thru the WV roads. They'll be plowed but have snow on them. Drive slow and you should be ok. I'm more concerned about the NoVA roads, etc.

Good luck. Also, as someone else stated, your biggest problem is the "other" drivers.

PS - we're leaving late this afternoon!

Here's a picture looking down at Rt219 at 9am on 12/19/2009. Snow total at this time was only 17"

Awesome, where on 219 did you get this?

Picture was taken at our house near the base of SS at the 3,500' level.

We are heading to Snowshoe tomorrow as well. What is the best way to go from the Winchester VA area if the road conditions are not the greatest??

There is no easy way to the shoe on white roads from DC...
All ridges will be treacherous and the entire drive will be slow going. Good luck!
But in all seriousness, take it slow and expect "the other guy" to be in your way. If you have AWD or 4WD the trip will be easier and you shouldn't get in trouble. Front wheel drive is preferrable over rear WD. If I had only rear WD I'd forget it.
We used to work ski school at the shoe and did the drive regardless of the weather. Cass Mountain can be the real challenge. We always went 33 to 28 south to 66 at Greenbank.
Sometimes I was the only vehicle on the road and made tracks in 12"+ snow. Fun memories

Kwill has the route down to 66 at Green Bank. This will keep you at lower elevations for the longest time. I would also suggest 50-259 to Wardensville to start, rather than down I-81 to 55. Depending on where you are in Winchester this is actually a shorter and less curvy route to Wardensville.

I would not do the Elkins option on Fri. because you have to cross over two ranges to get to Elkins that are going to be tough in this type of weather.

If all else fails, don't forget the I-81, I-64, 219 to Marlington option. Yes it is a 100 miles longer, but is almost all interstate and will be plowed first and may drop you out of the center of the bullseye depending on storm track.

The best advice however is to leave at 4am and drive like hell, because you are going to be driving into it for sure. Start time is about 10am according to NWS Sterling so it will be earlier at the Shoe.

Good luck.

I have three full day lift passes (good from 9am-9pm) that I would like to sell... Regular passes are $75/ea plus taxes - I can sell these for $63/ea flat. Due to crappy weather, these unfortunately didn't get used and I don't plan to be back in WV any time soon. Please contact me if you're interested! Thanks!

Which exit off 81 is the "Elkin's" option? We are Snowshow virgins!

So this is what I have right now as our best bet:
81 South > Exit 251 (Harrisonburg area) to Route 33 > 33 > 28 South > 66

OR

50 West > 259 to wardensville > 55 > 28 south > 66

Sound right?

Should we avoid taking 81 to 55?

I am thinking we will get up early and leave between 4-5 a.m. to hopefully beat most of it We do have another vehicle in our group that is not leaving until later in the day which concerns me...

You can do 81-55 to Wardensville, but coming from our area, I like 259 to Wardensville better.

I would not go down to 33 at Harrisonburg. It adds a fair amount of time, and the roads over are not any better.

The Elkins option is to stay on 55/33/48 at Seneca Rocks and go west not south and come into SS from the north west.

You have this right

50 West > 259 to wardensville > 55 > 28 south > 66

I hope the later vehicle is AWD or 4WD. Have a drink ready for them when they get there---they will need it.

Answer you phone this weekend. I hope to be in the Valley on Sunday or Monday, maybe both.

Thanks KeithT. We are coming from Clarke so can do the 50 to Wardensville. The earlier vehicle is AWD and the later will be 4WD thankfully. Appears that there are a couple of ways in/over/down, but not knowing the roads at all you never know which ones are a NO GO in a snowstorm!

Actually, been snowed in twice. At the shoe in 93 during the March perfectstorm, and the president's day storm at t-line. both were 50" plus

Any advice for best route in bad weather from Richmond area? I have a trip up there planned and will most likely not be able to leave until 5-6pm tomorrow. I have 4WD. Looking forward to the skiing but not the trip...
Thanks!

4wd will only get you so far. During the December storm, I77 was shut down at the VA border. It was closed for 26 hours. They setup shelter for some and the National Guard had to bring food and supplies to other who were stranded.

Similar thing happened on I81 to a lesser extent. Stranded cars made it impossible to plow.

Your best bet is to leave early.

Ragdoll - As a lifelong resident of Wardensville who many times has traveled daily to and from Winchester in the midst of storms, 50-> 259 will be your BEST bet. In fact I used to live right off of Rt 259 before getting to Wardensville and with the road being entirely flat and bypassing the mountains you will have a very effortless drive. Don't take Rt 50 lightly in the snow, that still even as a 4 lane road, the crazies still find ways to wreck.

From there, leaving westward out of Wardensville, take your time on the new 4 lane interstate-like highway. There are two sets of bridges built on banked turns and are VERY DANGEROUS in icy conditions. I've driven them 4 times in the snow this winter and in my AWD Subaru they can be... whiteknuckling.

I left early this AM. I saw a couple cars spinning. One was stuck just comming out of Cass.. They waved me pass and not sure if they needed help or not. I was going to stop but a couple other vehicles had stopped and it was starting to Jam up. I figured they could make it back to cass if they needed too. I have meetings I have to call into this afternoon, but figured if I didn't get here first I wouldn't make it or it would tke 11-12 hours like the last storm because of accidents. We(My son and I) are here and won't hit slopes until morning and sunday. I told my son to go today, but he would rather wait to havesomeone to knock around. It only took us about 4.5 hours from Fredericksburg but went to bed late and got up real early so hes probably tired as well. Running out to grab some lunch in a few minutes and go to work while watching the powder fall. Maybe I will see a few DC skiers. I have a smugglers hat with a DC pin in it. I will probably go out to get a beer tonight in village as well.

Made it to snowshoe to day around 2.00 PM, leaving DC around 8.00 AM! There is so much powder here at the shoe right now!! Tomorrow and Sunday will be amazing.

I wonder though, will I be able to drive back to DC on Sunday's afternoon/evening? Should I go back the same route (66, 28 through Petersburg/Moorefiled and then 55 back to I-81/I-66)? Will the road be clear given that we get this much snow? Any thoughts?

I have been following this thread. Not a fan of the drive to Snowshoe but, I am glad that you guys made it safely

23 inches of fresh snow today! How much does DC get? I hate to go back and dig my car out..

Make it back yet?
I got back from Whitetail last night with no problem. Blair's Valley road was snow packed in spots and took an extra 5 minutes. Getting home, the roads in my neighborhood were a lane and 1/2 wide. I arrived at Whitetail at 12:20PM Friday when the snow was just starting to stick to the road.

Got back last night, no power at home, should've stayed in CV a bit longer. Rusty was so right about being more worried about getting there than getting back. Left Wheeling at 7:30 am Friday, by the time i got to the WV/MD border there was no doubt that it was gonna snow, a bunch. Glad i was able to bum a place to stay in the valley friday and Saturday, probably wouldn't have made it to Dry Fork on Saturday.

I ended up leaving early sunday. My home was without power for 24 hours and wife was alone in cold. Funny thing is I got stuck in my front yard. I was shoveling out my driveway when the county truck came through to plow our road. I moved my truck out of the way and it slid into the utility ditch in front of house. After a little digging of snow and a lot of mud flinging I got it out. But was a little embarrassing.