My kids have never skiied powder (even day old stuff). Given all the new snow we've received, I was wondering if I should take them to Canaan Valley or Wisp. Both places seem to have gotten similar amounts and are expected to continue to get similar quantities this week.

Which place is likely not to groom it all away and which place is likely not to be completely tracked-out by noon on Saturday?

A related question is when CV's website says a trail is "natural snow" (they have an asterix by those) does it mean it is not groomed?

(I don't see the kids doing narrow tree lines so I'm assuming that Timberline won't be an option - don't they groom everything that doesn't have bumps/whales?)

FWIW, the boys are pretty good skiers, with the older handling all of Timberlines trails with grace. I know there is not much distance between them but between my wife and I driving from Gaithersburg area, we could probably make a day trip out of Wisp whereas Canaan/Timberline would be an overnighter.

Any thoughts are appreciated on this rather incoherent post!

You're likely to see similar conditions at both. Having been at Wisp for the big dump of snow two weekends ago, I can tell you it took them 36 hours before the grooming equipment got out in full force, so I'd say you have until Saturday night to enjoy the powder on the trails. Be very cautious about going off-trail, should you be tempted, as the snow is *really* deep. I was on a lift and saw someone go off-trail and it took two people to extricate him. Not to mention the insults he endured from people on the lift.

By the way, it's not supposed to stop snowing at Wisp until Thursday evening, by which time they will have received 24 inches from this latest storm. Conditions will be great all weekend.

I'll give you an update later today or in the am, as I skied Tline yesterday and will be skiing Wisp later today. Both should be epic. There weren't a lot of people at Tline yesterday, but Wisp seemed packed last night. Its probably because it was local day.

Have you skied both places? In my opinion, they are two very different ski areas.

I've skied Tline and Wisp but not CV. (Love Tline, sort of meh on Wisp.)

I suppose it comes down to not wanting to drive the 3 to 4 hours to ski the same type of conditions (groomed packed powder) which I could get at Whitetail (which is closer and cheaper due to Advantage card).

Looking forward to the update, thanks!!

CV would be an excellent chance to get fresh lines or some mildly cut up ones especially in the meadows and dark side/paradice. I've been thinking that I may head over there on Friday exactly for that purpose. Haven't done CV in a few years so it may be novel to do it now.

In the lingo inside the beltway these days, that's "actionable intel"! Thanks Kim!

Wisp was pretty good on Thursday. Still lots of untracked snow out there with everything else being packed powder. The bumps on Main St. were sweet. Unfortunately, the freezing fog/drizzle started to come down pretty good in the afternoon and by 4pm anything exposed to the wind started to get crusty. Luckily, the snow in sheltered areas and in the woods remained light & powdery. When I came down off the hill at around 8pm it was snowing pretty good, so hopefully it covers up any crust that had formed.

Steve - Are you going for a day trip or are you spending the night? Are kids involved?

Thanks for the trip report!

Kids are involved. We've got two boys - 12 and 14 - who are pretty good skiers (i.e. they can ski Whitetail except that the steep section of Bold Decision intimidates one and the bumps on Exhibition intimidates the other).

How much homework they bring home today will determine the feasibility of an overnight trip versus a day trip. I'd rather save the money on lodging and make it a day trip all else equal. We're trying to save money for a spring break ski RV trip (which is buried in the snow at the moment) through New England.

Wisp is in the process of getting another 12-20 inches by this Saturday morning, bringing the season total to over 235 inches. I'd say we're in store for a lot of April skiing.