Whitetail Resort Fall Festival, October 22 and 23, 2011, by Connie Lawn

It was starting to feel like winter at the two day Festival in Whitetail, near Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. The chill in the air brought hundreds of families to the magnificent area with the long, wide trails. The view takes my breath away, every time we approach it.
Sales of season passes and Advantage Cards were brisk. Inside the Resort, and on the lawn, guests enjoyed a variety of great food and exhibits. There were the pony rides, rock climbing, blacksmith exhibits, chainsaw carvers, the reptile displays, falconry exhibit and much more. Music was provided by Moondog Medicine Show and Hicktown.
It is truly wonderful to come to this huge resort and be known by so many old friends. Thousands visit Whitetail each year, but like its sister resort Liberty, it is one big family, built around people who love the mountains and snow.

Whitetail is about a 90 minute drive from the Washington, DC and Baltimore , but is a world away in atmosphere. It has a vertical drop of nearly 1000 feet, with 23 trails, serving all levels of skiers and snowboarders. General Manager Don MacAskill told us they had 94 days of skiing last season, and hope to equal it this year. He said there are many new improvements, including lighting of the Fanciful Trail, more snowmaking guns, a new loading carpet on he EZ Rider Quad, a new patio and fire pit, and more.
My husband Charles and I talked to some of the ski instructors, including Andrew Davis, who heads the ski and snowboard school. His wife Jenine also teaches. Other expert instructors include Bill Dietrich, who heads the Adaptive sports program (called the Two Top Mountain Adaptive Sports Foundation), Bruce Rankin, Martin White, and others. They say the rental office has new, improved skis and boots which should help everyone perform better. Since I plan to ski, despite the hip I broke in March, I will try out the equipment and let you know if it helps.
The instructors say they plan to enhance their wounded warrior and adaptive sports programs this year. They instructed 150 warriors last season, and 170 adaptive skiers. Some of them suffered from autism, cerebral palsy, or blindness but they were able to enjoy the sports and the mountains. Many of the adaptive lessons are free or given at a discount rate. They can be offered because of contributions and the dedication of the instructors.

"...The view takes my breath away, every time we approach it...

...It is truly wonderful to come to this huge resort and be known by so many old friends...

...Thousands visit Whitetail each year, but like its sister resort Liberty, it is one big family, built around people who love the mountains and snow...

Other expert instructors include Bill Dietrich, who heads the Adaptive sports program (called the Two Top Mountain Adaptive Sports Foundation),.."

Thanks for writing this excellent report. I had been thinking out it and after reading your article, I'm planning to get an Advantage card and I hope to go enough to justify the purchase. I gave a lesson to a wounded warrior for Bill's Two Top Mountain Adaptive Sports Foundation a couple of years ago and I plan to look into doing more. I'm not good at planning but hopefully I will follow through on these.

I probably learned more from the snowboarding lesson I taught to the injured serviceman than he learned from me. It was the most rewarding snowboard lesson I've taught.

Whitetail is big mountain for this region and although they don't get the snow that resorts "out west" (Blue Knob, 7Springs, etc.) get, it can be a blast on a sunny day when the man made softens up.

Thanks you Rod - much appreciated. Let's meet on the slopes this season. I still hope I can ski with the busted hip. Yours, Connie

My wife and I went up yesterday (Sunday) to the fall festival and had a great time. The fall colors were beautiful, the band that was playing was really good, and it was just a nice, fun atmosphere.

It was an added bonus that it was a convenient time to pick up my advantage card that I purchased at the Alpine Ski shop ski swap and also that it got my wife and I in to the festival for free. As I see it, I already got $14 back of the cost of the card *grins*

Nice going! Snow will come soon, Connie