Took the AutoTrain from Orlando to Lorton, drove here = CLOSED

I read your original post... So sad... I agree with you that they should have done a more timely notice in notifying people of the non-opening of the resort. However, the forecast included snow until just three days ago. You never know when Mother Nature is going to be a beeatch....

As to the former management, no doubt. Most of the home owners at the mountain popped champagne bottles and had a farewell party for BR, the previous CEO... the day after he left... Now it's up to the new management to take Gorilla glue to the broken plates and bring back the resort to what it once was.

I'm more than willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, especially in this economy and considering the terrible shape, marketing and otherwise, in which the previous management left the place. They have hired some great people, and I'm seeing a renewed commitment from the staff, both in terms of customer service and operations. I wish them good luck.

That stinks. We were hedging our bets all week based on the forecast. I do not believe they posted anything on their website. They posted the "non opening" on Facebook.

What about the non FB users?

Luckily, I'm only 4 hrs away so we can adjust accordingly.

I'd be curious if one of the seasoned members of this board had any stats on how many years they actually do open for Thanksgiving. I'm betting 50 - 50 at best.

To Lou's point - I know us folks at Mtn Lodge did not cry when BR left.

I didn't receive notification (in the form of a press release) until 10:26 am the day before Thanksgiving. If it's been raining for a couple days there, that seems like pretty late notice. (Did they call guests who had booked lodging to let them know?) Maybe they were clinging to hope that they'd be able to open.

2000 was the right year to hit Snowshoe at Thanksgiving. In that year, they opened prior to Thanksgiving with 25% of their terrain open right at the starting gate. They had 31 trails open heading into December.

More recently, Thanksgiving has been an elusive target for Snowshoe.

Last year, Snowshoe missed its Thanksgiving target date and didn't open until early December.

In 2009, Snowshoe didn't open until December 5, missing its target date of November 24 due to milder weather.

In 2008, though, Snowshoe fared pretty well. It was able to move up its opening date to November 21, after originally planning to open on November 26.

And in 2007, Snowshoe opened just before Thanksgiving.

So Blue Don is in the right ballpark when he says it's about 50/50.

On another note, Snowshoe's Brand and Communications Manager, Laura Parquette, announced yesterday that she is leaving Snowshoe to pursue a new opportunity at Keystone Resort in Colorado. A replacement for Snowshoe has not yet been named.

Laura served in that position since 2007. Joe Stevens was Snowshoe's long-time Director of Communications, but left that position in October 2005 around the time that Bill Rock joined the resort as General Manager. Andrea Smith served as Director of Communications during the time between Joe and Laura.

Thanks Scott.

That dog gone snow that comes in every Oct seems to set us up to be disappointed.

Kicked by DCSKI yet Again..how many posts did I have starting in early nov warning against T-giving skiing this year?..Posted about all the rain that was coming way in advance & wundered who was advising SS to invest all the mulla making snow & plans....& then Ibotta posts these pics of the B-u-t-full man made winter scenes up there & folks like Snowbuck disregard anything I have posted & off they go..

Happy Turkey day!

PS..the weather is PERFECT down here at the natures coast of florida...planned this trip after reading my posts 2 weeks ago...

dude, would have really been happy with 3 or 4 mediocre shoe slopes, really?. its just too risky and even if places are open its not likely to be great. very little in the east is open, and even Loveland only has a few slopes going. historically, most skiing was done *after* christmas. skiing is an outdoor sport, so do like fishy and enjoy the best of what nature has to offer.

and seriously, it has to be cheaper to fly to Denver than take the car train to Virginia and drive to shoe.

So sad that Laura Parquette is leaving the 'Shoe. She is a very credible, hard-working and conscientious manager. I know things in the industry are transitory, but she will be missed.

The good news is ... OP is only 9 hours from Killington.

Skiing Turkey Day weekend can be a crapshoot in Vermont, much less West Virginia. Wonder if Denis earned his turns today at Wa Wa?

Speaking of Killington, aka The Beast, some refreshing bit of candor about trail counts:

And for that 7 trails....$59

I would be hesitant to post anything positive about anyone from Snowshoe's marketing department. It will seriously invalidate your opinion. I'm a former terrain park manager from there and the only person that has ever cared about riding/skiing in that department was Andrea. That is the past though, the mountain has made some good moves recently like hiring Gator from Mt. Snow. I hear some of the usual lazies are on the way out the door after this season too, here is to a brighter future!

$48 for the older folks. Hero snow, too.