I spoke with two people this weekend who praised Ski Roundtop and told me it's better than Whitetail.

I've always heard differently -- that Whitetail is the best of the SnoTime resorts (making it the best day trip option from D.C.) I know firsthand that it beats Liberty but I've never tried out Roundtop and these people had me second-guessing myself.

Any Roundtop supporters here? And can anyone who's visited recently tell me how the conditions have been?

I live 20 minutes from Roundtop and ride there 2 to 4 days a week. On paper, WT is the better mt with more vertical and a high-speed quad BUT (and this is huge) the snow quality at WT doesn't even come close to RT. WT faces southerly and gets quite a bit of sun which means slushy conditions and more granular. RT face north and doesn't get the sun so more packed powder. Plus roundtop has much better frestyle terrain than the other mts. If there is a very cold snap, I think WT has the better runs but in a normal mid-atlantic winter, Roundtop is the better choice. A few keys to getting it good at RT:

1. Don't go on Saturdays. They get massive busloads from a shop near B-more and combined with race functions, really clogs the slopes.
2. Stay away from Thurs and Fri nights since it is packed with kids.
3. best time to go is early any weekday or Sunday mornings.

Right now conditions are pretty good but rain will change that. the new mgmt up there is taking a 'do the bare minimum' approach so any change in the weather will drastically affect conditions.

All of the SnowTime resorts have their pluses and minuses. I wouldn't say that any of them are really better than any of the others. They just have different strengths.

Whitetail has the highest vertical and the highspeed quad. However they also have the southern facing slopes and at least in my opinion, the layout of their intermediate terrain is boring compared to Liberty. Plus, Whitetail charges extra for that higher vertical.

I find that Liberty is slightly closer to DC and their intermediate terrain has more variety to it. You can also mix it up by switching trails half way down. On the downside, they have little extended advanced terrain and it is a small mountain. You also get a lot of beginners trying to ski down the more advanced terrain.

Roundtop is farther away from DC than the other SnowTime areas. The trail layout does a good job of keeping beginners away from the expert/advanced terrain. They also have some nice extended advanced runs when they can get them open. Being further north often allows them to be the first SnowTime resort to open in the year. However, it is a small mountain as well and the facilities seem a little more dated than the other two resorts. I will ski Roundtop for a change, but I don't find it worth the extra drive to have it be where I would usually go to ski for a day trip.

Was there last evening and the snow was great. Roundtop really hit it hard from late Saturday until Monday morning going around the clock to add to base.

Fins is correct with the best times to go or not go. Weekdays you pretty much have your own resort.

Roundtop is my favorite of the three. It feels larger than Liberty and I've always found Whitetail to just be boring. It's just a bunch of identical runs one after another along a ridge.

...still teetering on the edge of that diving board....

Push 'em!!! (:^O)>>>

Am I wrong in thinking this is a board where people can get input and reviews on local slopes, including those they haven't been to?

It takes money, time, effort to commit to a ski trip, even a day trip to one of our nearby sh*tty resorts, so I'm trying to keep myself informed. Unfortunately I just don't have the luxury to go around sampling all the options in person.

Thinking about it, the best advice I can give about Roundtop is to just drive up there and try it out for yourself. Even if you end up feeling that it isn't as nice as Whitetail, just a day at another place with some different terrain can reinvigorate your skiing.

I'd say almost all of the local ski areas have enough terrain to be fun for at least one day. Going to different places and experiencing them is part of the fun for me. I'd get bored sticking to just one area for the whole season.

The kicker for me is Whitetail does not have a liquor license. Nothing like a cold beer after a hard day or night of skiing. I think Whitetail has the best terrain, but Roundtop is only an hour's drive from my office. So I leave work at 4:00 PM, ski for a couple of hours and then head for the pub. Same with Liberty except it takes me longer to get there.
No booze is the straw that breaks the camels back in my opinion.

Roundtop now serves beer?

Quit whining, go ride, and tell us how much fun you had!!! (:^O)>>>

It's been a long time since you've skied at Roundtop, hasn't it.

When did you ever not BYOB?

Only problem I personally have with Roundtop and Liberty are the lack of vertical. For me, they're under that critical limit to prevent boredom; even though they both have brief stretches of pretty nice terrain. That factor doesn't happen with me at Whitetail, even if I'm just skiing laps on Bold Decision. Dunno why since the total vertical on the Whitetail Expert Quad is probably pretty close to the Liberty/Roundtop vert.

Roundtop: Barret's Trail is a very nice gem for the Mid Atlantic, and Gunbarrel (very steep top, though often with an unskiable traverse line, followed by low angle bumps in the runout) is worth the trip.

The problem is that everyone here has their own opinion about the 3 SnowTime resorts and as you should have already seen, they differ greatly. It really comes down to what matters to you the most.

As for time to sample all the options, we are talking 3 SnowTime resorts, so 3 trips. You are already intimately familiar with Whitetail so that only makes 2 trips. I can understand not wanting to drive all the way out to Wisp, Timberline or Blue Knob without knowing if it is worth the drive, but Roundtop is only around a half hour further away than Liberty or Whitetail from DC. It's worth the extra drive once to at least check it out.

We've given you feedback, but we can't tell you if you will like Roundtop better than Whitetail. We can say you should be able to have fun skiing there.

And lastly, you need to be able to take at least a little bit of good natured being made fun of if you are going to post on any Internet forum. Frankly, DC Ski is extremely tame and nice compared to most Internet communities.

I'm sure the OP has what he needs by now, I'm chiming in simply to subscribe to another SnowTime banter/basher thread.

Liberty & Roundtop have beer
Wt has the most boring layout, and that east-south exposure.
Wt has more vert, but if I spend my whole time on the K-side, then I'm not using all their vert anyway.
I'm closest to Wt, so I go there most often. I hate it. I love it.

You say you've been to Wt, so try another one your next chance.

Mephit Blue: I think I've maybe just had the wrong impression about this place. I stumbled upon it while looking for more info on DC-area ski resorts and I thought it was more of a fairly anonymous information-sharing resource -- review the resorts and their conditions, etc.

But it seems I've actually come across a well-established message board community with a lot of people who have been posting a long time. Nothing wrong with that. I've actually been involved with another, totally unrelated message board for over a decade and I know exactly how that culture can develop. Here things can strike me as a little insular/almost elitist at times but I'm sure that early impression would fade if I spent more time here.

As far as the Whitetail/Roundtop issue:

I guess all the while I've been naively hoping someone will jump out of the woodwork and be like, "Oh, man, you mean you've never heard of [this great local skiing option that's leagues above the Snow Time resorts but still an easy day trip from D.C.]?" And, of course, that option doesn't exist.

I've been to Whitetail several times and like someone else said, I have a love/hate relationship with it. It's awesome that this option exists for a day trip skiing but ... yeah, it does get boring.

I absolutely think Whitetail is better than Liberty. But I think it's probably worth my while to try out Roundtop while keeping my expectations reasonably low.

Go to Roundtop.

Make absolutely /sure/ you do NASTAR - worth price of admission right there.

Bring your bump skis and go over to Gunbarrel.

Don't look at the reactor.

Oh. Good point.

You got it.
Other close options are Bryce and Massanutten, and they aren't much different or better.

Bryce = grass skiing + frozen ostrich steaks on the way back.

Massanutten = hiking Jacob's Ladder & Elizabeth's Furnace during redbud season

You've answered your own question: it doesn't exist. Anywhere in the Mid Atlantic. You'll need to hop on a plane or drive 8+ hours for what you're looking for.

Once you've realized this, it should be apparent that you are agonizing over small differences. Like spending three months to decide what shade of brown to paint the living room. After a while, it gets a bit tiring unless you actually go to those places and decide for yourself.

You've gotten tremendous info on this board on a variety of different areas, including Vermont. Remember, none of us are paid to do this. Folks are here to offer insight to a point, but we're not your consumer buying service.

Yep, I understand this.

By this point I've also accepted the limits of skiing in this area. Day trips are the Snow Time resorts, which aren't great, but some slightly better options can be found a couple more hours away in Pennsylvania and/or West Virginia. It is what it is, and there's no secret Vermont to be found here.

Honestly this is the first year I've seriously looked into the local options and coming on this board has been a part of this research process. I guess I've been annoying, but I haven't meant to be.

The people here, along with some other resources, have been helpful.

Be that as it may, you should keep a close eye on posts about three things:

Get-togethers
Blue Knob
Laurel Mountain

(Whitegrass optional)

The trick to joyful skiing in the mid-Atlantic is: Be Ready to Commit. That 3" of pow at Whitetail will be -gone- by 10pm let alone tomorrow. You mentioned 'effort to commit' earlier - that sort of thinking will always land you behind the curve and the eight ball. By the time anyone posts here it is /way/ too late for you to drive up.

Those of us who jumped on opportunities saw powder at Whitetail, pow at Liberty, pow in West Virginia, in spite of a junk season.

Give me some credit... I've been to Whitetail four times this year, now I'm going to try Roundtop next week, and I have a Canaan Valley/Timberline trip planned for early March, assuming the weather holds. Definitely trying to carpe diem it, as much as my finances and time off allow.

Roundtop looks like it could get some sweetness off the system coming through _this_ Sunday.

Looking at the moisture/precip map right now; and looks like WT might get more falling but RT will keep it longer.

I'm not too far ahead of you then - 10 days alpine /1 day XC

These are (were) our secrets.

Yeah that's what they're talking about. Check out as many different places as you can and you'll find a few that really make you want ot get out and ski.

Sounds good. I hope you enjoy Roundtop and I would expect there to at least be some snow at Timberline to enjoy in Early march. Timberline usually tries to stay open until the 3rd week of March, when they have their Luau event, and have built up a good size base on several trails from the top of the mountain that should last through early March.

WT four times this season? I'm sorry to hear that.

I think the snow will hold, especially since I have a trip planed to Tline for March 16-18. I have also seen the Valley get 100" in March.

We live in the mid-Atlantic, not Utah. You have to jump on the pow when the storms roll in. I've only skied 8-9 days this season, but three of them were powder days.

Roundtop update--We got no snow but there was some very spotty snowmaking. Barretts trail is closed and will not re-open and neither are upper Gunbarrel and the halfpipe). Conditions are boilerplate ice with some frozen granular on top. Thin areas are forming on most trails. Ramrod and Susquehanna are the best bets if you must go but in my opinion, you should not be paying full price for a ticket for the current conditions there. you are better off going further west to 7 Springs or similar area where the snow is much better. You can tell by talking to the staff that they are planning on closing very soon (I'm hearing as early as this Sunday).

Thanks for the info. That's a shame.

I wonder if Whitetail is going to be in the same boat soon. When I went there last week, it definitely felt like a March day already and things were slushy, but they were maintaining most of the slopes. It seemed like they had about two weeks left.