Took a chance with the weather at Wintergreen this afternoon/evening and was rewarded with pretty decent conditions once the fog cleared around 4:30. This was my 4 year old's first time on skis, and it turned out to be an ideal day for it - the weather kept the crowds away so she was able to have her lesson with almost no one else on the slopes. I was also really impressed with the instructor. I have now achieved my goal of getting my entire family (me, wife, 7 year old, 4 year old) on skis. Now if I can just figure out a way to do this every week with blowing the entire vacation budget by March...

If you've never been to Massanutten, well worth giving it a try. I took a friend and her 4yo and 6yo there last weekend. All three learned to ski with the help of ski school and want to go back. My daughter started at Mnut's ski school at age 4. Was able to do the Mnut blacks by age 6 and Alta blues a year later. She got 5-10 days on show those seasons. The learning areas at Mnut are MUCH nicer than at Wintergreen IMHO. The layout is also much better for mixed ability groups. The conveyor loading for the lower lifts make it much easier for beginners and kids.

We had friends who lived in Charlottesville for a few years. Took their kids to Wintergreen for a couple seasons. After they tried Massanutten, they never went back to Wintergreen. Got the Value Season pass and made good use of it. All the trails at Mnut are lit, including the black runs off Lift 6 that never have a lift line even on holiday weekends.

I drive past Wintergreen from Raleigh to ski at Mnut for a variety of reasons. I like to ski Wintergreen mid-week, but obviously that doesn't work for my tween daughter.

MarzNC,

Thanks for the post - I've enjoyed your TR's and pics over the years. I have split my ski time fairly evenly between Wintergreen and Massanutten in the 10 years or so I've been living in Charlottesville. One thing I really like about Massanutten for beginners is the presence of an isolated, wide green slope (Geronimo); by way of contrast, the most directly comparable slope at Wintergreen (Potato Patch) is much narrower and also used by (occasionally out of control) skiers on their way to other parts of the resort. Comparing other greens, I do think that Dobie at Wintergreen offers a bit more than Southern Comfort at Massanutten. Both resorts have their strengths and we are planning on skiing both this season; next year when we buy a family pass we will have to decide which one to go with.

Aah, so you know Mnut. What my daughter liked as she got better was Pacesetter, the run to the left of Lift 5 as you ride up. It's comparable to Dobie in pitch. That's the next step up from Geronimo for ski school kids. Lift 5 is a triple now. The access to Pacesetter is much easier than before. Another thing I appreciated at Mnut was that by the time she was 8 I felt comfortable letting her ski with a friend off Lift 5 while I was having fun on Lift 6. Wasn't comfortable letting the kids go over to Acorn if I was on Highlands.

Since Wintergreen doesn't offer non-owners a season pass that includes Saturdays, I never considered getting one. The Mnut full pass is good weekends and holidays.

We'll be a Mnut next weekend and sticking to Lift 6 to avoid lift lines.

Also going Jan. 25-28. My daughter has a day off on Jan. 28, as does her friend who lives in VA. Also another family who we introduced to skiing in early Jan. They have a 4yo girl and 6yo boy. Mom learned to ski too. Be fun if we could meet up one day that weekend.

Jan 27th afternoon could be a possibility...I'll let you know ASAP.

Great! PM sent.