For those that missed the Snowshoe "Ridiculous Season Pass Sale" for $199.00, the current price of $249.00 is still a "must get" deal. But get yours now, prices rise another $50 beginning April, continuing at $299 until September.
The Colonel

Not all the bargain hunters who are trying out SS this spring are happy campers. One guy from DC said on another ski forum that he'll never go back because he can't handle the fact that there is essentially no cell service. Don't think he'll be missed.

say what ??? I lived 4/5 of my life without cell service. hell, i might be glad there is no service up there. no work calls. no kids on facebook. it's great. just so long as it snows its all good.

Sounds like a bozo -- ironically, SS is one of the few places where AT&T service is better than everyone else. I always did fine up there when I was on AT&T. I'm on Verizon now, and it's definitely a no go up there. But I agree with Dave, I'd much rather have no service when skiing!

AT&T not very good at Shoe this season!
The Colonel

His post made it quite clear his priorities for a ski trip are off. Especially since the thread he revived was about the reason there are few cell towers in that general area because of the radio telescope in Greenbank.

So what do you think of people that "have" to bring their laptops too, and "need" an internet connection? Our HOA even made us add wireless internet at extra cost to the Owners even if we didn't want it and didn't own a computer !?!?! (heck - I don't even own/need a cell phone...Guess I'm just not that "essential". LOL)

i guess i can wait a couple of days for the trip report. in software there are there are nice to haves and must haves. internet at a ski area is a nice to have.

i have to be honest. a couple of weeks ago i really did use the internet at snowshoe. alot of the skinc crew were there. great snow and company. anyway, some nut crashed my car in the shamrockin parking lot. i was able to locate a ride home by using the message board. it would have worked out but the message board was the easiest way to do it. this is not really about snowshoe infrastructure, and the internet was very much 9600b era, but a thumbs up for message boards!

Cell phone reception has stunk since June's Derecho storm brought down the ATT antenna near Silver Creek. And getting it back to speed will prove hard to do as Snowshoe is on the Western edge of the National Radio Quiet Zone, a 13,000 square mile box that protects NRAO and the "other national security installation" to the north. It is technically illegal to even use a walkie-talkie in Snowshoe, or any omni-directional transmitting device. From what I understand, the Feds don't want to grandfather the antenna. I am installing a signal booster in my condo as I can get two bars from the cell antenna outside of Webster Springs way out to the West.

As far as WiFi, small WiFis are acceptable, and many condo complexes have installed their own WiFis. It's a common decision to improve marketability of the condos for rentals or sales. Same as snowplowing or water. WiFi today is a necessity. I have both my condo-provided WiFi - which by the way, gets so overcrowded it kicks people out, and I have my own that runs circles around the speed of the condo-provided WiFi.

Lou - Do you have dedicated DSL from Frontier Net? Or something else you can recommend?

Our wifi at ML stinks the high heavens. With all the smartphones connecting to it, the only time I bother accessing email / weather / etc ... is 6 - 7 AM when everyone is asleep.

I have the bundle of internet, telephone and Dish satellite. Condo associations cannot tell you that you can't have a dish, by the way. We have the same problem for the common access WiFi. The bandwidth gets all taken up. As a result, I have mine, password-protected and also have it in a second number dedicated to the Internet, fax, and the ADT security alarm in my unit.