Hola Gang,
I am heading to Snowshoe December 25-27, we are staying in Elkins, as I can't justify paying $150+ a night on the mountain. Anyway, my wife will be with me, and she doesn't ski. She is perfectly happy sitting in a lodge that has booze and wifi while I ski. So my question would be...Where is the best place on the mountain for her to kick back for a few hours while I ski? Also, I haven't been there around the hollidays in quite some time. Is it going to be so crowded I will want to kill myself? I plan to do a few laps around the soaring eagle area, and then take it to Cupp Run. I'm not worried about the cost, because I bought one of those cheap season passes last year.
Thanks for any input you all may have.
Andy - Shavers Centre serves booze and I'm pretty sure they have wifi. She may want to hang out in one of the village restaurant / bars as well. Not sure about wifi at each place. If she has ATT then no issue as she'll have full cell service in the village.
It will be crowded. I can't find the old thread that had the well documented ski plan for Snowshoe but something to this effect .....
Ski the Ballhooter basin area from 9 - 10ish (get there at 9). Once that crowds up, make your way over to Soaring Eagle and hit all those slopes. After that, head back towards Ballhooter lift run Spruce down to Powder Monkey Lift then do a few laps over on Cupp.
Just wing it after that.
Mike does a good job of moving the line along at ballhooter but it will be crowded. Our GM at Mtn Lodge said our building is almost 100% occupied from 12/26 - 1/1.
Expect a 1 hour drive from the Elkins Wal Mart to the village. Parking may be a challenge as well so allow some time for that.
Not sure where you are staying in Elkins but hopefully it was very reasonable b/c that drive really sucks, especially if you get behind a slow poke or a timber truck like I did last week.
Thank you Mr. Blue Don,
We were planning on staying at the Holliday Inn, in Elkins which was $80 per night, but I may just bight the bullet and get a studio room in one of the places up top. It will cost a little more, but save on gas, and we could cook our own food. The convenience of being on the slopes, and savings from not having to eat out may be worth it. Plus she would have a place to hang out that wasn't a public area. That would also give me additional ski time via night skiing at silver creek.
Might find something small available on VRBO as an alternative to Snowshoe Resort. Since you don't need lift tickets, no advantage to booking with SS.
Silver Creek is a reasonable alternative to being in the village if going to eat in any way. That much easier to go night skiing. There is a pool with a large sauna right in the building. There is a bar there too. The free shuttle system works quite well.
Strongly suggest you stay in Village at Snowshoe..more for wife to see & do. You could easily meet her for lunch, etc. There's a Starbucks, new Spa, shops, pool, pizza delivery, etc. Plus there is really no place to eat at Silver Creek.
Better call SS reservations first thing in morning as there is not much lodging left!!! I strongly agree with Blue Don, neither you (and especially your wife) will not enjoy commuting daily from Elkins - parking, roads especially if weather bad, general frustration with traffic, etc.
the Colonel
ps: She is being a good trooper to accompany you since she does not ski..so pamper her, take her to a nice dinner, etc.
Enjoy & Merry Christmas!!
PPs. I just checked and it looks like there might be a Jr Studio avail at Expedition Station, remember to let them know you are a season pass holder...and remember the pass gets you 10 percent off on purchases, meals, etc at SS shops & eateries!
She isn't so fancy that she can't take the bus into the village. I see a studio available at Silver creek for $150. I got really excited when I remembered that I get 20% off lodging. Then I looked and saw that is only during non-holiday periods. Boo.
I'm looking on VRBO now, and most of the studios appear to be a tad pricey during this time of the year.
Thanks for all the advice.
Jr Studio in Expedition showed a price of $180.
The Colonel
AndyGene wrote:
She isn't so fancy that she can't take the bus into the village.
Wow, you've either been married a long time or what may be a short time :). I have found snowshoe rentals to be internet challenged. Most have it, but sloooowww I have wondered if the Starbucks have a faster pay service like at most but have not tried. I did notice old spruce cafe has customer internet service, but again not sure how fast? But they do on sell drinks!
AndyGene wrote:
Thank you Mr. Blue Don,
We were planning on staying at the Holliday Inn, in Elkins which was $80 per night, but I may just bight the bullet and get a studio room in one of the places up top. It will cost a little more, but save on gas, and we could cook our own food. The convenience of being on the slopes, and savings from not having to eat out may be worth it. Plus she would have a place to hang out that wasn't a public area. That would also give me additional ski time via night skiing at silver creek.
Good thinking. The drive from Elkins to SS sucks in good weather. Not to mention parking when you get there...
If you do decide to stay in Elkins, drive to Timberline!!
Just in case anyone was curious, I wanted to give an update on how my trip went. We ended up staying in Elkins because the rate ended up being about 1/3 of what it would have cost me to stay at Snowshoe. This ended up working out because the crowds were non-existent, so I got my ski fix in after roughly 4 hours on the mountain the two days we headed that way. I got a little more than 10k of vert both days. I didn't wait more than 3 minutes for a lift. Most of the Snowshoe side was open. In the Basin area, I saw them making snow on all of the closed slopes. Sawmill was the only one I was sad about not being open.
On the Western Territory Cupp Run had a great base. It was a little icy in spots, but I saw no bare spots. Shay's revenge had only an inch or two of natural snow on it. It did not appear the snow guns had been moved to that area at all at the time.
Over all it was amazing ski conditions for December. The groomers and snowmakers should be commended. My wife also had fun drinking and shopping. Elkins isn't very exciting, but we still had a few good meals, and drinks.
