I'm looking to go to Timberline this weekend and will be making the drive alone. Do you recommend driving up Friday night or hitting the road early on Saturday from Newport News area. Unfortunately, I have to be back for work on Monday morning...

Vesty you ought to call in sick fri.It was 39 degrees with wet snow falling at timberline wed at noon & now at 4 am thur it is below freezing with precip everywhere & seeming to build in intensity.This could turn out to be a storm to reckon with!There shouldn't be any prob with driving below 2500' but if it snows heavy enough even with the spring sun the roads could get messy at the higher elev.You got a 5.5 hr ride i guess ,if it is storming best to travel during the day.luv to here what it was like on the last w-end at TL.

I agree, you should call in sick Fri! But if you can't, I would leave very early Sat. morning. Don't drive up there in the snow after dark, it can be scary! I learned this a month ago when I was driving back to my condo in CV from the movies at Deep Creek around 10pm in white-out conditions and snow covered/icy roads. It took me over 1.5 hours to go the 35 miles on 219S!

Well at 6 am this fri morn its 25 degrees & snowing good..This will be the 3rd day in a row + the weather svc finally decided to post a winter storm warning! They should have read my post on tue nite(re-snowshoe)Shouldah,wouldah,couldah "anyone heading to timberline this w-end? Johnf on the" Snow in WV mtns" post you said you were going to wait for chip at whitegrasses post Well if you could have been there this morn "YOU SNOOZE YOU LOSE" I'm sure you had to work or somthing like most of us..DANG!Now the nws is calling for another 6 to 12" on top of everything that has allready fallen,& at 25 degrees we ain't talkin slush.I think this would be WAY more exiting & get more response if "ALMOST HEAVEN" was in existence.2000' of vert instead of 1000' might slow some of the "out west" & overseas post & get people more exited about thier own backyard.+ where is the marketing(besides my mouth)Timberline had the smallest looking letters on thier snow report stating heavy snow for last nite.Nothing to bring up skiers for the last fling.Talked to a friend in Gaithersburg last nite & he knew nothing of snow falling in the highlands.Has anyone heard mention of this in weather reports?Timberline should be packed up there this w-end.Down here at the beach the word gets out even in feb if it is going to be nice & boy do the bars & restaurants make hay while the sun shines.

Just cked the whitegrass report..16"'s OF SNOW at the top of timberlines lift at 7am & at 1:00pm its still snowing??!another front coming in for sat nite & sun & still another shot of snow next week? Snowshoe messed up closing this w-end.I just had to post this to get the "colorado,california,utah & canada post off the top.Any other time fellas NOT NOW!!WEST VA RULES

Thanks for the info, I'm still planning to go. I have a 4 wheel drive Yukon. I will take your advice and leave Saturday morning.

I got an e-mail from someone who lives on the mountain and all the reports are TRUE.

Count me in tomorrow. I drove up to T-Line back in feb when they had 6" of snow that morning and although it too me near 2 hours to go from Onego to Timberline due to unplowed roads it was well worthit. My Subaru AWD didn't slide once.

How are the road conditions as of now from Harmon to T-Line? I may have made it up there with no trouble last time but my heartrate hit all new highs while driving it.

If I go, I will leave tomorrow morning. Hopefully by then the roads will be plowed. Also, getting out of DC right now is a nightmare of epic proportions.

I wonder how much precipitation tonight will be in the form of rain and how much in the form of snow.

Chipper is now claiming 12 in the valley and 16 above 4000 feet.

http://www.whitegrass.com/report.html

I just got back. Let me just say I've NEVER seen snow like that...anywhere. I thought the last time I was there was great but this time the wind was non existent and the snow (while a little wet and heavy) was EVERYWHERE. The Drop was absolutely incredible. THICK powder everywhere and pretty much the only way you found ice anywhere was if you got out the shovel. nobody there either so you could just sit in the middle of Thunderstruck and eat a McGriddle without seeing anyone. INCREDIBLE The roads were completely clear on the way home.

John ,chip posted that info at 7am this morn...It hasn't stopped yet!!Its been 29 degrees since 3pm.What is everybody waiting for??snowing real good at 630pm & 29 degrees!We are talkin 2 feet of snow above 4000' by sun nite!!!!!! F-this lets go to utah.

I keep the weather stats here in Davis (3100') --for the first time this season more snow here than in the valley -- so far 17.9", and still snowing. More to come Sunday and Sunday night. Any chance the resorts will stay open one more week??

Furthermore, even with all of the snow, the roads are perfectly clear. Best of both worlds!!

Hallelujah!! I'm leaving here tomorrow at 7am and should get at timberline right around 9 sharp. Heck for as many DCSkier's that is going to be there we should make it the official DCSki... ski day!

Meeting at the top at 10am. lol

7:45 pm, 30 degrees and light snow in Canaan. If you are on the bubble about coming up just remember.. The skiing this weekend will be much better at Timberline than it will be next weekend when they are closed.

OK! You guys have convinced me!!! I'll set my alarm for 0400 and go. No excuses.

Bawalker. I wear a black Boeri helmet and have Volkl G-31 Screaming Yellow skis. I'll see you tomorrow at my FAVORITE lift in the whole world--the one and only SILVER QUEEN.

What can I say: Timberline really is the St. Anton of the Mid-Atlantic or rather, St. Anton is the Timberline of Europe.

We were planning on going to cv this week because it is spring break. i figured it would just be a great week of playing in the mud, but this just makes me giggle. we thought last weekend was our last hurrah. we always make an effort to ski somewhere in west virginia the last weekend in march. last weekend we drove to snowshoe for the day (miserable - rainy) and then skiied tline on sunday. i can't believe it - it looks like we'll be skiing in april too!!!!!!! gotta love that wild and wonderful west virginia...(this is actually wife of myrto)

johnfmh, I'll be in my black protech helmet, white/blue ocean pacific coat, black snowpants, and my white, black/orangish metropolis board. Or otherwise the guy trying to practice carving hard and taking myself out... again.

You know in all of the years I've been there I've never ridden the silver queen lift?

It was sooooo worth the 6 hour drive. Snow was everywhere and falling when I got there. A heavy fog came in but was gone by the afternoon. No lines. I decided to drive home last nite as they were calling for more snow and wind today. I also took a half day private lesson. I REFUSE to admit that Saturday was my last ski day for the season, (isn't there a train that goes to Killington?). I am so addicted to this sport!

Anybody know johnfh's cell phone #? looking at the 330pm web cam it looks knarley with snow dumping & 25 degree temps!john should be leaving Timberline unless he will be staying longer which if feasable would be smart.I'm trying to get a report..We can't wait for your report!!I was waiting for a late season storm to take the 7.5 hr ride but couldn't wait & went to canaan march 15th.WUZZZZZUP??Wish i was skiing instead of mowing my lawn down here in the carolinas!

I skied today (Sunday) and yesterday. I can only say that TODAY was one of my best days EVER. 4 inches of snow fell over night and it never stopped coming down the entire day. Sunday's snow, furthermore, was not the wet glop I experienced on Saturday--it was genuine powder--the real deal....

There were places open the mountain where one could score knee deep powder, although ankle deep powder was more the rule. The entire mountain was open and with the 17 inches that fell Friday, this new snow, which I suspect amounted to something like 9 inches after all was said and done, meant that people were bagging lines at Timberline rarely bagged during the regular season. Best of all, only a few sections of the lower mountain were groomed, making even the blue terrain expert in caliber. It was a truly unique and unforgetable day. I just wish more of the DCSki faithful could have made it up....

I'll write a longer first-hand account tomorrow when I am less tired...

The snowfall must have been great! We got about 4" when I was up there two weeks ago.

Yeah, I was at Timberline yesterday (Sunday) also. It absolutely rocked. I partook of the $1 half day lift ticket also, which rocked. The powder was amazing. The only two downsides were the powerful wind at the top and the conking out of Thunderdraft around 230 until 330. We ended up just leaving when it broke down, but for $1, it was an awesome day.

We skiers are the primary guilty parties to both Snowshoe and Timberline closing with slopes covered in white velvet. If we don't patronize, then there is no point in their staying open and losing money...especially just for bragging rights. HOWEVER...
our local WV ski areas are also guilty of not really hyping the goodness of the situation.
For example, I had seriously considered going to Timberline for the weekend when I examined their website and found the following included with their pictures of the snowfall. I quote: "There can be no better way to finish out the season than to come out and enjoy the fresh powder at Timberline. There is still some lodging available. See the links below to see what you can find". This led me to believe that they were going to have a big crowd, given the new snow and events scheduled for the weekend, so I did not opt to go. Unhappy me when I read westy's post on Sat. evening about the conditions and no lines. More unhappy after reading Kahuna's, ski_guy_59's and johnfmh's posts today. But knowing what Timberline is like with a crowd, why should I go if they indicate they know a crowd is coming on their web site. Likewise Snowshoe last week chose not to send the daily morning snow report to on-line subscribers.
In short, very few local resorts really utilize the power of the internet to juice up interest and get people to their resorts. This is a shame, for I get excellent "powder alerts" from Alta and Snowbird (and others) that scream "come up and enjoy". We can't wait to serve you.
If Snowshoe really wants to be a destination resort, they need to harnass the power of the internet and get a really good website, with real time weather, daily picture (sometimes their pictures are days old), and mean it when they state that "cold weather is allowing grooming".
And Timberline, what can I say. Just a little effort can pay big dividends. While their website improved, their lifts need improvement, both in design and maintenance. It is bad enough that the chairs break down often, but the main chair is made even slower because it serves a midstation as well as the top.
Sorry I missed a great weekend.

Snowshoe has real time weather but they hide it in the summer page
http://www.snowshoemtn.com/realtimeweather/
It isn't working today though for some reason. And what is this "cold air is allowing for grooming" junk. If they really wanted or needed to groom they could. App in North Carolina grooms when its 50 degrees to cover up bare spots near the end of the season so I know that you "can" groom well above 32 degrees. Sure, maybe its not ideal but if its for the last weekend or 2 you should do it even if you will lose a lot of snow by doing so just to keep it nice and smooth and cover up the bare spots for the folks. I'm really confused why they don't.

And whats up with not opening Cupp all week. They were saying in their report that they hoped to be open with Cupp through the 11th. this was on the day befor they decided to close on the 4th and maybe 2 or 3 days before they closed cupp for the season. I know it was warm but I skied that thingin April 2002 after that HORRIBLE winter and it was awesome. Surely they could have done it this year. Maybe they just miscalculated. It has to be a hard science to master especially with the weather here.

In conclusion, its still my favorite place but Timberline had them beat hands down this weekend with more snowfall and better runs. Without Cupp and Shay, 100% open timberline with 19 inches of freshies wins every time.

My sentiments exactly!Now how would you feel about 2 Timberlines one on top of the other with modern lifts??MPC & "almost heaven" Do us RIGHT Mr. BRIGHT!!

I doubt there were more than 5 people there on Friday that weren't taking at least one break coming down the mountain. On a groomed day you can do it but do you really want to go twice that height? I've gone all the way down Cupp a few times without stopping and let me tell ya, I'd rather relax at midstation for a second. My point is that a few neat runs with 1500 - 2000 ft of vert is nice but if the average joe has to stop and rest half way if not more, he might just as well be on a lift doing so. The more you spread your runs out horizontally the better it disperses crowd and its just not economical to make snow for 2000 vertical feet for every run down the mountain.

If that thing ever does happen it will be the short and stubby version or just almost almost heaven and andy'll be yelling for Intrawest to buy everything and open the entire strip from Canaan to MPC to Tory to Snowshoe to Winterplace to Beech to the beach (using the new snow magic over 60 degrees system of course) so he can just take the lift system straight from deep sea fishing instead of driving to the old Timberline slopes system of "Almost Heaven Fo Sho". This place will be measured not in mere vertical feet but Latitude Miles and have a huge statue of andy at the highest point. They'll even extend Salamander the length of the resort so andy can get back to the beach with one run. They can build a bunch of condos and sucker beginning snowboarders onto it, not providing an outlet until they push the entire Latitude Mileage of the resort, get to their condo, or get abducted by those West Virginians in the movie "Wrong Turn" at mile marker 200.

JR,

LOL. I just snorted Mountain Dew onto my keyboard.

The statue of Andy at the highest point was a nice touch!

Statue of Andy at the top is a nice touch, but the finishing touch is the mid-station pumphouse for Canaanman to huck!

Those are great ideas! We'd have to adjust the terrain in the coastal plains of NC or even south to SC. Heck, let's bring it to Florida and funnel all the tourists to Disney. Then I'll hop on the express gondola that wisks me to the top next to Andy's Statue in only 7 minutes. Note that's 2000 miles, or 10,560,000 feet, in 7 minutes; not a wimpy 2000 vertical feet!

The reason why resorts close is because there aren't many skiiers. But keep in mind that 18 inches of snowfall doesn't fall in Canaan Valley or Dolly Sods every April. The conditions had to be breathtaking. I was wooped in 4-6 inches of fresh snow, including some tree skiing. the 16 inches had to rock!

Those are great ideas! We'd have to adjust the terrain in the coastal plains of NC or even south to SC. Heck, let's bring it to Florida and funnel all the tourists to Disney. Then I'll hop on the express gondola that wisks me to the top next to Andy's Statue in only 7 minutes. Note that's 2000 miles, or 10,560,000 feet, in 7 minutes; not a wimpy 2000 vertical feet!

The reason why resorts close is because there aren't many skiiers. But keep in mind that 18 inches of snowfall doesn't fall in Canaan Valley or Dolly Sods every April. The conditions had to be breathtaking. I was wooped in 4-6 inches of fresh snow, including some tree skiing. the 16 inches had to rock!

Ok that was good Jr,I had to chuckle even if it was at my expense.I'll have the last laugh though!You know my Girl said the same thing you did about breaks.We were skiing at vail & she said the runs were too long & she appreciated smaller mtn's like TL where she could take breaks. You all have somthing in common! Now if they don't build "almost heaven" right then I'll be up at Snowbird in utah cuz the BIRD MAN says its the best!If they build it right then with the 3 ski areas up there there will be terrain for every type of skier.

PS..that was 27 inches ski dude & that would be ONE GOOD LOOKING STATUE..

yes it was. I was thinking of the one day's total. That would be a long slope!