We'll be skiing at 7 Spring this Thursday and Friday and were wondering where to ski on Saturday. I've heard about what a zoo 7 Springs is on the weekend, so I have no intention of sticking around on Saturday to ski there. However, I would like to check out either Hidden Valley or Laurel Mountain. We're all black/double black skiers. Looking at the trail maps, I see that Laurel Mountain has maybe a couple of runs that we would do laps on (looker's left side of the mountain) but not much else. Also, only 1 lift. On the other hand, Hidden Valley seems to have more and varied terrain, albeit with shorter runs (I'm guessing) and 3 chairlifts.

If you had your pick and have been to both places, which would you pick and why? (Crowds would be a consideration, too.)

Thanks much 

ksampson3 wrote:

...We're all black/double black skiers. ..

No crowds at either place.

If you've seen any of the recent Laurel threads, you'll know the answer if the above is driving your choice. Even w/ only Lower Wildcat open, it beats HV. Though HV does have some variety, it does ski awfully short, especially if fast skiers. LM tickets 2/3 the cost of HV for twice the vert.

For stronger skiers LM is the clear choice over HV.  Hopefully, they weathered the warm spell ok.

Yeah, looking at Hidden Valley's stats, I'm guessing that the runs would be about as long as Liberty's. Like I said to my buddy on the lift last week at Liberty, "I come here every couple of years to remind myself why I only come here every couple of years."

ksampson3 wrote:

. We're all black/double black skiers.

 

If you are truly an all black and double black skier you won't like 7springs either. I suggest you go to Blue Knob where your legs and ego can be challenged. Laurel Mtn is a special place and HV is more of a laid back family mountain. Otherwise you'll need to hop on a plane to find true black or double blacks since our local hills just don't have enough mountain to reach those lofty heights with exception of a few runs.

there are only a few actual black runs around here. Extrovert at Blue Knob if open is one, but it has yet to open this year.

Lower wild cat is open and depending on conditions (grooming and natural) is either great or intimidating.

no crowds at BK or Laurel, 

One thing no one has mentioned is conditions.  HV out of all three (HV, 7S and LM) clearly has the best snowmaking capabilities.  Given the most recent cycle and the forecast for the weekend, it might be rough everywhere but more than likely conditions at HV will be better than LM.  Just a thought. 

HV doesn't have a ton of challenging terrain and the steepest runs are short but is usually the best of the three for snow quality.  

without a doubt HV has the best snowmaking, also the most costly!

Since you'll be in the area for 3 days of skiing, why not try all 3?  That's assuming you did not prepay for 2 days at 7S already.  Peeking at the weather, I'd go in this order to get the best conditions.  LM on Thu, 7S on Fri and HV on Sat.   

Each is unique in it's own way.   If you are in it strictly for the challenge, you're going to have to do laps on Wildcat this weekend.  

I'll bet there are many expert skiers on this board that ski blacks / doubles but that doesn't mean they can't have a good time at these places.  For me, it's about getting out with family and friends and making some turns.  

Thanks for all of the suggestions. We're locked into going to Seven Springs on Thursday/Friday as part of a large group. Saturday is the day that we're not part of the group and can ski at either Laurel or Hidden Valley. That's why I asked about opiniions on those two places. 

For challenge, ski Laurel for steeps. It is a true expert pitch. Broadway and Innsbruck are great long novice to intermediate cruisers. From the top of the lift to the bottom is nearly a mile long. The new Skytrac  fixed grip quad is more than adequate to handle the non-crowd and it moves much quicker than you think. More than likely you might have to share a trail or slope with maybe a dozen or so others scatter up and down the mountain. You will leave Laurel resolved to come back sometime when we get two feet of snow.

I suspect that the only bumps you are going to find will be at Seven Springs on Goosebumps. I was there today and there is a zipperline of bumps right down the center. None of the natural areas survived this latest meltdown and the snow falling today will not be enough to make it skiable. Everything will be groomed. I suspect the bumps on Goosebumps were machine sculpted. The real challenge at the Springs can be found in its many parks. The Spot, the big pipe and jump park is not open but the all time favorite, The Alley, is in full swing as are several others scattered about the place. There is a Nastar course up near The Alley.

Hidden Valley has a lot of lifts on a small hill but there really is no challenge. It really is a great place for families to learn the sport. Just big enough for a beginner to find challenging but nothing at all intimidating. As others have said, you cannot beat the quality of their machine made snow.

ksampson3 wrote:

Yeah, looking at Hidden Valley's stats, I'm guessing that the runs would be about as long as Liberty's. Like I said to my buddy on the lift last week at Liberty, "I come here every couple of years to remind myself why I only come here every couple of years."

HV is much less than Liberty's vert and skis very short. But HV snowmaking is very good, and probably is 100% open

LHC,

How are conditions currently at Laurel Mountain? I was at Seven Springs today and was surprised at how much bullet-hard ice that there was on some of the trails. I'm guessing that the rain earlier in the week trashed a lot of the snow. They were blowing like crazy to try to cover all of the ice, and it seemed to mostly be working pretty well. Mostly.

Thanks much

I haven't been to Laurel since last Saturday but Laurel has the same snowmaking system as 7S. I would think that Laurel will have good conditions today and tomorrow until the rain returns. Maybe imp will chime in with a more detailed report. I might go to Laurel later today to catch some corn in the sun.

Conditions today from 11 am until 2 pm. Frozen cord early ripening to sun warmed corn by early afternoon with a few icy spots in the shade. Corn turning to chowder on Innsbruck at mid-day. Conditions should be good tomorrow, especially early. Lower Wildcat was nicest during its hour of full sun mid-day with the bottom forth a tad icy. Great spring conditions.

Thanks, LHC. I spent the day at 7 Springs (again) and surprisingly the conditions sucked. The slopes were bullet hard for much longer than we thought that they would be. It warmed up really quickly , but the snow didn't get the message to soften up until after 1 pm. There were several slopes (Gunnar in particular)  that had whole slopes (usually left side) filled with lacrosse ball sized frozen chunks. Honestly,  it  was the worst grooming that I've ever seen. I talked to a bunch of locals and they had no idea what the deal was with the grooming. Weird. Anyway, we're probably heading to Hidden Valley tomorrow as Laurel Mountain is listing only 12 out of 21 trails open. I'll save my trip to Laurel for when the conditions are stellar.

Thanks again