If anyone is looking for one final weekend of skiing not too far from DC it looks like Wintergreen has received around 8 inches of snow from today's storm (https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/03/21/its-dumping-snow-virginias-blue-ridge-mountains/?utm_term=.ec348703bde5) and will be re-opening tomorrow for a final weekend. Also, have to give Bryce kudos for being among the first to open and last to close again with all but one slope open. I know it's a small hill with just a handful of trails, but is a nice place to go on a weekend to avoid the crowds and get some family skiing in.
I'll be with my son at WG tomorrow -- if anyone else is going I have left over days on my four pass available. I have tan pants green helmet and usually an orange back pack -- may be sporting my new SkiSE hoodie until it gets warm
Quite the unexpected snow event, I'm continuing north tomorrow afternoon, NY or VT
I just looked at one of their webcams and it's snowing there right now. Woot!
Did you recieve my message?
By that I mean to everyone... LET'S SKI! time is fleeting
Wintergreen is having a pass sale until the end of the month. It's a Mission: Affordable rip off. $279 for their standard restricted pass, and $899 for a family 4 pack. If you think of it as the equivalent of ST's night pass, with the bonus of weekdays and most Sundays, it's not a bad deal.
Beware of their unrestricted pass. The website's misleading, leading people to think an unrestricted pass is $279. It's not. They want a whopping $899 ($1000 full price) for it! It's ridiculous. How can they justify big mountain passes for a small hill in southern VA - and only tie it to one hill (though they throw in some lift tickets to other resorts - but they do that on the other pass too)? I mean good night - they make Peak look sane and reasonable!
superguy wrote:
Wintergreen is having a pass sale until the end of the month. It's a Mission: Affordable rip off. $279 for their standard restricted pass, and $899 for a family 4 pack. If you think of it as the equivalent of ST's night pass, with the bonus of weekdays and most Sundays, it's not a bad deal.
Beware of their unrestricted pass. The website's misleading, leading people to think an unrestricted pass is $279. It's not. They want a whopping $899 ($1000 full price) for it! It's ridiculous. How can they justify big mountain passes for a small hill in southern VA - and only tie it to one hill (though they throw in some lift tickets to other resorts - but they do that on the other pass too)? I mean good night - they make Peak look sane and reasonable!
Interesting, Wintergreen has finally decided to compete directly with Massanutten for season passes. Now that Mnut has plenty of water, perhaps Wintergreen is feeling the competition more. The big difference is allowing non-property owners to get a pass than includes Sunday mornings. Before, a Wintergreen full season pass available to the general public was only good on Sunday afternoons. There wasn't a "value" pass of any kind. The price for the Massanutten Special Value Pass is $235 and a Full Season Pass is $405 (10% off) before March 24 (last day of the 2018-19 season). A Special Value Pass has been good every day (Sun-Fri) plus all night sessions for quite a while, which only leaves out Sat 9am-4pm. Needless to say, works out well for locals or working folks interested in making the drive for day trips on Sundays.
Fair to say that those who lived close enough to take advantage of what Snowtime offered with a 3-mountain pass were very lucky. Season pass prices in NC are comparable to VA for a single mountain. Like real estate . . . location, location, location when it comes to pricing.
Here's the deal. Your pass is valid:
You’ve been asking for it and this is the year we’re launching the first ever Unlimited Season Pass available to the general public. There are no blackout dates and you can ski or ride from opening day through closing day. Additional benefits are the same as the Season Pass. Refer to the chart above for rates.
"Refer to the chart above for rates."
This is the kicker, because it didn't say anything (at least when I looked last night) about the price. So some were assuming that was $279 as well. Only when you go in to buy them does it show the unrestricted pass is priced at $899 (10% off).
superguy wrote:
"Refer to the chart above for rates."
This is the kicker, because it didn't say anything (at least when I looked last night) about the price. So some were assuming that was $279 as well. Only when you go in to buy them does it show the unrestricted pass is priced at $899 (10% off).
The webpage I saw this morning has columns for Adult, Student, Family of 4, Unlimited Adult, and Unlimited Student. The rows show the dates when prices go up, which are April 1 and Sept. 3. The early bird prices are good March 8-31, 2019.
Looks like no night skiing at Wintergreen on Sundays or Mondays. Don't remember what used to happen. Massanutten took out night skiing on Tuesdays for 2018-19. They have a special low rate for Monday nights.
I did not think the website was terribly misleading, but I guess I am familiar enough with wintergreen to know that they would never offer an unlimited pass for $279.
Marz, I had the same thought that perhaps the competition from MTN has lead to the changes for the better in the restricted pass. A family pass that can be bought for $899/4 = $225 per person is a good deal, even with the Saturday before 4 PM restrictions. Until very recently the restricted pass was not good until 5 PM on Saturday and 12:30 PM on Sundays. Having Sunday be unrestricted is a big deal.
EDIT: just took another look at the season pass page:
https://www.wintergreenresort.com/season-passes/%20
and the prices, including the prices for the unlimited pass, are in the table right at the top of the page. Very visible.
wgo wrote:
Marz, I had the same thought that perhaps the competition from MTN has lead to the changes for the better in the restricted pass. A family pass that can be bought for $899/4 = $225 per person is a good deal, even with the Saturday before 4 PM restrictions. Until very recently the restricted pass was not good until 5 PM on Saturday and 12:30 PM on Sundays. Having Sunday be unrestricted is a big deal.
Have you skied enough at Wintergreen on Sundays to have a sense of how crowded it was in the mornings? I know Mnut is less crowded on Sunday mornings than Saturday mornings, even though the Value Pass is good all day on Sunday. The beginners/intermediates just don't make it out on the slopes until after 10:00 or 11:00. Those buying day tickets usually just get a 4-hour ticket.
Certainly wouldn't take many midweek days or Sundays to make good use of a $279 pass. Can get in a lot of fun laps midweek when Highlands is open. Certainly could make Wintergreen more of a draw for folks in central NC, in comparison to driving to Sugar or Beech midweek.
wgo wrote:
Marz, I had the same thought that perhaps the competition from MTN has lead to the changes for the better in the restricted pass. A family pass that can be bought for $899/4 = $225 per person is a good deal, even with the Saturday before 4 PM restrictions. Until very recently the restricted pass was not good until 5 PM on Saturday and 12:30 PM on Sundays. Having Sunday be unrestricted is a big deal.
Have you skied enough at Wintergreen on Sundays to have a sense of how crowded it was in the mornings? I know Mnut is less crowded on Sunday mornings than Saturday mornings, even though the Value Pass is good all day on Sunday. The beginners/intermediates just don't make it out on the slopes until after 10:00 or 11:00. Those buying day tickets usually just get a 4-hour ticket.
Certainly wouldn't take many midweek days or Sundays to make good use of a $279 pass. Can get in a lot of fun laps midweek when Highlands is open. Certainly could make Wintergreen more of a draw for folks in central NC, in comparison to driving to Sugar or Beech midweek. Only $329 Apr-Aug, so still can get a pretty good deal after the initial early bird price is gone.
marzNC wrote:
Have you skied enough at Wintergreen on Sundays to have a sense of how crowded it was in the mornings?
I do not think I have ever actually skied at Wintergreen on Sunday mornings, since our passes were not valid until 12:30 PM. There was always a mad rush at 12:30 as the passholders descended on the resort. We would usually aim to get there around 2 PM and ski until 6. We'll see what works best next season - I am hoping that the fact the pass is good all day on Sunday will actually help thin the crowds out on Sunday afternoon. But I don't think it will ever be as relatively uncrowded as Massanutten (especially the Paradice/DJ lift).
I took the Wintergreen day bus from the NC Triangle a few times with my daughter before we got season passes to Massanutten. The fare included a day ticket. One trip in Jan 2009 was on a non-holiday Sunday. I don't remember there being much of a crowd in the morning. My guess is that we mostly skied off Acorn. Of course, that was 10 years ago so may not be relevant to the current situation at all.
With a 3 hour drive one-way from Raleigh to Wintergreen, only makes sense if can ski a full day before heading home.
marzNC wrote:
I took the Wintergreen day bus from the NC Triangle a few times with my daughter before we got season passes to Massanutten. The fare included a day ticket. One trip in Jan 2009 was on a non-holiday Sunday. I don't remember there being much of a crowd in the morning. My guess is that we mostly skied off Acorn. Of course, that was 10 years ago so may not be relevant to the current situation at all.
With a 3 hour drive one-way from Raleigh to Wintergreen, only makes sense if can ski a full day before heading home.
Wintergreen has 4 hour flex tickets now. That's perfect for me. Drive 3 hours, ski 3 hours or so, drive 3 hours home and be home for dinner. That's ideal for a Sunday because getting home at a decent hour Sunday evening makes work Monday morning a lot easier to deal with.
crgildart wrote:
marzNC wrote:
With a 3 hour drive one-way from Raleigh to Wintergreen, only makes sense if can ski a full day before heading home.
Wintergreen has 4 hour flex tickets now. That's perfect for me. Drive 3 hours, ski 3 hours or so, drive 3 hours home and be home for dinner. That's ideal for a Sunday because getting home at a decent hour Sunday evening makes work Monday morning a lot easier to deal with.
Ah, another idea that Massanutten has had for quite a while . . . 8-hour and 4-hour flex tickets.
A friend of mine in the northeast who does day trips to assorted ski areas likes to get in at least as many hours of skiing as hours of driving. So for a 2-hour drive one-way, that means at least 4 hours of skiing. For me, 6 hours of driving for 4 hours of skiing would not be worth the driving effort.
marzNC wrote:
crgildart wrote:
For me, 6 hours of driving for 4 hours of skiing would not be worth the driving effort.marzNC wrote:
With a 3 hour drive one-way from Raleigh to Wintergreen, only makes sense if can ski a full day before heading home.
Wintergreen has 4 hour flex tickets now. That's perfect for me. Drive 3 hours, ski 3 hours or so, drive 3 hours home and be home for dinner. That's ideal for a Sunday because getting home at a decent hour Sunday evening makes work Monday morning a lot easier to deal with.
I'll probably agree with this for Sunday ski days when I'm retired. I'm pretty worthless at work Monday when I'm rolling in to the driveway at home after 9pm on Sunday night.
crgildart wrote:
I'll probably agree with this for Sunday ski days when I'm retired. I'm pretty worthless at work Monday when I'm rolling in to the driveway at home after 9pm on Sunday night.
One reason I gave the Wintergreen day bus a try was to get in a full day of skiing without having to drive. For a solo trip, it actually can work out well. I boarded in Hillsborough, so got home earlier in the evening than if we'd had to ride all the way to Raleigh and backtrack to our house. Of course, no comparison to driving midweek and not having to deal with any lift lines. Did that a couple times and had good ski days staying most on Highlands. After skiing starting at 9:00, quite ready to pack it in and head for home by 3pm. No traffic to deal with on NC86 when driving it before 7am.
marzNC wrote:
crgildart wrote:
I'll probably agree with this for Sunday ski days when I'm retired. I'm pretty worthless at work Monday when I'm rolling in to the driveway at home after 9pm on Sunday night.
One reason I gave the Wintergreen day bus a try was to get in a full day of skiing without having to drive. For a solo trip, it actually can work out well. I boarded in Hillsborough, so got home earlier in the evening than if we'd had to ride all the way to Raleigh and backtrack to our house. Of course, no comparison to driving midweek and not having to deal with any lift lines. Did that a couple times and had good ski days staying most on Highlands. After skiing starting at 9:00, quite ready to pack it in and head for home by 3pm. No traffic to deal with on NC86 when driving it before 7am.
We've done that bus trip 3 times and like it - we get on in Durham at Lowes. I just found out last week of the existance of the ski shop in Hillsborough - had no idea. I guess the trips we took had no riders from Hillsborough because it didn't stop there.
Keith_Moon wrote:
We've done that bus trip 3 times and like it - we get on in Durham at Lowes. I just found out last week of the existance of the ski shop in Hillsborough - had no idea. I guess the trips we took had no riders from Hillsborough because it didn't stop there.
My impression that the bus that starts in Raleigh only did the stop in Hillsborough for a few years. C&R also does a bus from Hillsborough to Wintergreen, but on a more limited schedule.
By the way, C&R is moving this month. The new location is still in Hillsborough. The owner of the entire shopping center near I-85 finally decided to sell the land. I've bought my last two pairs of boots from Dick at C&R, as well as used and new ski gear for my daughter when she was growing. He takes used kid gear for store credit.
I used to take the bus from Huntington to Huntahhh when I lived in NY. Not much I get up before 6am for these days.
marzNC wrote:
Keith_Moon wrote:
We've done that bus trip 3 times and like it - we get on in Durham at Lowes. I just found out last week of the existance of the ski shop in Hillsborough - had no idea. I guess the trips we took had no riders from Hillsborough because it didn't stop there.
My impression that the bus that starts in Raleigh only did the stop in Hillsborough for a few years. C&R also does a bus from Hillsborough to Wintergreen, but on a more limited schedule.
By the way, C&R is moving this month. The new location is still in Hillsborough. The owner of the entire shopping center near I-85 finally decided to sell the land. I've bought my last two pairs of boots from Dick at C&R, as well as used and new ski gear for my daughter when she was growing. He takes used kid gear for store credit.
Yeah, I was just in there Friday. They're moving just up the road a bit.
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