Hitting the slopes: All you need to know about Massanutten, the Homestead, Snowshoe and Wintergreen

Source: The News & Advance, Lynchburg, Va.24小時迷你倉Jan. 15--The record-breaking chill across the U.S. and Canada last week was so frigid it literally stopped Niagara Falls dead in its tracks.Schools closed, flights were grounded and people from the Midwest to those scattered along the Eastern Seaboard readied their hoodies and scarves to combat the threat of nearly instant frostbite.The nostril-freezing cold, a whirlpool of ominous, dense air known as a "polar vortex," even forced the Hidden Valley ski resort in Wildwood, Mo., just outside of St. Louis -- where more than 10 inches of snow fell -- to shut down.Right here in Altavista, Big Otter River froze over, as eye-catching photographs of different waterways around the region experiencing a similar fate began circulating on the web.But while many hunkered down and went into some sort of virtual hibernation, employees at several area ski resorts, including Massanutten, The Omni Homestead, Snowshoe and Wintergreen, were taking advantage of the optimal conditions, spending hours coating their trail-laced mountains with a fresh batch of man-made powder.Now that winter is in full swing and this year's ski season continues beckoning crowds eager to shred the slopes, it's hard not to imagine yourself joining the throngs ascending toward various summits, where the hustle and bustle of a busy work week gives way to the stillness of the sweeping valleys below.You shut your eyes. No, scratch that, open them back up. There's too much scenery to ignore. It's too picturesque: the sun-glistened snow, frosted flakes, ski bums and bunnies wrapped from head to toe in three layers. You kneel and kiss the ground, exhaling one last deep breath before swooshing your way through the blankets of white.Look down. Go on, look down. You swallow the panic whole. Quick, pick up your Adam's apple; somebody might trip on it.Look down again. Go on, be an adult. This time it's a double gulp. Your eyeballs just spun in the opposite direction, like the lens on a camera. You're all out of focus. You're going into a swoon. But it's the joyride you've been waiting for.The bottom awaits your return. Grab a cushy spot over by the chairlift when you get there. You've earned the right to watch everybody else do their thing. Do you see that tiny speck up at the top? That used to be you. Don't worry. He or she will be down in a minute, maybe two.Interested in another run? If so, here's the nitty-gritty on a few nearby resorts where you can strap on your boots, lock in your bindings and tackle the terrain of your choosing.Massanutten, McGaheysville, Va.Distance from Lynchburg: 93 milesPhone: (540) 289-9441Ski report: (540) 289-4954Website: .massresort.comSlopes (average base 36 inches): With a vertical drop of a little more than 1,100 feet, skiers and snowboarders alike will find an evenly divided mix of expert, intermediate and beginner runs at this resort, located just 10 miles east of Harrisonburg in the scenic Shenandoah Valley.From the easy lines of Nutten-To-It to the aptly named Pacesetter to the demanding oomph of the slightly deceiving ParaDice, visitors can make nice or challenge their resolve on 14 different trails spread across 70 skiable acres.The steep, mountainous terrain surrounding the slopes is Massanutten at its best, with long, wide-ranging views and dense woods enclosing the many condo complexes."We've gotten off to a great start," says Kenny Hess, director of sports and risk management at the resort. "We had some early snowmaking in November, which allowed us to open on Thanksgiving weekend with top to bottom skiing on four lifts. ... You couldn't ask for any better than that."Because it's only two hours from Richmond and the D.C. area as well, Massanutten once was considered more of a commuter ski facility, often attracting day-trippers out for a quick sprint on the trails. But resort officials have worked hard to change that image by adding a number of amenities and attractions -- including a large indoor/outdoor water park, a spa and snowtubing -- all with the hopes of enticing people to stay longer than just 24 hours.The water park -- a 42,000-square-foot, $30 million collection of fanciful slides, artificial rivers and mighty waves -- certainly seems like the undisputed co-headliner of this show, where time spent working one of two terrain parks by day can be capped off with a float through the wet 'n' wild hubbub at twilight.Lift tickets (eight-hour sessions): $46 weekdays, $68 weekends and holidays for adults; $40 weekdays, $58 weekends and holidays for children ages 6 to 12, seniors and military; free for ages 5 and younger. Daily night skiing ranges from $28 to $36. Rentals start around $24. The resort offers one to four bedroom condos, as well as standard hotel rooms, with rates starting at $150 per night.Of note: For the month of January, Massanutten is running a special on its four-hour Pathway Program Package, which is just $59 and includes two hours of lessons and two hours of skiing or snowboarding and all rental equipment.------The Omni Homestead, Hot Springs, Va.Distance from Lynchburg: 96 milesPhone: (540) 839-1766Ski report: (540) 839-7800Website: .thehomestead.comSlopes (average base 30 to 60 inches): The mountain boasts nine trails, 45 ride-able acres and a vertical drop of roughly 700 feet with a variety of challenges for every level of skier, making it the ideal venue for a group of novices trying to get their bearings or someone looking to tune up their skills before heading out west to grapple with the pointed peaks of Colorado."The terrain here for beginners is kind of unmatched," says Clay Robinson, director of the resort's ski school. "It's a very gentle place. It's flat. It doesn't intimidate people. The progressions of going from a flat area to a little service lift to a chairlift going halfway up are pretty great."Those ready to step it up a notch can graduate to the main lift and test out the intermediate trails, like The Glades, Escape and Upper Main, while the more seasoned vets might venture over to The Nose Dive or The Chute.If snowboarding is your thing, there's a terrain park and half pipe for rebel shredders hoping to grab a piece of the tree line during their next high-flying maneuver. The resort also offers private ski and snowboard instruction for ages 4 and older, cross-country skiing, tubing, ice-skating and snowmobiling.Snowmobile tours kickoff in the evenings after the slopes close, beginning with a safety briefing, followed by a few warm-up laps, before riders get a chance to cruise along the routes carved into the Allegheny Mountains.Lift tickets (eight-hour sessions): $39 weekdays, $49 weekends and $59 holidays for adults; $29 weekdays, $39 weekends and $49 holidays for children 12 and younger; Night skiing is $30, Saturdays onl迷你倉旺角. Rentals start around $30. Visitors staying at the resort save a few dollars a day on lift tickets. Room rates start at $180 per night.Of note: The resort currently has a Family Learn to Ski Package starting at $310, which includes one night's accommodations at the hotel for two adults and two children, single-day lift tickets, equipment rentals and group lessons for ages 6 and older. And, if you decide to stick around, don't forget to recharge your batteries in the spring-fed, bathtub-warm indoor pool fit for a king or a queen, with its vaulted, sky-lit roof, potted palms and Palladian windows.------Snowshoe, Snowshoe, W. Va.Distance from Lynchburg: 148 milesPhone: (304) 572-1000Ski report: (304) 572-4636Website: .snowshoemtn.comSlopes (average base 24 to 36 inches): It's not all fluff to say that Snowshoe is the cornerstone of recreational snow sports in the southeast, especially given the resort's reputation as the most popular winter playground in the Mid-Atlantic region.The vertical drop stands at 1,500 feet, with the longest run stretching 1.5 miles.Opened in the early '70s, the mountain typically boasts about 180 inches of snow a year, creating a rather agreeable surface for the thousands of skiers and snowboarders who make the annual trek to leave their mark on any one of the 57 trails, which are broken down into three separate ski sections that comprise a mere 251 acres of the facility's 11,000 overall.The Snowshoe Basin area gives experts a run for their money on bomber trails like Widowmaker, Choker and Knot Bumper, while intermediates revel in the laid-back vibe of cruisers like Skipjack and Gandy Dancer. Never fear, though: if you're a first-timer, you can go casual on the Flume Trail system's learning terrain. Whatever your preference, you'll find the right run in the Basin.Over at Silver Creek, where Kid's World and the five-lane Coca-Cola Tube Park lie in wait, families tend to enjoy some leisure time. But the area is not without its own set of surprises. Night skiing and four sections equipped for a little freestyle action force even experienced riders to sharpen their blades.As for the Western Territory, let's just say it's a place where most men and women meet their match, specifically on Shay's Revenge, which really needs no explanation, and the legendary Cupp Run, a high-speed adventure designed by Olympian Jean-Claude Killy,"We're trying to continue the momentum of the great season we had last year," says David Dekema, Snowshoe's director of marketing. "We were fortunate to open early last year and stay open later. It seemed like the snow just kept getting better, and the season just kept going."Lift tickets (all prices depend on the time of season): $59 to $89 for ages 18 to 74; $52 to $79 for ages 13 to 17; $49 to $74 for ages 7 to 12; free for adults 75 and older and children 6 and younger. Daily night skiing ranges from $37 to $45. Rentals start around $38. The resort offers a number of accommodation options, with rates starting at $110 per night.Of note: For the 2013-14 season, Snowshoe hired the developer of the trademarked Terrain Based Learning program to design and create two new teaching parks, which resort officials believe will remove "the anxiety and fear around first-time skiing and boarding.""It's a bit of a revolution from the way ski schools have been teaching for years and years," Dekema says. "We want the features that we're building in these parks to help people progress through the stages of learning much easier and in a more fun manner."As a whole, the resort boasts 26 acres of freestyle terrain, including six different parks. So it caters to big-air enthusiasts and beginners attempting that initial trick.------Wintergreen, Wintergreen, Va.Distance from Lynchburg: 51 milesPhone: (434) 325-2200Ski report: (434) 325-2100Website: .wintergreenresort.comSlopes (average base 36 to 48 inches): "In my view, we have a real credible ski experience," says Hank Thiess, Wintergreen's general manager. "It's 1,000 vertical feet of skiing, a remarkable snowmaking system, good trails and lifts, and we're right in the backyard of a really sizable population."He's referring to the resort's prime location, which is sprawled out over 11,000 lush acres in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains and sits minutes from the Parkway, just southwest of Charlottesville, less than two hours from Richmond and only three from D.C.There are 25 slopes cleverly bundled into 129 skiable acres, where, on a less crowded weekday, the silence envelops the senses, as if you've wandered out of bounds, off the designated trail.Maybe you have friends who exclusively ski in the Western part of North America and never miss an opportunity to bombard you with their stories of backcountry excursions, during which they always seem to lose track of time and place. The accounts routinely end with them bragging that there's nowhere in the Eastern side of the continent where such isolation and serenity can be found.It's a ridiculous notion. Wintergreen may not have as hefty a calling card as Vail or Park City, but she's all heart, with plenty to spare.The collection of runs -- some with a more natural and fluffy shape, while others are tightly groomed to resemble the look of a ridged waffle cone -- serve the newcomers out to prove themselves and the more knowledgeable skiers and snowboarders who've acquired a deft touch.Take Big Acorn, for instance, a fitting choice that "experts" prefer to muscle because of its steeper, black diamond rating of difficulty. But the broad glade of the Eagles Swoop or the longer, wider Tyro trail are perfect warm-ups, two intermediate blue-square cruisers that start gently, and then slowly pick up the pace, giving the trip down the feel of a windy roller coaster.If that's not enough to get the blood pumping, perhaps the various jibs and rails over at the two terrain parks require your attention.Lift tickets (eight-hour sessions): $50 weekdays, $72 weekends and holidays for adults; $40 weekdays, $55 weekends and holidays for ages 6 to 12 and seniors ages 65 and older; free for ages 5 and younger. Daily night skiing ranges from $30 to $35. Rentals start around $25. Resort accommodations range from studios to spacious homes, with rates starting at $155 per night.Of note: Wintergreen's 900-foot, 10-lane, mega-snowtubing hill, with its vertical drop of 100 feet, is billed as Virginia's largest and assists riders in reaching speeds of 25 to 40 mph. The terrain parks also host competitions like the Freestyle Doublecross and the Wintergreen Slopestyle and Rail Jam events, which are coming up at the beginning of February.Copyright: ___ (c)2014 The News & Advance (Lynchburg, Va.) Visit The News & Advance (Lynchburg, Va.) at .newsadvance.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesmini storage