Snowshoe Mountain opened for its 41st season in November with a Thanksgiving-to-Easter calendar, marking the longest announced season schedule in a decade.
Ranked by Ski Magazine readers as a 2015 Top Ten Resort in the East for lodging and après-ski activities, the ski resort is building on the momentum of back-to-back big snow seasons, powerful enhancements to the resort’s snowmaking capabilities and early forecasts for favorable weather factors.
“We know we can’t always count on the terrific early natural snow we’ve seen the past two seasons,” says Frank DeBerry, Snowshoe’s chief operating officer. “That’s why we have hedged our position with major investments in a total-mountain snowmaking system which allows us to make more snow, earlier with greater coverage.”
Some of Snowshoe’s additions and enhancements for this winter’s season include its first and only luxury boutique hotel. Located at the top of the Powder Monkey chairlift and across the street from Snowshoe’s Western Territory, the family-owned Corduroy Inn will offer upscale amenities to guests in a ski-in/ski-out setting.
Multiple accommodations to fit almost any budget are available including seven hotels, one resort, two apartments and four lodges. Go snowboarding on your own or take a snowmobile tour (evenings too). You can drive through the basin trails where you skied all day or head to the back country for a new adventure. Terrain Based Learning’s gentle rolling slope is perfect for first-timers.
Because of the success of last year’s Terrain Based Learning™, Snowshoe is expanding the program for first-time skiers and boarders. The startling National Ski Area Association statistic that 85 percent of first-time skiers and snowboarders never return for a second visit has motivated the resort managers to create a terrain-learning park where the snow has been shaped to create gentle rolling terrain, which naturally controls the student’s speed.
APRES SKI/NIGHTLIFE offers the best in live music and entertainment. Its Teen Center offers games, movies, sports, dance parties, social media centers and a generally cool area for guests ages 20 and younger. For adults ages 21 and over, the resort has ramped up its weekly live music series with different live bands at The Connection Nightclub on Friday evenings through February 27.
With 1,500 vertical feet, 250 acres of terrain and 100 percent snowmaking, Snowshoe is a solid intermediate mountain, perfect for the adventurous who are learning to ski or ride. The resort has 15 lifts and 60 trails as well as four terrain parks with a full arsenal of features. It also promises to deliver the best snow in the region with its Best Snow Guarantee!
All photos for this article are courtesy Snowshoe Mountain Resort.