Planning a ski trip w/ tha Babies Momma, fourth and sixth grader.
We have never skied the East Coast, we are Blue and a few black skiers however the boys want to try snow boarding this year. I hear Snowshoe is the best , seven hours away and thats cool if we have to.
Is there anything else that is comparable to Snowshoe but maybe a shorter drive from Cola ?
Any help on accomodations two or three nights, things to do and not to do, restaurants, nightlife ( kid approved ) etc.
Thanks.
Snowshoe is as expensive as out West. If it is a holiday or weekend the slopes are packed and lift lines will be 20-40 minutes. Other than that it is a great place. Been once - won’t go back.
My MO is to leave Cola on a Sunday morning, hit Sugar Mountain in Boone NC around noon. It is about a 3.5 hour drive. Buy an afternoon ticket, around 2:30 everyone starts to leave. By 3 PM the place is yours and you can ski your legs off. If you want more then night ski. Catch a hotel in Boone, cheap on Sunday night. Hampton Inn has a pool and hot tub. Hit slopes at opening time, ski hard and leave by 2:30 PM. That will put you south of Charlotte to beat the rush hour. Home for dinner, then hobble to work on Tuesday.
After that little tune-up head out West for real skiing. We go to Whistler every year.
If you can go during the week then Snowshoe is OK but still expensive. Another choice might be Winterplace but it is small. A good skier can hit every slope in 3-4 hours. Good place for a new skier or boarder - if during the week. Too crowded on the weekend. Hotels in Princeton or you can stay at Winterplace. If you stay in Beckley there is a toll on the highway that you’ll pay each day. The toll stop is between Beckley and Winterplace. Winterplace is about 5 hours(??) from Cola, right off I-77.
Any of these places are tough if there has been freeze-thaw-freeze. East Coast ice is no fun. Sugar is more protected from that than Beech.
Pioneer 197SF