Mid-Atlantic The Neverending Timberline, WV: Info, Weather, and Stoke

[Johnfmh]

I have no real thoughts on the lifts. I am just happy we are getting two, including of course the high-speed 6.

Over time, it will be important for the owners to discover who is coming to the resort, how much and where are they skiing, and where they are coming from and staying. Are most people day trippers, homeowners, or people on weekend getaways? How much money is the average skier spending and where?

Long-term, the owners will want to develop a good chunk of the upper parking lots into a small base village. This is going to make day tripping hard. Just ask Vermont locals about day tripping to Stowe after the Spruce Peak lot was transformed into a village. I feel that the owners will not want to compete with Whitetail and Liberty (especially given the Epic Pass) for the day tripper crowd and instead try and develop the resort as a weekend destination resort similar to many resorts in VT. I may of course be completely wrong, but until Timberline goes Epic or Ikon, that market will be hard to attract mid-season.

 

[JohnL]

I have no real thoughts on the lifts. I am just happy we are getting two, including of course the high-speed 6.

Over time, it will be important for the owners to discover who is coming to the resort, how much and where are they skiing, and where they are coming from and staying. Are most people day trippers, homeowners, or people on weekend getaways? How much money is the average skier spending and where?

Long-term, the owners will want to develop a good chunk of the upper parking lots into a small base village. This is going to make day tripping hard. Just ask Vermont locals about day tripping to Stowe after the Spruce Peak lot was transformed into a village. I feel that the owners will not want to compete with Whitetail and Liberty (especially given the Epic Pass) for the day tripper crowd and instead try and develop the resort as a weekend destination resort similar to many resorts in VT. I may of course be completely wrong, but until Timberline goes Epic or Ikon, that market will be hard to attract mid-season.

It was very interesting in one of the interviews with the Perfects, they stated they were not a real estate company, but a ski operations company. They have to attract a lot of skiers to pay off 10M of investments. They have been successful, so, I am assuming they have a solid plan.

The Google Maps satellite image of Perfect North Slopes, IN reveals a pretty spartan base area - but they are real close to some largish cities. My gut reaction is they won't build a mountain village, but will rely on the growth of Davis and Thomas. They will have to upgrade/replace the base facilities at some point. Don't know who owns what parcels of land, but possibly a second base area out towards Twister?

Parking was tight on busy weekends in the past; they are in the process of upgrading the uphill capacity to accommodate more sliders. Reducing the number of parking spaces will cause a big hurt for anyone coming in from Elkins, Davis, and Thomas, not just from farther out. Some sort of satellite lot will likely be needed in the future.

I think day trippers will be a non-trivial part of their customer base; they can't afford to alienate them. Elkins; Morgantown; Deep Creek Lake (people staying there may take a day in the Valley); Cumberland; Winchester; Manassas; Loudon and Prince William Counties; Western Fairfax County. Day trip range for me in Annandale, but I am harder core than most. Day Tripper!

 

[SCWVA]

They need a parking garage like Vail, but with retailers like Bogner and Starbucks on the ground floor.

The lot by the heli pad has been used in the past for satellite parking.

 

[19BigBadJoe74]

Just wanted to share some of the tremendous progress that PN has made at Timberline Mountain. This is the clearing for the quad. The crew that is here are great people and truly dedicated.

 

[pipestem]

Bogner. That was one of the funniest moments in the TL saga....

 

[pipestem]

It was very interesting in one of the interviews with the Perfects, they stated they were not a real estate company, but a ski operations company. They have to attract a lot of skiers to pay off 10M of investments. They have been successful, so, I am assuming they have a solid plan.

Honestly, when TL was at it's prime, there were a lot of skiers on the mountain. Idk if that was enough for PN to profit, but it was enough to fill the slopes and sometimes hit 30 minute lift lines.

 

[mdr227]

Great to see the progress they are making, I just hope they won't face any delays with the virus that will prevent them from opening this year. From Northern VA it's roughly a 3 hour drive and definitely within range for a day trip if you are willing to get up and leave early, but personally would only do that on a weekday and not a weekend with the limited parking. Most of the time we have gone to Timberline over the years we would rent a house on or near the slopes for a two or three day outing, but did do a number of day trips as well back when we'd have to take Rt. 50 to Rt. 93. Haven't done one with the new Corridor H segments completed, definitely will this Winter.

 

[dbostedo]

Great to see the progress they are making, I just hope they won't face any delays with the virus that will prevent them from opening this year. From Northern VA it's roughly a 3 hour drive and definitely within range for a day trip if you are willing to get up and leave early, but personally would only do that on a weekday and not a weekend with the limited parking. Most of the time we have gone to Timberline over the years we would rent a house on or near the slopes for a two or three day outing, but did do a number of day trips as well back when we'd have to take Rt. 50 to Rt. 93. Haven't done one with the new Corridor H segments completed, definitely will this Winter.

Welcome to PugSki from a fellow Northern Virginian.

 

[JohnL]

Honestly, when TL was at it's prime, there were a lot of skiers on the mountain. Idk if that was enough for PN to profit, but it was enough to fill the slopes and sometimes hit 30 minute lift lines.

I think a lot of the crowding was the limited uphill capacity and frequent lift stoppages. Fastest you could go up was 13 min, and on weekends, 3-4 stops on the way up was common. The long lift lines contributed to the congestion at the base area. Trust me, as much time as I spent on the lifts and in line for over a decade, Waiting for Godot, I had too much time to think about all this.

With more uphill capacity, slopes will be more crowded, fer sure. They'll need to get to 100 percent snow making trails open much quicker than the previous owner's did. When all trails are open, the trails never seemed to get too bad, even on crowded weekends. At least compared to Whitetail, Liberty, Snowshoe, Seven Springs, etc. When Twister was open, it seemed to take a lot of traffic off Dew, Heaven, Sally and even WL. But, if you spend most of your day on OTW, The Drop, Thunder Lift Line, and the woods, things don't get too crowded. So, I was a bit spoiled.

Ya, a few weekends a year, TL could get a lot of people. My gut reaction (SWAG), is that to pay off their investments they'll need more than a few real busy weekends a year and the holiday weekends could get real interesting.

 

[JohnL]

Great to see the progress they are making, I just hope they won't face any delays with the virus that will prevent them from opening this year. From Northern VA it's roughly a 3 hour drive and definitely within range for a day trip if you are willing to get up and leave early, but personally would only do that on a weekday and not a weekend with the limited parking. Most of the time we have gone to Timberline over the years we would rent a house on or near the slopes for a two or three day outing, but did do a number of day trips as well back when we'd have to take Rt. 50 to Rt. 93. Haven't done one with the new Corridor H segments completed, definitely will this Winter.

Even when I was in a seasonal ski house, I would often drive up on a Saturday morning. As long as you got there by 9:15, you were generally fine. Did not do that on a Holiday weekend, though; on the slopes by 8, often called it a day by 12:45.

 

[mdr227]

The great thing with the high speed lift is if you do go on a weekday for a day trip you'll be able to get tons of runs in within 3-4 hours which previously would have taken likely 6 or so. When I go to WT on a weekday I leave home at 7 and am usually on the slopes at 8:30, ski about three hours straight and can be home by 1 to get 1/2 day or work (or a long nap) in. Get more runs and vertical in over those three hours than I used to get at Timberline for a full day. It will be interesting for sure to see how the crowds will develop the first year as people get used to going back to TL or experience it for the first time. A commitment to opening all of the trails will be huge, can't even remember how long it's been since the mountain was 100% open.

 

[pipestem]

I think a lot of the crowding was the limited uphill capacity and frequent lift stoppages. Fastest you could go up was 13 min, and on weekends, 3-4 stops on the way up was common. The long lift lines contributed to the congestion at the base area. Trust me, as much time as I spent on the lifts and in line for over a decade, Waiting for Godot, I had too much time to think about all this.

With more uphill capacity, slopes will be more crowded, fer sure. They'll need to get to 100 percent snow making trails open much quicker than the previous owner's did. When all trails are open, the trails never seemed to get too bad, even on crowded weekends. At least compared to Whitetail, Liberty, Snowshoe, Seven Springs, etc. When Twister was open, it seemed to take a lot of traffic off Dew, Heaven, Sally and even WL. But, if you spend most of your day on OTW, The Drop, Thunder Lift Line, and the woods, things don't get too crowded. So, I was a bit spoiled.

Ya, a few weekends a year, TL could get a lot of people. My gut reaction (SWAG), is that to pay off their investments they'll need more than a few real busy weekends a year and the holiday weekends could get real interesting.

John, Apparently you did not have the joy of chasing around scouts, young kids, friends, spouses, et al not ready for OTW and The Drop. Those two main blue runs definitely had too many skiers on midwinter weekends, but Twister did help when it was open. The runs I in got on on the other side were almost heavenly. I hope PN gets educated about save the whales! Anyone know exactly where the new lower 6pack terminal will be?

 

[Jim Kenney]

Who is going to educate the Perfects on how to throw a Snowy Luau?

 

[JohnL]

John, Apparently you did not have the joy of chasing around scouts, young kids, friends, spouses, et al not ready for OTW and The Drop. Those two main blue runs definitely had too many skiers on midwinter weekends, but Twister did help when it was open. The runs I in got on on the other side were almost heavenly. I hope PN gets educated about save the whales! Anyone know exactly where the new lower 6pack terminal will be?

I spent many a day dodging Boy Scouts. Trust me. And dropped numerous F Bombs in a memorable incident at the base of the Queen, as @CharlieM will attest to. Out of control teen knocked 250 pound Charlie out of his skis, bounced off my skis and then got tangled in the orange netting.

You raise a good point. The new owners clearly know ski operations, but do they understand whales, ungroomed slopes and tree skiing? I hope they learn fast.

 

[JohnL]

Who is going to educate the Perfects on how to throw a Snowy Luau?

Rhymes with Kenney.

 

[dbostedo]

Rhymes with Kenney.

Wait... does a word rhyme with itself?

 

[JohnL]

Walt... does a word rhyme with itself?

I ain’t @KingGrump. He is nicer than me.

 

[Jim Kenney]

Rhymes with Kenney.

Can I bring a friend to help bus tables and clean up afterwards?

 

[crgildart]

Wait... does a word rhyme with itself?

@jimmy rhymes with jimmy

 

[jimmy]

I think a lot of the crowding was the limited uphill capacity and frequent lift stoppages. Fastest you could go up was 13 min, and on weekends, 3-4 stops on the way up was common. The long lift lines contributed to the congestion at the base area. Trust me, as much time as I spent on the lifts and in line for over a decade, Waiting for Godot, I had too much time to think about all this.

@JohnL you get fifty bonus points and a free entry in the torchlight parade for the literary reference. Godot has arrived.
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