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Local Skinny Events About Subscribe Weather Official Snowshoe Former ‘Shoe GM tasked with linking Canyons and PCMR By Hawes Spencer on February 22, 2015 Rock ran Snowshoe as GM from 2005-2010 Bill Rock, who served as Snowshoe’s General Manager from 2005 to 2010, now heads up both The Canyons and Park City Mountain, with an eye toward linking the two Utah resorts by the 2015-16 snowsports season. He gives a lengthy Q&A to the Deseret News with details of the $50 million plan, which include a new gondola, additional snowmaking, and new/upgraded restaurants. The two resorts that Rock heads as COO are both owned by the publicly-held Vail Resorts, the latter acquisition made last fall after years of wrangling with the former owner, which notoriously failed to renews its lease on the land. Posted in News | 1 Response Warm rain prediction makes Snowshoe ditch final bonus weekend By Hawes Spencer on March 31, 2014 What would Snowshoe do? Officials with Snowshoe have decided not to open for the final bonus weekend that had been planned when polar vortexes and hefty snowfalls made skiers and riders pine for an extra chance at making some turns. Mother Nature, however, had some other surprises up her cloudy sleeve, as the National Weather Service is forecasting warm rains up to and including the April 5 and 6 weekend. “We’ve had a fantastic winter, but all good things must come to an end,” said a message on the Resort’s Facebook page (the place where some bad news about Silver Creek’s operating hours also first appeared). “We want nothing but the best experience waiting for you when you get here,” continued the FB posting, something that didn’t mollify Radford-area snowboarder Ryan Holcomb. “WEAK!” writes Holcomb. “No last hurrah, pond skim, or any season end festivities? Way to end the season on a buzz kill.” Holcomb hints that he’ll be back on the mountain anyway, “poaching” some turns at the shut-for-the-season resort, which, ironically, enjoyed a surprise snowstorm on Sunday, March 30, the day of the season-quashing announcement. One Richmond-area enthusiast, Chris Jones, pointed out that Wintergreen now has more open trails. “So don’t I get my next day of skiing free?” “I agree,” replied fellow enthusiast Garry Huff. “Where’s the snow guarantee now?” Those pleas were not immediately answered by posting time, but a check at the website of the Snowshoe Guarantee reveals that the guarantee was only valid until March 16. Other snowsports enthusiasts seemed less perturbed. “Skiing until 30 March ain’t bad for Mid-Atlantic,” wrote LeeMath Tutor of Chesapeake, Virginia. “[See you] next year!” Posted in News | Tagged ski season duration | Leave a response Snowshoe extends season to April 6 By Hawes Spencer on February 18, 2014 124" so far in the 2013-2014 season. Riding a wave of 29 inches of snow in the past seven days and making the announcement on the day the $199 “Ridiculous Pass” goes on sale, Snowshoe reveals that it will remain open for snowsports until April 6. Prior statements alluded to skiing and snowboarding through March, and the resort website still touts deals “through March,” but this February 18 Facebook announcement seems clear: “Oh and just because we are feeling extra #ridiculous , we are going to extended [sic] the season to include April 5th and 6th for your skiing and riding pleasure!” So the Facebook admin may have been a little rushed, but one surmises that he or she is rushing out to the slopes which have enjoyed a reported 124 inches of snowfall thus far this season. Although that includes some early-season snowfalls washed away by rain in late November and early December, the point remains that this has been a bountiful season. Those of us with condos have seen an uptick in rentals, the slopes have seemed loaded with patrons, and the trees have sagged under the heavy blankets of snow. Snowshoe appears on track to exceeding its 180-inch annual snowfall average. Hopefully, April 6 will include that pond-skimming event on the Skidder slope in which die-hards attempt to ski atop the water. Posted in News | Tagged ski season duration | Leave a response Snowshoe renews America’s sickest snowsports pass deal By Hawes Spencer on February 12, 2014 In what some had worried might have been a one-time deal, Snowshoe has announced that on February 18 it will again sell the “ Ridiculous Pass ,” a full season pass of skiing and snowboarding for $199 with no restrictions. The pass became a runaway hit last year for offering snowy entertainment throughout the following snowsports season, plus a portion of the so-called “spring” ski season. “$200 for the rest of this season and all of next season can’t be beat!” exclaimed Facebook user Kevin Knight on a March 12 resort FB thread announcing the deal. (Previous pass-holders got word of the deal two days earlier.) The only difference between this year’s and last year’s Ridiculous Pass is that this one rises in price by $5 per day for nine days before it leaps to $299. Even at that level, the Ridiculous pricing is far below Snowshoe’s $449 regular season pass rate – and far below many competing resorts. The next cheapest West Virginia resort is Canaan Valley, which charges $500 for its standard pass. Winterplace is $599, and Timberline charges $635 as the regular rate. In Virginia, Wintergreen Resort offers a $359 pass, but that Nelson County resort renders season passes invalid most holidays, Saturdays, and Sunday mornings. By contrast, Snowshoe’s Ridiculous Pass has no blackout dates, and it starts unlocking the resort’s 60 named runs on the first day of March. Ridulous Pass buyers also get a ten percent discount at resort restaurants plus ten percent off all non-holiday lodging rates. Snowshoe calls this “the best pass in the East,” and Virginia Beach resident Kevin Terrell sums it up in a Facebook comment. “Stoked!” says Terrell. Posted in News | 1 Response Snowshoe curtails hours at Silver Creek By Hawes Spencer on January 29, 2014 Snowshoe claims it's providing better powder opportunities In a move widely denounced by many snowsports enthusiasts, Snowshoe Resort has trimmed the operating hours at its Silver Creek resort by moving the midweek opening time from 9am to noon. “The most family-friendly spot on the mountain is open the least!!” exclaimed Facebook user Bonnie Cersley Long. “Very disappointed. I hope this decision will be reevaluated.” The decision took effect on Monday, January 27, with the announcement coming in a brief release on the Resort’s Facebook page . The second of the two sentence release was this: “Enjoy a leisurely morning before making laps at the Creek or take the opportunity to experience the freshest powder twice, with first tracks at Snowshoe, then again at Silver Creek. That rationale didn’t resonate with Facebook user Phil Burch. “What kind of ridiculous logic is this ‘first tracks’ comment? Using that logic why not open 10% of the mountain at 9:00, another 10% at 10:00 another 10% at 11:00 etc. Wow, you’d get to make a lot of ‘first tracks.’” However, Facebook user Philip Bubel wrote, “Fresh tracks at noon sounds cool.” For some, the move highlights what they see as an increasing emphasis on the main Village at Snowshoe at the expense of Silver Creek, a once-separate resort opened in 1983 and coming under the Snowshoe umbrella a decade later. Although much smaller than the main resort, Silver Creek has long been prized by families and powder-hounds for its thinner crowds. Silver Creek is further distinguished from the rest of Snowshoe by offering night skiing, something that will not change under the new schedule. Still, many stake-holder fear they will suffer financially from the decision. “This should have been announced before the season, so we could rethink our decision to purchase a condo at Silver Creek this month,” wrote Facebook user Cheryl Hoover. “We need the rental income at Silver Creek just as much as the owners in the Village do.” “Hey Cheryl,” responde...