Hooray! Winter Has Arrived At Snowshoe Resort

Last year at this time we were all wondering when Old Man winter would arrive on the slopes of Snowshoe Resort. Well, as we know now, the2015 holiday season at Snowshoe turned out to be a bust. With warm weather and no snow, the Resort reopened their mountain biking trails and other summer activities over Christmas week, and reservations were cancelled ruining what has always been the most profitable week at the Resort. The loss of revenue in the form of the Hotel/Motel Tax and losses to other businesses dependent on the skiers arrival that week wrecked havoc with Pocahontas County business and government budgets, a havoc which is still being felt almost a year later.

Well, we are happy to present the following report from Cara Rose, the Director of the Pocahontas County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau about what is happening this year at snowshoe Resort. Cara.

“I am happy to tell the listeners of Allegheny Mountain Radio that winter has arrived” said Cara. “Winter traffic into Pocahontas County is very important to the tourism industry. Snowshoe Mountain Resort was the first ski resort in West Virginia to open. They opened the Friday of Thanksgiving. A few of the other resorts have followed suit the past couple of weeks. The Timberline Resort is planned to open around Christmastime. So, fortunately for West Virginia, the ski season has started, unlike last year which had a very slow start as most of our listeners will remember. So we are very happy to have the skiers and snowboarders travelling through Pocahontas County this year. Cupp Run, which is the longest vertical drop in the Mid-Atlantic –fifteen hundred feet of vertical drop in one point five miles in length –did open today at snowshoe Mountain Resort as well. They have a really cool video posted on the snowshoe Face Book so folks should check that out about the snowmaking and about how they’ve managed to get this long Western Territory slope opened. This was the earliest opening since 2008. So I’m sure we will have some excited skiers from the Mid-Atlantic to hit Cupp Run this weekend. Silver Creek Ski area also opens Friday for day and night skiing. So that is also a wonderful milestone for this area. Happy to have all these areas open at snowshoe Mountain Resort.

Cara also talked about the Pocahontas High school Tourism Club’s recent visit to snowshoe.

“The Tourism club did visit Snowshoe Mountain Resort last week as well” said Cara. “This is an annual ritual that the Tourism Club takes. It is a great opportunity for high schoolers to explore the Resort and learn more about job opportunities that are available there for them, not only for their future career  in permanent jobs but  also for the ski season and summer job opportunities as well. We had 42 students from the high school join the trip last week, which was the largest group that we’ve taken to the Resort. I really want to thank snowshoe Mountain Resort and Gil Willis and Erica Engquist at the Soaring Eagle for hosting these students. They had a great day. They had the opportunity to meet with several Pocahontas County residents who have made careers at Snowshoe mountain Resort, which was wonderful for them to hear. They did visit retail operations, mountain operations, reservation and front desk services and also food and beverage operations.”

Finally, Cara wanted to make sure that everyone knows that the Pocahontas Convention and Visitors Bureau operates three Visitors’ centers all winter long.

“Our Marlinton office is open Monday through Saturday, 8:30 through 5.” Cara says. “Anytime listeners have questions about tourism or operation of different facilities through the winter months, they are welcome to call the Marlinton Office, 799-4636. The Convention and Visitors Bureau does operate an information desk at the Depot, which is located in the Snowshoe Village. That’s open Wednesday through Sunday. And we also operate a Visitor’s Center at the Lynwood Library location at the base of Snowshoe Mountain, and we’re open Monday through Friday. So please don’t hesitate to call uis, or stop in or send visitors to those locations. We’re happy to help. And from everyone at the Convention and Visitors’ Bureau and the Board of Directors, I’d like to wish all of the Allegheny Mountain Radio listeners a happy holiday.”