Sharpen Your Slope Skills

Even season-pass holders at any of the area’s resorts can become rusty during the nearly nine months of snow-free weather. As the air chills, winter sports enthusiasts begin to dream of zipping down powdery slopes on newly waxed skis or catching air on a snowboard in the terrain park. But without the right skills, the first run of the year could be greatly disappointing and potentially turn ugly. To help you get up to speed, MetroSports talked to the experts who know the local slopes best.

 

Whether you are interested in group lessons or solo practice time, here are suggestions about where you can improve your skiing or snowboarding skills and get the most out the coolest time of the year.

LEARN TO SLIDE
Beginners have a new way to get their snow legs under them at Wintergreen Resort in Wintergreen, Va. Wintergreen has opened a new learning area for riding and skiing instruction outside its rental office called the Learn to Slide slope. “It has a 3 to 4 percent grade that is perfect for those who have never skied before,” says Tomas Sbertoli, director of snow sports at Wintergreen. After mastering the Learn to Slide area, beginners can transition to the Potato Patch Slope. It has the same steepness as Learn to Slide, but new skiers and riders feel as though they are among other skiers, so they can gain confidence, Sbertoli says. Wintergreen has 26 slopes and a 1,000-foot vertical drop in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where the peaks reach to over 4,000 feet. For advanced skiers, Wintergreen offers racing lessons on the Big Acorn advanced slope. “It’s the perfect consistent pitch all the way from top to bottom and allows people to see what it’s like to run the gates,” Sbertoli says. www.wintergreenresort.com

ON EASY STREET
Massanutten Resort near Harrisonburg, Va. features a 1,100-foot vertical drop and 14 trails. Two expert slopes, ParaDice and Diamond Jim, are serviced by their own quad lift and will keep advanced skiers happy all day long. Beginner and intermediate slopes are likewise segregated into separate sections on the mountain. Over the last few years, the resort has focused a lot of attention on the growing phenomena of terrain parks. In addition to the main park with rails and towering jumps, Massanutten offers an entry-level terrain park called Easy Street, which features small boxes and rollers that are low to the ground. “Nothing is more than 6 inches from the ground,” says general manager Steve Showalter. “It’s very gentle and after a few days in there, skiers and riders can build up the confidence to take on a few of the easier features in the big terrain park.” If you’re getting a bit sore from the slopes and need to thaw out, Massanutten also has a heated 42,000 square foot indoor water park where people can take a break from blustery winds and acres of snow. www.massresort.com

THREE PARKS IN ONE
Wisp Resort near Deep Creek Lake, Md. has also gone full bore toward freestyle skiing and terrain parks for all levels of riders and skiers; it has a beginner, intermediate and Pro Park. Mike Valach, director of skier and rider service at Wisp, says the set-up is unique because it can offer lessons for both skiing and riding in all three parks. Wisp also offers twin tip ski rentals as well as snowboard rentals for park use. To further expand its lesson offerings this year, Wisp has added the Burton Learn 2 Ride Series. The series has separate accelerated snowboarding lesson programs for adults, kids and women, plus a freestyle clinic. Once you are comfortable on the slopes, there’s plenty to explore. Wisp has 32 slopes and a 700-foot vertical drop. In addition to skiing and riding, the Deep Creek Lake area offers cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobile tours, dog-sledding, horse drawn sleigh rides and snowtubing. www.skiwisp.com

LEVEL UP
Skiers ready to graduate from beginner to intermediate status can hone their skills at Seven Springs Resort in Champion, Pa. (pictured at left). The central Pennsylvania resort features numerous long and winding beginner trails, such as Lost Boy, Deer Pass, Fawn Lane and Phillips Run. These sustained trails, not straight-down slopes, allow skiers and riders to work on technique in a relaxed setting. “Lost Boy, one of our longest, includes banked walls so that skiers and riders can also learn to adjust for varying pitches,” says Ivan Fuchs, snowsports school director at Seven Springs. The 75-year-old resort boasts 31 trails and a vertical drop of 750 feet. For a bit of hang time, jumping lessons are offered on Saturdays and Sundays at the Gravity Park terrain park. Weekends also offer plenty to do off the slopes with live music, night clubs and a wide variety of diversions from a bowling alley to a roller skating rink. www.7springs.com

EASY ACCESS
For a quick trip within the Baltimore-Washington area, Liberty Mountain in Carroll Valley, Pa. gives skiers and riders easy-access options for improving their skills. Since it’s so close to the metro areas, the resort is generally packed on the weekends. However, there is an often-overlooked trail called Whitney’s Way where intermediate skiers and riders can work on balance and edging. “It never gets much traffic,” says Steve Martin, snowsports school director at Liberty Mountain. He says he uses this easy intermediate slope to teach skiers and riders to come into and out of the fall line and how to use their feet to steer. Liberty boasts 16 trails, a one-mile long run, three terrain parks, a half-pipe, 10 lifts and a 600-foot vertical drop. If you want to avoid the weekend traffic, go for a nighttime ride. All trails are lit for night skiing and at only an hour away for many DC-area snow lovers, it’s ideal for after-work stress relief. www.skiliberty.com

MASTER THE MOGULS
Whitetail Resort in Mercersburg, Pa. has long been a favorite spot for local intermediate skiers. Most of the resort’s 19 slopes are blue-blazed intermediate and the high-speed quad lift allows for quick trips back up the mountain. But by only staying on the blues, skiers and riders are missing out on one of Whitetail’s best features—the massive moguls on the advanced Exhibition slope. While it may seem intimidating to many, Andrew Davis, director of the ski and snowboard school at Whitetail, notes that it is an excellent way to learn to ski or ride the bumps. “It’s wide and not as steep on the top,” Davis says. “This allows you to warm up on the bumps as the trail gets steeper. We start by traversing and learning to flex over the mogul and down into the trough. Then we work on going over one bump, then two bumps and then linking three bumps.” Soon skiers and riders are working their way through the steep section down to the bottom. Whitetail has a 935-foot vertical drop, lighting for night skiing and a brand new lift that services just the terrain park. www.skiwhitetail.com

DOUBLE DOWN
The adjacent resorts of Timberline and Canaan Valley near Davis, W.Va. offer snow lovers a two-for-one deal with their Ski the Valley pass. The mountainous area receives over 150 inches of snow each year. Timberline has a 1,000-foot vertical drop and 37 trails, including two terrain parks and two glades. Advanced skiers and riders can keep busy on the resort’s numerous expert runs. Canaan Valley, which also had 37 slopes, features a vertical drop of 850 feet, plus two terrain parks and glades. The majority of trails are wide and shallow with lots of room to pull off to the side to rest and enjoy the view of the forests and meadows. The glades at both resorts provide skiers with a back-country experience of swooshing through ungroomed, forested sections of a mountain. “We clean up the low branches to make the glades safer,” says Timberline ski instructor Annie Snyder. “It’s not scary and you can really push the envelope.” Skiers and riders can also jump into and out of the glades onto adjacent slopes. “You aren’t locked into the woods,” Snyder says. “It’s appealing because going through the trees lets skiers challenge themselves and climb up a notch in ability.” www.timberlineresort.com, www.canaanresort.com.

UNLIMITED OPTIONS
For the largest selection, head to the largest resort in the mid-Atlantic area. Snowshoe Mountain in Snowshoe, W.Va. features a summit at over 4,800 feet, an average annual snowfall of 180 inches, four terrain parks, a massive all-snow half-pipe and an incredible 60 trails. For experts, there are two trails that everyone tries to conquer—Shay’s Revenge and Cupp Run, which was designed by Olympian Jean-Claude Killy. The two steep runs on the western side of the mountain drop over 1,500 vertical feet. Intermediate skiers need to “graduate from a wedge Christy turn to a true parallel turn before attempting the Western Territory,” says Gordon McHugh, snowsports training supervisor at Snowshoe. He recommends intermediate skiers take lessons and practice skills on blue slopes like Skipjack and Gandy Dancer. These slopes feature step pitches at the top that mellow out and are excellent for learning to use a pole touch to initiate a turn and develop a rhythm for using both skis simultaneously. For snowboarders, McHugh recommends mastering pedaling, which is the independent use of the feet to twist the board to carve turns, as opposed to forced, skidded turns. Snowshoe usually opens in the beginning of December and remains open until mid-March, so skiers and riders will have plenty of time to prepare to take on Cupp Run and Shay’s. www.snowshoemtn.com

GET IN SLOPE SHAPE NOW
The slopes may not be snowy yet, but you can start shaping up for the season now with a few simple exercises. For strength, Steve Showalter, general manager at Massanutten Resort near Harrisonburg, Va., recommends thigh-building workouts, such as hiking, biking and jumping over stacks of phone books. Andrew Davis, director of the ski and snowboard school at Whitetail Resort in Mercersburg, Pa., advocates squats, deep-knee bends and working on balance by hopping or standing on one foot. Gordon McHugh, snowsports training supervisor at Snowshoe Mountain in Snowshoe, W.Va., says the best exercises are those that mimic skiing and riding. “In-line skating is an awesome exercise for skiing,” he says. “Skateboarding works for snowboarding. These sports are aerobic and teach dynamic balance, or balance in motion … and that’s what you need to ski and ride.”