Snowshoe Mountain

Understand

History Cheat Mountain was logged from 1901 to 1960, transporting timber and men on the Shavers Fork of the Cheat River and on steam locomotives. The nearby company town of Cass housed workers in dozens of nearly-identical houses. After the mill closed in 1960, the area was somewhat forgotten, and later re-discovered by Thomas "Doc" Brigham (who had previously opened Sugar Mountain and Beech Mountain in Boone, North Carolina) as a site for a new ski resort, with Snowshoe opening in 1974 and Silver Creek (originally a separate resort) in 1983. The area's history of logging is preserved in the names of many of the ski trails and lifts. In the 1990s and 2000s Snowshoe merged with Silver Creek to form one large resort, and constructed the Village to provide on-mountain lodging, food, and shopping.

Getting there

Snowshoe is accessible by car from WV-66, which is itself accessible from US-219 or WV-92. From there, the drive to the top of the mountain is 6 miles, and takes about 15 minutes (maybe a little more if there's a lot of snow). Roads are generally plowed and reasonably well-traveled, and the mountain is drivable in an ordinary passenger car — as long as you prepare your car for winter driving and are comfortable driving on snowy roads, 4-wheel-drive won't be required (but would certainly be nice). If you're staying at Snowshoe Mountain, check in to your lodging before driving up the mountain. Check in for all Snowshoe Mountain rentals is at the Inn at Snowshoe at the bottom of the mountain. You can pick up your lift passes at the same time if you preordered them. Each lodging complex has its own designated parking. General parking is free at Top of the World, or $5-25/day at Silver Creek.

By train Amtrak at one point offered a "Ski Train" program that combined a train ticket from Washington, D.C., and a shuttle ride; it's not clear if this program still runs, but the train certainly does. The Amtrak Cardinal (connecting eastward to Charlottesville and Washington, and westward to Charleston all the way to Chicago) stops at White Sulphur Springs Station (WSS) near Lewisburg 3 times/week. From there you can rent a car or arrange a ride the remaining 70 miles to Snowshoe. During summer and fall, you can ride the Cass Scenic Railroad (see § See and Do below) from Elkins into Cass, which is 10 miles (16 km) away from Snowshoe. However, the day-long trip is meant for sightseeing, not travel; a one-way is available, but you would then have to find another way out of town.

By plane Snowshoe is not close to any major airports. The closest commercial airports are Lewisburg (LWB IATA, 1½ hours' drive, service on United to Chicago and Washington) and Clarksburg (CKB IATA, 2½ hours' drive, service on United to Chicago and Washington, on Allegiant to Orlando and seasonal to

Getting around

Snowshoe Mountain is oriented north-to-south, but displayed left-to-right or right-to-left on maps depending on which side of the mountain is being shown. Snowshoe Drive, the main road that takes you up the mountain, runs the length of the resort, and all parking lots are accessible from it.

The easiest way to get around is walking. The Village is a shopping and dining area in the center of the resort, set up as a pedestrian walkway; you can easily walk from one end of it to the other in a minute or two. Walking to the Village from most of the lodgings takes just 5-10 minutes. There are also free shuttle buses that run up and down Snowshoe Drive. They run on about a 20-minute loop. There are a few different routes (not all buses go to Silver Creek, for example, since it's further out of the way) so check the sign on the bus to see where it's going next.

Buy

Equipment rental and purchase

Snowshoe Mountain has 3 rental locations for basic equipment, and 1 for pro equipment. They do not rent jackets or pants, for hygienic reasons.

When purchased in advance: basic package adult $40/day, children 12 and under $30 plus free helmet; value season $35/$25. Unclear whether you can pick up rentals the night before. Expedition Rentals (Village), ☏ +1 304-572-5876. Top of the World Rentals (Top of the World), ☏ +1 304-572-5454. Silver Creek Rentals (Silver Creek), ☏ +1 304-572-6774. High performance package $65/day, without boots $55/day. Boots alone $20/day. Optional $10/day insurance. Mountain Adventure Center (Village), ☏ +1 304-572-5917. Also has items for purchase. Other rental shops not affiliated with Snowshoe Mountain include:

Elk River. 10% off for reserving online. Elk River at Soaring Eagle Lodge (Top of the World), ☏ +1 304-572-2550. 8AM-10PM, busy days until midnight. Basic package adult $30-33/weekday, $34-37/weekend, children $26-27/$30. Pro package $59/day, ski-/board-only $49/day. Helmet $7/day. 1 Elk River in the Valley, 50 Cass Rd, Slatyfork (corner of US-219 & WV-66), ☏ +1 304-572-4173. Basic package adult $27-28/weekday, $30-32/weekend, children $22-25/$26-29. Pro board-only $45/day. Helmet $7/day. 2 Route 66 Snowboard & Ski Shop, 598 Cass Rd, Slatyfork (WV-66, off the mountain, across from Inn at Snowshoe), ☏ +1 304-572-2200. Basic package adult $25-30/weekday, $33-34/weekend, children $17-25/$26-30. Bib $6/day, helmet $6. (updated Oct 2015) Snow Creek Mountain Sports. Basic package adult $30/weekday, $32/weekend, children 12 and under $25/$27. Sport/pro packages $34-40/weekday, $36-42/weekend. Bib $10/day, jacket $15, helmet $8. 10% off for reserving 24 hours in advanced. Free pickup the evening before your rental period begins. 25% discount for using your own boots. 3 Snow Creek Mountain Sports (Silver Creek), ☏ +1 304-572-4321. 8AM-11PM. 4 Ski Barn, Rt. 219 & Snowshoe Rd, Slaty

Sleep

On the mountain Almost all of the lodgings on the mountain are privately owned and maintained, but rented by the resort. As a result, search and booking are blissfully simple: just use Snowshoe Mountain's website to search for the type and quality of lodging you want. (You can also request a specific unit when you book [probably only by phone], so if you return to Snowshoe and like a unit you stayed at previously, you can stay at the exact same place again if it's available.) However, because units are maintained by their individual owners, it's difficult to give recommendations, since even adjacent rooms may be of totally different quality. The good news is, it appears that even "Economy" quality lodgings are in excellent condition: good quality furnishing, "full" kitchens that really are full (dishes, pots and pans, and utensils), etc. Higher-ranked units may include niceties such as granite kitchen countertops. Most lodgings that advertise ski-in ski-out aren't ski-in ski-out. They're still close, but you'll have a few minutes walk. Check the "Policies" at the bottom of each location's webpage. They all start with "Approximate distance to slopes", which varies from "adjacent" (which will only be true for certain units) to "short walk" (it will specify how many yards) to "take the shuttle".

Off the mo