Driving Range

by Amy Brecount White

To Ski or Not to Ski

Craving an escape? The following resorts offer skiing and a whole lot more.

At press time, all remained open with heightened safety precautions, although some amenities (such as indoor game rooms and public hot tubs) are currently unavailable. Advance online booking (both lodging and activities) is a must. Some resorts are not offering walk-up rentals or walk-up lift tickets for the 2020-2021 season; others are issuing lift tickets only to season pass holders on certain days. All require masks on lifts and in public indoor spaces. If travel feels too risky this winter, put these destinations in your idea file and start planning a getaway for winter 2022, or perhaps for spring or summer. All of the resorts listed offer year-round recreation.

Snowshoe Mountain Resort

The Allegheny Mountains in West Virginia are home to Snowshoe, a mountaintop village with gorgeous views, more than 60 ski trails, 40 bike trails and lots of shopping and dining options. Enjoy heated indoor and outdoor swimming at Split Rock Pools, or choose from a menu of massages, facials, body wraps and other services at the spa. The snow tubing hill features a multicolored LED light display. Snowmobile and off-road vehicle tours (available in oneor four-seaters) are popular. Visitors can tour the ski slopes by snowmobile after 4:30 p.m., or explore the backcountry, snow permitting. Autumn Breeze Stables (wvtrailrides.com), located 4 miles from the village, offers year-round, scenic horseback tours. 10 Snowshoe Drive, Snowshoe, West Virginia, snowshoemtn.com

The lazy river at Massanutten

Massanutten

Rising above Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, Massanutten offers 14 ski trails and is known for its large indoor waterpark featuring body slides, a lazy river and indoor bodyboarding and surfing. For a brain challenge, try its three Escape Rooms. Or treat yourself to pampering at the spa, which offers massages, body treatments and nail care. Two recreation centers have indoor pools and basketball courts, and the resort offers weekly art and fitness classes when it is safe to do so. Night tubing at Northern Lights Tubing is accompanied by pumping music and flashing neon lights. Other seasonal activities include fishing, horseback riding, hunting, ice skating, kayaking and river tubing, mini golf and mountain biking. 1822 Resort Drive, McGaheysville, Virginia, massresort.com

A horse-drawn sleigh ride at Seven Springs Resort

Seven Springs Resort

This village-like resort in Pennsylvania’s Laurel Highlands is home to more than 35 ski slopes and trails (including a giant slalom course), plus non-skiing options such as snow tubing, an indoor pool, a roller-skating rink, three sporting clay courses (participants can shoot clay pigeons while guided by a “trapper”) and an enclosed clay shooting area. A cozy spa housed in a repurposed chalet offers the chance to unwind with a massage or mani-pedi. Snow permitting, the resort also has snowmobile and snowshoe tours and horse-drawn sleigh rides. The stables provide guided horseback rides and horse-drawn wagon rides on select weekends. Popular among the village’s 11 watering holes and restaurants is the venerable Foggy Goggle bar. Venture offsite to explore the charming nearby town of Ligonier, or spend half a day at the Flight 93 National Memorial honoring the passengers and crew who lost their lives on Sept. 11 (nps.gov/flni/index.htm). Nearby Laurel Ridge State Park also has cross-country skiing, snow permitting. 777 Waterwheel Drive, Seven Springs, Pennsylvania, 7springs.com

The Mountain Coaster at Wisp Resort

Wisp Resort

Head to western Maryland near Deep Creek Lake for 33 ski slopes and trails (90% of which are lit for night skiing), or take a wild ride on Wisp’s Mountain Coaster—a cross between an alpine slide and roller coaster that allows you to control your own speed with hand brakes (max is 28 mph) through 3,500 feet of corkscrews, dips and plunges. The mountain park also offers cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and 12 chutes for tubing. In warmer weather, visitors can try zip-lining and challenge courses, mountain biking, archery, disc golf, hiking, chairlift rides, whitewater rafting, kayaking, pontoon boat tours and water sports. Wisp also has two Escape Rooms. 296 Marsh Hill Road, McHenry, Maryland, wispresort.com

Hiking at Wintergreen

Wintergreen Resort

Perched on the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains, this Virginia destination offers both indoor and outdoor tennis, yearround hiking and golf, along with zip-lining (in season), spa packages and 24 ski slopes and trails (14 of them lit for night skiing). The resort’s hiking trails are known for amazing spring wildflower displays and autumn “leaf peeping,” as well as snowglobe-like vistas during the frosty season. The Plunge tubing park offers a chance to slide (on snow in winter; grass in summer) from 10 stories high at speeds up to 30 mph. For fine dining, try Devils Grill (open Friday-Sunday; reservations required for on-site dining; curbside pickup available) overlooking the mountaintop golf course. Stoney Creek, also part of the resort, is 8 miles down the mountain and 10 to 15 degrees warmer, with hiking trails, outdoor tennis courts and 27 holes of year-round golf. Lake Monacan is ringed by a 2-mile walking path. In nearby Nellysford and along the route known as Nelson 151 (nelson151.com), you’ll find a bevy of breweries, wineries and cideries. Route 664, Wintergreen, Virginia, wintergreenresort.com

Tubing at Canaan Valley Resort

Canaan Valley Resort

Tucked inside West Virginia’s Canaan Valley State Park, this resort in the Allegheny Mountains offers both crosscountry skiing and snowshoeing (snow permitting) with rental skis and snowshoes available, plus 47 trails for downhill skiing and snowboarding. Other pastimes include tubing on a 1,200-foot-long, multi-lane course, and ice skating at an outdoor covered rink. The spa offers a variety of massages and facials, and resort guests can access the gym and an indoor heated pool, along with a variety of dining choices.

Other winter events may include paintand-sip classes, guided winter strolls and yoga. In summer, guests can enjoy tennis, golf, mini golf, sand volleyball, wagon rides, sporting clays (clay pigeon shooting), archery, hiking, biking and scenic chairlift rides. 230 Main Lodge Road, Davis, West Virginia, canaanresort.com ■