Skiing, meh...

[bagtagley]

....riding, that's a different story. Skiing at snowshoe leaves a lot to be desired, but the riding there is worldclass:

http://ride.snowshoemtn.com

Should be a very good season. I'm thinking a season pass is gonna be a must. Anybody within reasonable driving distance should come check it out. A DH bike is a plus, but not a necessity. I'll be going quite a bit this season, so if anybody wants to meet up, shoot me a PM.

Some pretty tame examples of things to come:

[CS]

This looks fun.

[ak_powder_monkey]

Why all the boards? Packed dirt and banked turns ----> where the fun is at

[bagtagley]

All this was built at the very end of the season last year. I've been told that this is the beginner/intermediate stuff and that the expert features will be much more interesting.

[hev]

sweet.

[CantDog]

ooooooh yes. 4 hour drive never sounded so good.


Come on snowshoe, daddy needs a new collarbone and concussion!

[jstead]

I can see the first ever Summit at Snowshoe...

[mildbill.]

boston to snowshoe = how far?

are they open for riding mem day weekend? is all their freeride stuff lift served? if both answers are yes, i'm so there.

[bagtagley]

Bill, Snowshoe has 2 sides. The western contains the NORBA downhill trails. There is some freeride stuff over there, but mostly DH. The lift only runs on this side during NORBA and during their "downhill season", which runs for a month usually starting in September. Otherwise there is a shuttle to the top.

The opposite side is all new. I've never ridden there, but apparently they've been and will be putting a huge effort into the trails and features. The lift on this side runs year round, so no shuttles and no waits.

I spoke w/ a guy working up there and I'm pretty sure he mentioned May 28th as the opening date, so it seems Memorial day weekend will be the start to the season up there. As far as distance, I'm not sure. I'd say you're looking at a good 9-10 hours. If you make the drive all the way down here, I'll have no choice but to come up there and check out Lynn (Platty is lookin pretty good too).

[mildbill.]

exxxxxcellent.

[crashnburn'd]

Originally posted by bagtagley
(Platty is lookin pretty good too).

Hopefully (assuming you're talking about Plattekill), I'm planning on riding there quite a bit this summer about 1.5 hours away... bill, should definately hook up sometime this summer so I can see how badly I can hurt myself...

[Big E]

Umm... wow. I guess I need to check that out.

[CantDog]

platty is pretty damn sick. Unfortunately it is so sick that a friend broke his neck there during practice several years ago, and is now in a wheelchair. Made for a very somber ride home.

Mountain biking got to the point where myself and my friends were constantly getting battered and it seemed like the next ride would end in a trip to the hospital, or worse. So I switched to skiing, because you know, its safer.

[bagtagley]

Originally posted by CantDog
platty is pretty damn sick. Unfortunately it is so sick that a friend broke his neck there during practice several years ago, and is now in a wheelchair. Made for a very somber ride home.

Really sorry to hear about your friend. Plattekill had a problem for a few years where a group of non-riders were building the trails. They'd try to bulid as big as possible, not considering the danger to the riders. I think last year or the year before some of the pro riders started complaining, and they've toned down the race courses a bit.

[CantDog]

Yeah it really put everything in perspective, he was a semipro at the time and overshot a corner, head first into a haystack. After seeing how gnarly that course was over the years(this was back when 6 inches of travel was reserved for WC riders) I stopped going. Good to hear they got things back on track though, when it was good, it was great.

[Buzzworthy]

Wow. That looks pretty damn fun. I need to take a trip back to WV one of these days.