The grocery stores become packed with people afraid of being snowed in for weeks

This mayhem unfortunately happens in Baltimore too, and I have yet to figure out why in the hell people do this. If there is mere mention of snow in the forecast, the inept local news crews all swarm to local grocery stores to document this stupid event, then they proceed to the city and the county's salt domes to "make sure that the road crews are prepared to handle it". One of these days, I'm going to go to the store before a storm and start grabbing people asking why the hell they must go buy out the entire supply of milk, bread, and toilet paper out of each and every store.

However, anyone caught in the path of an ice storm has ample reason for concern. You cant push it, it pulls electric lines down, and you damn well can't drive on it.

I have no ability to relate to this thread, having grown up in Arizona, and now living in Southern California. Snow is something we ski on when we go up to the mountains, that's it!

It sounds like you are going towards the mid-atlantic (MD, WV) so I would suggest Snowshoe in West Virginia. It has the most skiable terrain in that area of the US. I have ridden there many times and it's a good place to go, two mountains with varying terrain, and decent prices. It's quite remote, so there isn't a lot of shopping around, but the condos are really nice, and you can get some for a reasonable price, especially if you stay at the base of the mountain (the resort is on top, with a lot of the condos starting at the top of the runs). I have had some good luck snowboarding there in March right after the prices fall, and even got a sunburn on my nose one year.

then they proceed to the city and the county's salt domes

Do they actually still use salt there? Here in Colorado for the past few years, we have only seen a liquid de-icer and dirt used to keep the roads drivable. It's actually working pretty well, and is less of a mess to clean up afterwords.

I can't either and I live in minnesota.

Probably why are roads are still quite slick in the snow, they still use salt but this year they are mixing in the liquid!

I'm a little late on ths one, but my power has been out for nearly four days due to ice bringing down a lot of tree limbs, which brought down a lot of power lines.

Lemme find some good pictures for you...

Pretty:

Ugly:


(Both images blatantly stolen from forums.triangle.com.)

The interesting thing is that even though all of the trees were completely swathed in ice, there was no ice on the roads and only a dusting of snow/sleet on the unpaved ground.

They're showing the salt domes on the news again tonight We have some freezing rain expected tonight.

Yeah I saw. There is a milk and bread shortage again in Baltimore. 2nd time in a week.

[asking about eastern slope recommendations]

Give Jay Peak a whirl (jaypeak.com, I think). I was there a few years ago one February. They're supposed to get the most snowfall of any mountain in the East. It's only 30-45 minutes south of the Canadian border (Hwy 10 south from Montreal), and they take Canadian money at par. No idea what the shopping situation is like -- I was on the hill from first lift till last lift.

[edit]Jay Peak is in VT, BTW

Oh, I forgot to mention there's also Mont Tremblant, which is an hour north of Montreal (I think, I've never been there), and Mte Ste Anne, which is about 1/2 hour to an hour from Quebec City. Can't vouch for the skiing there, as I've only been there once during the summer to watch World Cup mtb. Gotta love the US dollar in Canada...

I was at Jay last weekend, and had some knee deep in the woods, a WEEK after it stormed. It's a 3.5 hr drive for me, but oh, so worth it.

-Zeke

Herndon VA? I work in Chantilly.... are you from around here or just visiting?

I think the poster was near the DC area, so I gave him a place near there where he could go. VT is quite a long drive from MD. If you are in the northeast, though, Sugarloaf, ME has the only lift-serviced above treeline skiing in the east. It's also got the longest continuous trails in the east, and it's only 4 hours away from Montreal. They also have an awesome halfpipe and a great terrain run that they build with the Pipe Dragon (spines, tabletops, gaps, etc). Above treeline powder doesn't usually get tracked out for a few days, either.

I work in Chantilly...

In the Big Blue Building?....Satellite spook?

Naw, I'm just being held captive in Herndon, working on a project we coulda *sworn* was over a month ago. Some nice freezing rain this morning, anyway!

Friday=Seattle/home. Tuesday=Copenhagen (and no laptop or e-mail access!!)

Yeah, not many decent places to go near MD/DC/VA. Snowshoe is the best in the area but its a far drive. 7 springs has a good resort, but the mountain is small. For day trips I usually pass by Liberty/Roundtop and head to Blue Mountain - little further but you get more mountain.

I've always wanted to go to Jay Peak, and I can't wait to get back to Sugarloaf sometime. I don't think they use it anymore, but last time I was there they had the Gondola running. I have a brand new pair of skis sitting in my closet just aching to get on the snow.

Check out goski for excellent regional ski mountaint and resort guides.

Anyone in the MD/PA/DC area want to meet on the slopes sometime?

No... no satelites... I have a cousin that does that kinda stuff... No I work for a military healthcare software developer.

Yeah the freezing rain was great, got totally soaked while scraping the frickin quarter inch of ice off my windows!!

I'm taking a snow day today. Coming down pretty good in Cincinnati right now and I don't feel like spending the day on the road.