Snowshoe Mountain Resort — Attraction in Marlinton

Our family has been to Snowshoe three times for family trips, each time skiing 4 days. If you are thinking of booking a trip here, do it.

For context: I am an expert-level skier who has skied about 20 resorts n the Western US, 6 resorts in the East, and 5 resorts in Europe. A ski trip is not purely about the size of the mountain, the quality of the snow, etc. It is a mix of factors that make you walk away with a smile, feeling like you had a great time and paid a fair price; or a grimace, feeling like the experience just wasn’t worth the money. Snowshoe has— every time— sent me home with a smile, feeling like I had a great experience, got a great value, and that I want to return again as soon as possible.

Skiing: No, it can’t compete with Vail for terrain, or Alta for snow quality, or Kirkwood for challenge. But there is enough variety, challenge, and vertical drop to keep me and my whole family endlessly entertained for four days in a row. My kids LOVE it. Actually, it has been a better family experience than the Western resorts we took them to. Why? Because Snowshoe is big enough to have variety and challenge, and to foster a sense of discovery; but small enough that kids can learn the mountain, push their limits, and not be intimidated or get lost. In addition, I submit that there are very few cruisers ANYWHERE that are better than Cupp Run. Upper Shay’s Revenge, Grabhammer, Ballhooter, and Widowmaker are also world-class cruisers. If you can’t have fun on those, you just don’t like skiing.

Vertical drop: Snowshoe lifts have 800-1200 ft of vertical. Yes, it’s awesome out west where you can ski for 10 min from top to bottom. But Snowshoe’s runs are long enough that by the time you get to the bottom, you would be stopping for a break anyway. So at Snowshoe, you take your break on the lift. Cupp Run and Shay’s are longer. If you can ski top to bottom without taking a break, you’re in good shape.

The Village: Attractive, convenient, fun. The perfect size for a family ski trip. Enough shops and restaurants to keep you busy, everything close together and convenient.

Accommodations: It’s cool being on top of the mountain. I’ve only stayed at two places: Allegheny Springs and Rimfire Lodge. Both were great. I liked Rimfire a lot, loved Allegheny.

Amenities: Allegheny has its own pool, hot tubs, and sauna, which are excellent. Rimfire has its own hot tub and sauna, which are great. There is also the Split Rock pools, which are really fun.

Lacking: Spa facilities and services. Non-skiers ought to be able to get a massage, manicure, facial, etc to pass the time while their families ski. Also it would be great if there was a main Lodge with a big fireplace for non-skiers to hang out and meet others, and for skiers to hang out between runs and after skiing. There are a lot of individual lodges, bars, and restaurants, so this may not be a very fair criticism, but it’s something my wife wanted since she was unable to ski on this trip.

Weather/Snow: Snowshoe is a bit higher altitude, a little lower latitude than New England resorts. It gets a little less natural snow, and is a little more likely to have warm spells than New England resorts. HOWEVER: Snowshoe has MUCH better snowmaking than almost all New England resorts. They are aggressive with their snowmaking, and their snow is somehow better than other man-made snow. I think it’s due to their very high-tech snowblowers. I have skied there once at the very end of March, once the first week of March, and once the last week of February. In all three trips (12 days of skiing), it has rained once. And 100% of the mountain has been open every time. Silver Creek closes earlier, so it was not open on the late March trip, but it was open for the other two trips.

Silver Creek: This is a HUGE bonus of skiing Snowshoe. Woke up late? No problem, Silver Creek is open till 9PM!

In short: Just book that Snowshoe trip. It is a New England-quality resort you can drive to from most places in the Southeast. You...

If you are on a budget for a place to go, please take time to read my review. I included examples of what to expect in hopes you will not be as surprised as I was. They did not ruin my experience at all, but they were a lesson in being better prepared next time.

With SMR being primarily geared for winter, I knew the shops and activities would be limited during the summer months. I wasn't there for any of that. I just needed an escape from life for a few days.

Due to injuries, I've been out of touch for over 2 years so my first lesson was that the price we initially see doesn't include all the fees that will be associated with the room. In some places I researched, the taxes and fees were more than the cost of the room itself. At SMR they were at least equal. The total was going to be around $900 for 5 days & 4 nights. Roughly $450 for the room. $450 in taxes and fees. It can get a little confusing because the pricing can change depending on what you're doing. If you do not need daily maid service, that's a savings. For example, if you stayed 1 day, the cost might be $250 (Room/Taxes/Fees) If you stayed 2 nights, the cost might be $450 - So it's more, but it's not twice the price because you did not need maid service the 2nd day. It saved you $50 overall. Please note these are numbers I made up as examples and are not actual pricing. They're just to reflect how the price structure seems to be designed as observed by my stay.

As for my experience - Every staff member I passed greeted me. Everyone was genuinely personable. The place was mostly quiet. They have music that's broadcast publicly in several areas. I wasn't a big fan of it, but that's just my taste. If I'm on top of a mountain, I enjoy the peace and quiet of nature over music. Fortunately, it didn't start till around 9am so as long as I was up early, I could sit outside and enjoy the silence.

Snowshoe has been attempting to growing as a summertime destination. In addition to weekend events, they have considerable mountain bike related activities as well as a mountain bike rental shop. With the rental, you get a helmet, chest and shin armor. This is another place where you need to understand their pricing. The advertised rental fee does not include the lift ticket for the bicycle. The folks inside the shop were extremely helpful with everything except what to expect as far as total cost. I didn't feel they attempted to deceive me although I told them I had zero experience with anything related to what I was asking about.

In short, the sign says rentals start at $79, but that's for a kid's bike and does not include the lift ticket to get the bike back to the top of the hill. By the time I was ready to go, my cost for a one day rental was almost $240. $150 for the bike. $60 for the lift ticket. The rest were other taxes and fees. It's important to know that the play pass you get from the front desk at check-in does not cover this either. Bicycles require their own pass. So yeah, I had a little sticker shock when the final cost was more than twice what I expected it to be.

Other than those two examples, the pricing for everything else felt like what you would expect at a tourist destination. Starbucks $7-ish for a large Mocha. Pizza $26 for the smaller of the two sizes. I want to say it was around $7-$8 for a single scoop of ice cream in a waffle cone. Fountain drinks were $3-$4. There is a small convenience store at the far end of the resort. It carries the essentials - to include distilled water for CPAP machines, which was nice.

Overall, I had a great stay at the location. The climate was amazing my entire stay. The room was very nice and felt clean. $900 for 4 nights in a room that was like a small apartment with a pretty decent view off the balcony is nothing to complain about. I would certainly do this again some time.

Oh, and they do give a discount for military which for me,...

Pros: EXCELLENT BIKE PARK! Bike rental shop is well-run, helpful, KNOWLEDGEABLE, and friendly. FUN RZR TOUR! There were eight of us so we rented two RZR's. The guides, who were SUPERB, stop along the trail to let you switch out drivers. The views are beautiful! BEAUTIFUL HIKING! We hiked several trails and they were all wonderful! But our favorite was a 6 mile, intermediate hike of Shavers Lake, Bail Out, and 6,000 steps. This hike was absolutely gorgeous, peaceful, and a decent workout! SHAVERS LAKE is a lovely lake with plenty to do such as paddle board, kayak, and just relax on the beach. There are chairs available, snack bar/drinks. There are plenty of restaurants to choose from for all your meals. We chose to cook and eat in most nights and the grocery at the top of the village came in handy for those few items that we forgot. LODGING: We stayed in Black Bear Crossing #8-Good location, nice view, hot tub. The kitchen is nice sized with plenty of nice dishes (plates, glasses, utensils), Nice gas stove, microwave, coffee maker. The furnishings were very nice and there was plenty of room for our group of 8. VERY NICE outdoor area with games, grill, fire pit, lots of seating, field, etc. Nice little community. (See cons below)

Cons: LODGING: We originally reserved Shay's landing and the day before we received a phone call stating that there was a problem with leaking ceilings due to a lot of rain. That is all understandable and wasn't a problem at all, but with that in mind the following should not have happened. So we ended up staying in Black Bear Crossing. We arrived after a 6 hour drive, at 1:30 pm. We knew the CHECK-IN says 5:00, but also knew that it said it was a little more flexible in the summer and I checked to see if anyone had stayed in our unit prior to us and it had been empty for some time so we felt we had a good chance of an early check-in. We weren't expecting anything outrageously early, but maybe like 3-4ish. Upon checking in the TWO WOMEN AT THE FRONT DESK were not incredibly helpful and quite ALOOF to begin with. She gave me a number to call and check back periodically to see if our condo was ready. We checked backed about an hour and 1/2 later, and then again and each time we were told it still wasn't ready, NO APOLOGY OR even ACTING like they were trying to figure it out. Again, they were ALOOF. We finally decided to drive to the condo and wait there. There was NOT ONE cleaning crew or person to be seen. We peaked in windows to see if it looked cleaned inside and it was. We call back and they tell us again, that it's NOT READY, grant it, it is now 4:30!! My husband went back to the office and THANKFULLY there was another gentleman (Jack) working there that over heard what was going on and he helped us right away. The COOKING UTENSILS are less than desired. Cheap, flimsy, and no variety of pots, pans, and lids. I like to cook so this is important to me. DISHWASHER didn't work, we had to call someone and they DID come right away and repaired it. The PORCH is lacking in seating, just seat 3 people. But beautiful view. HOT TUB was gross. Slim along to wall and even smelling fishy. EEWWW! I didn't get any smell of chlorine.

This is our third time at Snowshoe and I noticed a lot of building dilapidations. Hopefully they're doing the repairs and will keep this beautiful are looking pristine!

With all that said, fortunately, most of the negative stuff happened in the beginning (aside from the hot tub) so we had a WONDERFUL trip! We LOVE Snowshoe Mountain, and will come again. Only we'll do things a bit differently. I think we might have better luck...