Winterplace, WV is just six hours of driving time from Murfreesboro to mountain base.
Time is running out for winter sports this season as the cold weather comes to a close over the next few weeks. However, there’s still time for a quick ski excursion—and great skiing may be closer to Murfreesboro than you think.
Winterplace Ski Resort in Southern West Virginia features some great mountain trails—28 to be exact, serviced by nine lifts—ranging from the cautiously meandering Country Roads to the slightly more breathtaking and adrenaline-pumping Plunge, Nose Dive and Drop Off.
The park has a good variety of trails for different skill levels; however, one travels from the top to the bottom of the steeper trails (the black diamonds) in a matter of seconds, too quick of a journey, but some trails are pretty challenging. A skier ventures to the edge of the Plunge to see how steep the trail really is, and can’t see the trail. It’s really a plunge—almost straight down!
And Cascade is a straight trail with some speed wide enough for two, some refer to as “the racing hill.”
Winterplace’s vertical drop is just over 600 feet from the top of the highest trail to the resort center below.
Winterplace’s vertical drop of just over 600 feet from the top of the highest trail to the resort center below is nothing to smirk at, but the runs do end a lot quicker than those in Rocky Mountain ski parks boasting 3,000 foot-plus drops.
While well-traveled skiers and boarders will tell you the Appalachians just don’t compare to the Rockies—let alone the Alps—Winterplace’s location makes it attractive for Southern visitors. Plus the resort entrance is less then a mile off I-77, so there are no winding back mountain roads to navigate. The entire trip takes just six hours of driving time from Murfreesboro to mountain base.
The Southern location can mean unpredictable slope conditions, though.
“It got up to nearly 70 degrees last week,” one snowboarder pointed out in early February. This means the snow can melt, then refreeze back, forming ice. Then the sheet of ice is covered by the pellet-like “snow” from the snow blowers if the heavens aren’t offering any fresh powder.
Interestingly, many of the visitors at Winterplace recommended travelling the extra two hours a little deeper in the mountains to Showshoe Mountain Ski Resort.
But you’re never guaranteed optimal slope conditions anywhere you go and ice can make staying in control a little difficult, but it’s always fun.
A group from Parkway Baptist Church in Smyrna traveled to Winterplace this February as an outing for their youth.
“It’s awesome,” said Josh, accompanying the Parkway Baptist youth group. “It’s my third time going here.”
Just being on the mountain looking across the scenery is a great way to enjoy nature and appreciate God’s creation. Briskly sliding down on skis just adds even more excitement and exhilaration.
The only source of frustration on the mountain—other than wiping out and the resulting bumps, bruises and trekking uphill to retrieve stray poles, gloves, hats, goggles and skis—is waiting on a ski lift to take you back to the top.
Pulse Editor in Chief Bracken Mayo hits the slopes.
Sometimes it seems one skis for two or three minutes, then must wait for 30 to get back on the lift. But as the day went on the crowd dwindles and disperses, plus avoiding weekends and holidays can mean more time going downhill, and less waiting in line.
Plus, a weekday lift ticket is $43, a $15 savings from a weekend or holiday ticket. Winterplace offers all sorts of packages, from half day, to season lift tickets, ski and snowboard rentals and lessons for all skill levels. For $81.95 the resort offers a lift ticket, ski, boot and pole rental and a group lesson. They make the same package available to snowboarders for $94.95.
In addition to the mountain trails, Winterplace also offers a tubing hill. About a dozen trails run down a smaller hill side by side, available for those wanting to ride an inflated tube like a sled down the hill.
The tubing is fun for a while, but could get repetitive and certainly doesn’t offer the excitement of skiing or boarding?though it doesn’t require the same skill level either, so it could be a pleasant break for kids or anyone not wanting to invest a whole day for skiing.
Be alert, a tube rider can get some nice momentum going and actually cross the barriers between each tubing lane.
If you want to enjoy Winterplace this season, after March 10, the resort offers a $9 discount on lift tickets, but again, the weather can be unpredictable. Trails are generally open until the end of March though, according to one employee.
For more information, visit winterplace.com.
WINTERPLACE SKI RESORT
100 Old Flat Top Mt. Rd., Ghent, WV 25843
Drive Time from Murfreesboro: 6:12
winterplace.com
MORE SKI DESTINATIONS:
BEECH MOUNTAIN RESORT
1007 Beech Mountain Pkwy, Beech Mountain, NC 28604
Drive Time from Murfreesboro: 5:15
beachmountainresort.com
SUGAR MOUNTAIN RESORT
1009 Sugar Mountain Drive, Banner Elk, NC 28604
Drive Time from Murfreesboro: 5:12
skisugar.com
CATALOOCHEE SKI AREA
1080 Ski Lodge Road, Maggie Valley, NC
Drive Time from Murfreesboro: 4:27
cataloochee.com
PAOLI PEAKS
2798 West County Road 25, South, Paoli, IN 47454
Drive Time from Murfreesboro: 4:03
paolipeaks.com
OBER GATLINBURG
1001 Parkway, Gatlinburg TN, 37738
Drive Time from Murfreesboro: 3:39
obergatlinburg.com
Avoiding weekends and holidays can mean more time going downhill, and less waiting in line.
