Whitetail News

Disclaimer - It's not official, it's just what Rusty has picked up from hanging around.
Do you want to work at Whitetail? Whitetail will have job openings in most departments throughout the season. Click here to find about more about becoming a ski or snowboard instructor at Whitetail. Whitetail has volunteer opportunities: volunteer brochure front page & back page.  Some people will do anything for free skiing! The Whitetail Ski Patrol web site has disappeared. The race team has a nice web site.

Click here to view a topographic map of Two Top Mountain
Google Maps satellite view of Whitetail | Microsoft Window's Live has another view of Whitetail
Click here for the best Whitetail weather forecast (the zip is 17236) or use Weather.com
Whitetails' lift stats - close, but Rusty is a might suspicious

The 2009 Advantage Card Calculator Spreadsheet from TheRusty

Busy Days at Whitetail | Snowtime events where you can get discounted cards

  What's new for the 2010 - 2011 season - $4 Million
New 1800 foot beginner trail = Ledgewood. This trail leaves Snowpark on skiers right just above the Stalker split and connects to the runout portion of Stalker . Most of the trail length is parallel to Velvet. Ledgewood is lighted. Ledgewood housing construction has been delayed. The new trail will provide ski in, ski out access to the Ledgewood townhomes.
Advantage cards and season passes can be mailed before the season starts. New - you can upload your own picture for your card.
15 new TechnoAlpin snowmaking guns - these are yellow! Most of the guns are going on Ledgewood, 3 are being added to Velvet.
2 additional ticket windows will be added for express ticketing (e.g. online sales, advantage cards)
New Prinoth MP3 groomer - replaces and old groomer
New bakery in Marketplace (pastries and breakfast offerings). The bakery will also have an extra cashier station. Marketplace grill area has been doubled in size.
New outdoor barbeque (open on busy days when the weather is good)
Price changes - daily tickets up $1-3, pass prices up $30, night pass now available at all 3 resorts, student and senior season passes are gone, early season family advantage price up $5. All other advantage and night club prices stayed the same. The tubing 6 pack now expires at the end of the season.
800 helmets added to the rental fleet. 100 new snowboards added also.
The rest rooms on the upper mezzanine level have been remodeled.
Night Club rental paperwork saved after the first visit. Subsequent rentals use the saved paperwork.
The wooden deck area between the lodge and the slopes has been replaced with bricks and is heated. This means snow will be cleared off the deck much quicker and it will be less slippery.
New 8600 square foot pro shop at the golf course. They will be operating out of a double wide trailer this winter! The old house for the pro shop will be torn down with the new one going up in the same spot. The new shop will have expanded kitchen space and offer better food! Dining area will seat up to 80 people.
Snowmaking pipe on Limelight and Bold Decision has been replaced. (Some of the original snowmaking pipe has been known to, ah, geyser at inappropriate times.)
  What's new for the 2009 - 2010 season - $1.7 Million
The half pipe moved from Snowpark to newly cleared terrain (< 1 acre cut) between the Jib Junction double and the Jib Junction terrain park on Lower Angel Drop. We also got a new Zaugg pipe cutter!
The beginner terrain park (101 Park Place) was moved from Stalker to the old half pipe location. Will it get renamed?
There's a new magic carpet on Northern Lights. It's 400 feet long on the right side of the trail. Beginner lessons will never be the same!
Snow dough! - Advantage cards, Season Passes and Night Club cards can be used as cash cards at any SnowTime resort.
The trail map has been updated by James Neihues
Snowmaking improvements - 24 Areco fan guns on the mountain with the bulk of them (11) ending up on Snow Dancer, which was formally only serviced by air/water machines. The other 13 of these new guns will go to other areas with 3 of them ending up in the Jib Junction Terrain Park to help service the new halfpipe. Another new snowmaking pump will increase the max gallons per minute we can pump.
Prices - ticket prices up $1-$2. $399 Season pass returns. Other pass and card prices are mostly the same.
New blog - has insider news.
The KMC learning area has been regraded. The KMC area and Launching Pad are now one continuous area.
Ski school changes - Form your own group lesson - a 90 minute group lesson for up to 5 people for a flat $225 (more expensive than regular group lessons but the private lesson equivalent would be $265). 2 hour privates are now discounted $10. A 1/2 day private is now available. Ski school favs - 3 hour lessons with a max of 3 people.
  What's new for the 2008 - 2009 season
Sidewinder! We finally have a trail that provides a level of difficulty transition between Velvet and Snowpark. It runs to the right from the top of the EZ Rider quad through the bowl between Snowpark and Fanciful and joins Fanciful at the runout in the bottom to get back to the mixing bowl. Watch out for that sneaky little steep part at the junction with Fanciful!
A new double chair was installed. The Jib Junction double services the terrain park. It starts just above the high speed quad at the bottom of Lower Angel Drop and goes to just below the Drop In split. A new mini cut through trail from Angel Drop to Drop In will allow you to get from the Jib Junction double to "K" side (the expert terrain). 
Snowmaking - A new 1000 gpm pump provides water for the new fan funs on Sidewinder.
Ledgewood is in the planning phases. Construction starts in summer 2010. Brochures are out.
Prices  - up and down. $399 special early season pass price! 3 easy payment plan introduced for season passes.
Electricity system upgrades were put in place to support Sidewinder and future upgrades.
  What's new for the 2007 - 2008 season
Yup - prices are up again. Most day tickets are up $1 (weekend days are up $2). Advantage cards are up $5. The basic passes are up $10. Rental prices are now the same for no matter how long you rent (i.e. not cheaper on a 4 hour pass). Season pass prices are reduced for the second card holder, but increased $50 for each subsequent holder.
The "housing" road has been paved further up the mountain and there are new lots available from the old Whitetail real estate partnership. It now goes up about 3/4 of the way to the top of SnowPark and runs about 150 yards South of the gravel access road. There are also plans for extending the access road into the Snowtime owned property for up to 420 ski in ski out units to be built in the bowl between Snowpark and Fanciful.
A new trail is in the permit process! A new trail will be built from the top of Snowpark to the bottom of Fanciful. Permitting is expected to be completed by mid October. Because that is too late to start and finish the trail prior to the season and it's more cost effective to do all of the work at once, construction isnow scheduled for the summer of 2008.

While we wait for the new trail, Velvet has been expanded into the woods on  the skiers left (right side of the chair going up the hill).

The Sports Shop has a new ski lease program. This is a great deal for kids versus renting all season or buying and then selling them when they outgrow them. You get a better quality ski than the rentals and you simply turn them in at the end of the season and get the next size up (or two) for the next season.
It seems every year we make more snowmaking improvements and this year we're at it again. The guns on Northern Lights have been automated. This means we can make more and better snow on this beginner run and likely means that we will have Northern Lights open top to bottom on opening day.
A new industrial strength Prinoth groomer. This big bad boy grooms more snow faster than our old pokies. With the expert slopes open late because of night skiing, the grooming crew has less time to get the mountain groomed. Now they've got a little more time to get the work done.
Whitetail Bucks have been retired. Gift cards are the new thing. They are rechargeable and good at all 3 Snowtime resorts.
  What's new for the 2006 - 2007 season
Fore! Whitetail Golf Resort is back in the family. Snowtime purchased the resort over the summer. The ski and golf pass is out and boy oh boy is it a great deal. Buy a season pass and you can get a golf season pass good from now through 2007 for additional $635.
See the light Lighting and more snowmaking on Farside. Whitetail is adding 10 more fan guns and 20 more double head air/water guns. Whitetail is also increasing the automation of the snowmaking system.
Learn to Ride! Burton Learn to Ride coming to Whitetail. 900 new Burton snowboards will replace the Rossignol boards in the rental fleet. There will be lightweight/women's specific snowboard boots for better fit (no more heel lift - fingers crossed). There will be two types of rental boards available:
1) a very soft beginner board
2) a forgiving intermediate board
Leasing vs renting Ok - they just snuck this one in on Rusty. You can lease your gear from Whitetail instead of renting. This is a great option for kids gear. No pricing yet, but Rusty's hot on the trail.
Flying tubers! New Magic Carpet lift for the tubing area will increase uphill capacity by 50%. 3 more downhill lanes have been added. More tubes have been added as well.
Happy groomers A new 3000 square foot storage building for Mountain Operations to store vehicles and equipment.
$$$ Daily ticket prices are up another $1-2. Most season pass prices went up, but the advantage card stays the same.
New partner Windham was sold last year. Stratton Mountain in Vermont is our new resort partner. Season Pass and Advantage card holders enjoy discounted skiing privileges and lodging deals at Stratton.
Early season deals Learn to ski or ride before 12/22 for $29 (was $19 last year). Ski lessons before 12/22 will be $10 (they were free last year).
Little stuff There's a new fancy gate at the entrance. The admin/handicapped parking lot (back door access to the lodge) has been expanded and repaved. 1/3 of the decking next to Windows has been replaced.
New Ski School Products/Changes New - Adult Academy (the Farside Club). Designed for parents of  Whitetrailer kids (drop kids off, get a warm up run, do the clinic, and finish in time to pick up the kids). 6 two hour clinics over consecutive weeks for $155. 
New - Family Semi Private Learn to ski or snowboard. Now an entire family can learn to ski or ride for one price ($259). 
Old - Terrain Park Lessons are now a private lesson product.
More Nastar! There are plans to run Nastar on Tuesdays and Thursdays in addition to weekend days. A weeknight Nastar is also being considered.
  What's new for the 2005 - 2006 season
Wow that's big! Rental Building Expansion is On! 
The new name is: Whitetail Adventure Rental Center
The rental building will double in size to a total of 12,000 square feet. Included in the building will be 3000 new skis and all new Dalbello ski boots. There will also be 700 new snowboards too. The skis and snowboards will now be in the same building. A greatly expanded boot fitting area, ski school desk, more lockers, restrooms and a new ski and snowboard lesson meeting area are just a sampling of the building. Here's a nice feature: automated doors! No more fumbling for the door handles coming or going. Beginners will be able to exit the rental building "directly" to the Northern Lights beginner trail (Rusty says maybe it's more like reducing a 250 foot walk to a 50 foot walk) . It looks like Whitetail is going to fence off the on snow access between the mixing bowl and KMC/Launching Pad/Northern Lights. You'll either have to ride up the U-Me double or take your gear off and walk between the rental building and the Kids Mountain Camp building.

Whitetail's web site will let renters print out a rental form and fill it in in advance. There are some busy days where this could save people a ton of time. Next season, you will be able to fill out the form online. If you've got the form already filled out - look for an Express Lane!

The old Underground snowboard rental area will be turned into an arcade with additional seating space. This space will also be used for a special group seating area.

Go for the Gold! NASTAR returns to Whitetail! Weekends and possibly on Thursday nights!
Free "Parking" Park Place 101 will move out of the Northern Lights slope area, allowing more of Northern Lights to be devoted to the first time skier and boarder. The new location of Park Place 101 is still under consideration.

Jib Junction Terrain Park News - not this year
The 1/2 pipe will not be moved this year. The old handle tow will not be moved to the terrain park this year. Stay tuned for these upgrades to occur for the 2006-2007 season.

Get online at Whitetail! The Windows "bar area" is being converted to a Starbucks and Smoothie facility (note from Rusty - that's what it was last year) with wireless internet access! Windows will be open every day during the season this year (previously it was only open on busy days). "Comfortable" seating is also promised!
More Snow Please! The "3 year" snowmaking expansion program enters it's fifth year of improvements. 27 new efficient air/water guns on Snowdancer and new automated controls at the pump house are on the list of improvements for this year. The old tower runs on Snowdancer will be moved to Fallmount
Ski School Changes

Following are some of the changes affecting group lessons (age 8 & up):

·        Our line up area will move from the mixing bowl to the base of Northern Lights/ Launching Pad. 

·        A meeting place will be established for guests finishing lessons to wait for family or friends. 

·        Level 1 guests will be identified (possibly by a button or sticker on their lift pass) so that they can receive special attention from all the Whitetail staff throughout the day. 

·        Levels 2 through 8 for regular group lessons will be offered at 10, 12, 2, 5:30 and 7:30 every day. Our 3:30 line up is for beginners only and first timers may attend any line up. We will coordinate Level 1 lessons at any time from 9am to 2pm daily, as groups and instructors are ready (part of our reason for keeping some instructors “on the clock”). We will offer a “Pre-course” to first timers to help with staging and timing of lessons. This pre-course will review safety, equipment and fit, lift use, some prep for what the lesson is about, etc. People can benefit from any part of the pre-course, so they can come into it late, or come back to it after their lesson. We will use it as a way to gather and occupy first timers until instructors are ready to take a group.

·        There will be more attention to grooming in the Northern Lights, Velvet and  First Tracks slope areas to tailor this terrain to first time and novice guests.

·        A change in the route bringing injured guests off the hill will allow traffic to move through the walkway between KMC and Rentals. No more traffic in the KMC terrain garden.

Some changes involving Private Lessons (and affecting KMC)  include:

·        The Ski School Desk will move to the rental building allowing closer proximity for all our school facilities. We plan to man the Ski School Desk 12 hours per day, every day (previously the desk would close at 3PM).

·        Private lesson guests who call ahead for reservations will have the option of having their rental equipment set up ahead (as we now do for KMC camp kids). This will fast track our private lesson guests, allowing private lessons to start on time. With the Ski School desk in the rental shop, our private lesson guests have only one place they need to go before they begin their lesson; and they will be much closer to the snow to start their lesson.

·        Private lessons for children 7 and under will be coordinated from the KMC allowing KMC staffers more opportunity to teach private lessons.

·        A new 30 minute private lesson for children ages 2 and 3, more appropriate time frame for their attention span and physical ability.

·        KMC age 4-7 Package lessons will be for skiers only. Snowboarders under age 8 will be encouraged to take private lessons or camp sessions if they are 7 years of age. This will allow instructors with small (age 6 and under) snowboarders to give them the more specialized attention required at this age. 

$$$ Day ticket prices are up$1 midweek and $2 on weekends. Pass prices are up $5-10 with no price increase for early season purchase. 
New - Multi day tickets (weekends and holidays)! You can get 2 and 3 day tickets! Lessons prices are up a couple bucks as well.
Miscellaneous Lots of new paint all over. New lift houses. New lines (for snowmaking?). Hola Espanol? 16 students from Chile, Argentina and Brazil will spend their summer holiday at Whitetail working as lifties.There's a new safety program in the works. Rumor has it awards will be given out to skiers doing good deeds for safe skiing. There also may be some safety spiels presented in the lift lines.
  What's new for the 2004 - 2005 season
Free Lessons!
(through 12/24)
From opening day until December 23, all class lessons for all ability levels will be free for ages 8 and above. We will also be offering other Free Class Lesson Days throughout the season, so keep an eye on the web for more info!

Here's a tip from TheRusty for upper level skiers. Even though there will be limited terrain and snow coverage this early in the season, come just for the free lessons. Advanced lessons are taught at 10/12/2 during the day.
Rumor has it you will need to request the free lesson when you buy your lift pass. Instructors will mark your ticket so that you can only get one free lesson.
$19 Learn to Ski/Ride Special
(through 12/23)
From opening day until December 23, you can learn to ski or ride for just $19. This includes a beginner area lift ticket, rentals and beginner class lesson and a Mountain Passport offer. Last year, the weekend price for this package was $69.

Here's a tip from TheRusty for upper level skiers or riders who have never had an Advantage card before and plan fewer than 5 trips to Snow Time resorts. Take an early season beginner lesson in the other sport (e.g. if you are a skier - try snowboarding), buy the Mountain Passport ($39) and get a 40% discount on the rest of your trips. You'll get 2 days on snow for $54 and save 40% on any future trips. After you take your beginner lesson, you're free to go back to your old sport if you wish. Or maybe split your time between your favorite and new sports.
Can you see the light? All the old slope lighting will be upgraded from 400 watts to 1,000 watt fixtures. This will bring the rest of the slopes up to par with the new lighting we've experienced on Exhibition and Bold Decision. Night skiing will be safer and more enjoyable.
Beginner Deals Get Easier
at
The Mountain Passport Club
The Bounce Back program is changing. The program will be called the Mountain Passport Club. This program offers first timers a huge discount on their second day of skiing, free lessons and a 40% discount on future lift tickets. 

When a guest finishes a Level 1 (first time) lesson, they may purchase the Mountain Passport Club card at any time that day for $39. If they want to purchase their Passport on their return visit, the price will be $49. When the guest purchases a Passport they will also be given a voucher for their second visit (good for a free All Mountain Lift, Lesson and Rental package). On their third and subsequent visits, guests can use their passport to receive a 40% discount on lift tickets and rentals and get free lessons on every visit. The Mountain Passport booklet will also contain special offers for deals at all three resorts.

Previously, guests could only purchase the deal on the same day, did not get their cards until the second visit and paid for subsequent lessons.  These new changes greatly reduce the hassle factor. The main difference between the Mountain Passport Club Card and an Advantage Card is that the Club Card does not offer 1 free visit for every 5 paid visits.

The Advantage Card lets you Bring a Friend!

 

 

 

 


plus some more Advantage card news

Add a Companion Card to your Family Advantage Card and each time you visit, you can bring a friend, and they will save 40% on lifts and lessons.  The Companion Card is fully transferable so you can bring a different person each time.  The Companion Card is only valid in conjunction with a purchase on the corresponding Family Advantage Card account.  The Companion Card offers discounted lift tickets only and does not receive discounted rentals or the 6th visit free benefit. Each Family Advantage Card account may purchase a maximum of two Companion Cards. Companion Cards can be added to any Advantage Card at any time!

Anyone who did not use their Advantage or Night Club card last year (or used it just once) will receive an offer to roll their card over for this year for the fee of $25.

Snowtime, Inc. has moved to a fully integrated database system for handling season passes and advantage cards, which means that we will be able to take a guest's picture at any resort and print the pass at any resort, regardless of where the pass or card was initially purchased. This new system will allow more deals to be offered to our guests. VERY IMPORTANT: However, because of this upgrade, all passholders, new and renewing, will need to have their pictures taken this year and have new cards printed. You can get it done early at the National Ski Expo!

Free Snow Blast Bonus Cards There's a new discount card called the Snow Blast Bonus Card. It will only be available at Snow Time booths at special events during the pre season. The card is free! Each week a new special will be announced via email and on the resort web sites. From the start of the season through 12/23 the deal will be buy one ticket, get one free. Once you get your  card, you will need to "activate" it online.
Do you believe in magic?

This where the new magic carpet will be installed.
A new magic carpet "lift" will be installed in the beginner area. A magic carpet is a revolving piece of carpet that you step and then ride uphill at a very slow speed. The entire First Tracks area has been regraded to a shallower pitch. This will make more flat area for first time classes to get started, more useful room for the Kid's Mountain Camp program and make it easier for first timers to get away from the crowds. The old handle tow lift has been removed. It will be reinstalled on Lower Angel Drop (i.e. the terrain park) next season.
Do you want more?


The new rest rooms are super nice!


There are lots of big holes where pipe is being replaced.


The new race shack can be seen in this pic.

200 new snowboard boots and bindings for our snowboard rental fleet. (Rusty is working on getting more details)

A new 350MP Bombardier groomer will allow Whitetail to get more grooming done overnight. This is a high horsepower groomer designed to spread out mounds of man made snow and groom terrain park features better and faster.

25 new Ratnik snow guns. These guns have a wider coverage area. They will be placed on Drop In and Snow Park.

The snowmaking pipes in the base and beginner areas have been completely replaced. This should eliminate the puddles that formed in front of the lodge last season.

The plaza lighting in the entryway has been upgraded. It's hard to tell, but the light poles and fixtures are brand new.

All main level restrooms in Marketplace and Windows have been completely renovated. This should take care of the balky plumbing and paper towel fixtures.

New carpet in the main lodge.

New buildings: A new information shed at the top of the steps as you enter the main plaza. A new racing building on Home Run (the old one was trying to run the race course). A new salt and cinder shed.

STARBUCKS COFFEE is available in ETC. and Windows!

New webcams have been added. The 3 old cams have been retired, we have 9 new cams that have bigger pictures.

Ski School Schedule Change Daytime Intermediate and Advanced classes will only be available at 10, 12 and 2. Daytime beginner (levels 1 and 2) classes will be held on the hour from 9AM-2PM. Afternoon and evening classes will continue to be available at 3:30, 5:30 and 7:30.
Can you say terrain park?
Can you say new half pipe?
Can you say next year?

Here's what new for jibbers this year

The terrain park (the trail used to be called Lower Angel Drop) is now called Jib Junction. The terrain park has a new sound system. There will also be new rails and boxes. Moving (and lengthening) the old beginner handle tow lift  to the park was planned for the 2004-2005 season, but did not make it. Next year, the half pipe will be moved from Snow Park to Lower Angel Drop. These two upgrades will allow terrain park enthusiasts to experience it all in one place without wasting time circling the mountain. This should have the added benefit of reducing lift lines at both the Easy Rider and Whitetail Express lifts. The old half pipe will be filled in. 

New for the 2004 season are ski school "terrain park" lessons!

The mini terrain park (now called 1010 Park Place) on Northern Lights will be expanded. On 1/2, the park includes 3 rails, a mini 1/2 half pipe, 1 jump and a couple of sad rollers.

Price Increases Most Day pass prices have been raised $1-3.
Most Season Pass prices have been raised $5-10.
Ski School lessons are up $1. (class lesson=$28, private=$58)
Ski School package prices are up $2-3.
Fore - not The golf course is closed for the winter due to management issues. (again)
  What's new for the 2003 - 2004 season
Click here to view a topographic map of Two Top Mountain (Whitetail's official geographic name). If you have a big screen, click on the large button then click on the "1:25,000" button and you will see a close up view. Early season deal
From opening until 12/23 Whitetail will be offering a $19 learn to ski/board package.

Snowmaking
2 more water pumps (one at the pond and one at the mountain) have been added to increase water pumping capacity by 20%. 15 more SMI fan guns have been added to Exhibition. The tower guns on Exhibition have been moved to Far Side. Look for the expert terrain to get open earlier in the season and for the Far Side trail to stay open longer.

Snow grooming
2 more groomers were added to the fleet at the end of last season

Snow tubing
The snow tubing lodge has been doubled in size. A larger kitchen means an expanded menu. The restrooms are being upgraded too. Plus there will be more room for group parties. A new storage building will help smooth operations. Finally, the slope has been "reshaped" (i.e. another lane?).

KMC
The lobby in the Kids Mountain Camp has been expanded. This should help parents get their kids checked in and out quicker. KMC gets new carpet this year. SnowMonsters (tm) will be at KMC this year!

Nitetrailers
The popular Whitetrailers multiweek ski school program is being expanded with a Thursday night offering.

Plaza and road work
Minor repairs to the plaza area have been made to keep it looking good! The roads at the resort have been repaired after all of the heavy rain this summer. We'll work on adding brand new potholes as soon as the season starts.

Fall Festival
This year's festival was  October 25-26. It's free for season and advantage card holders. There was a ski swap this year.

Price raised
Ticket prices have been raised from $1-$4 across the board. Pass prices have also been raised.

  What's new for the 2002 - 2003 season
Tubing!
Whitetail has snow tubing this season. The tubing area is to the right of the expert trails, near the maintenance shed in the parking lot. You can see the tubing area from the bottom of Northern Lights. The first day was January 8.

Main Lodge Expansion

"Taps" have been blown for the old ticket building. In it's place is an "L" extension onto the main lodge. The new space houses an expanded sports shop, ticket windows, an expanded guest services office, admin offices (moved down from the house on Blair's Valley) and a little more seating for guests. The ski school desk has been moved to the corner window facing the slops. The entrance to Marketplace cafeteria has been moved and the flow is much better. There is an unfinished basement that is currently being used for storage, but is planned to be finished off in the future.

The Underground snowboard rental operation has moved from the space below the ski rentals to where the old sport shop underneath Windows. You can access the Underground from outside (take a left on the wooden decking before you get to the lodge, then a right down the wooden steps) or from the main breezeway (take a left towards Windows, then either the elevator down or the steps on the left).

A new 2 story ski school/lift department "office" building has replaced the old ski school trailer. The only trailer left is a "nice" race trailer.

Lights on the Expert Trails
The LONG wait is over. Whitetail will have lights and night skiing on the expert terrain. Exhibition, Drop In, Ridge Runner and Bold Decision have been LIT!!! The new lights are noticeably brighter than the old lights.

More Snowmaking
The last of the 3 year snowmaking expansion plan has been revealed. 23 new tower guns will go on Exhibition. Rusty says this means we will have a bumps competition this year (at least Rusty is crossing his fingers). A couple sections of the snowmaking pipe on Lower Angel Drop and Limelight were replaced because of heavy leakage. Rumor has it that geysers were spotted on the slopes early season!

Ski School Changes
One hour lessons for kids ages 4-8 are now available through the Kids Mountain Camp at 10, 2 and 5:30 every day (plus 3:30 on the weekends). The minimum age for children in regular group lessons is being raised from 7 to 8. Rusty strongly recommends that parents of 4-6 year olds start their kids skiing. 4-6 year old snowboarders should not expect anything more than straight running unless the children are already adept at snowboarding. The ski school desk has been moved from a corner of the lodge facing the parking lot to one facing the slopes. Group lessons are now $25. Private lessons are $52.

Seasonal lockers/ changing areas
Seasonal lockers are available for $139/season rental. They are large enough to hold several pairs of skis or a couple of snowboards with bindings, plus gear. There are benches in the locker area for changing. A new (for real) changing area has been placed in the area where the old guest services office used to be. Both the locker and changing area are in the lower level below the Window restaurant (on the left as you walk up to the lodge).

Terrain park changes
There are more rails in the park this year and more hits than ever. Features change on a regular basis. A rainbow rail was installed before New Years and a quarterpipe is planned in early January.

Online ticket sales
You can now buy your lift tickets online.

Prices raised
A couple of lift ticket prices were raised a buck or two. Other prices were raised too (e.g. ski school).

Late Additions
In February, Whitetail added a new groomer, specifically outfitted for terrain park grooming.

  What's new for the 2001 - 2002 season
Skiers are now allowed in the new terrain park. No more twin tips only. Anyone can play the hits!

No cocktails, but there's beer to be had the golf clubhouse just 1.5  miles up the road from Whitetail. The clubhouse will be open from 11AM till 9PM (maybe 11PM if enough people are there). There will be a happy hour too! The golf course will be open through the winter whenever possible (e.g. the snow is melted and the ground is not frozen). Twilight rates may make it feasible to ski in the morning and get in 9 in the afternoon. Tell Joe Wisocki The Rusty sent you!

FYI - You can legally bring your own alcohol to Whitetail. Officially, management "frowns" on this, but discreet consumption goes unnoticed and overt consumption in the Windows area is generally overlooked.  

Most ticket prices are up a $1. Rental rates were increased. Advantage card prices have gone up $10 but they are still a bargain.

Flash - The snowboard park is being moved to lower Angel Drop. Plans are being made to eventually move the half pipe over to this area and to install a surface lift.

Fan guns have been added to lower Angel Drop and Limelight. 29 new tower guns added in total.

More rental equipment - 150 new snowboards (mostly small children's sizes),  200 new shaped skis.

Diann Roffe (aka Diann Roffe-Steinrotter) - former Olympic gold medalist is working for SnowTime this season. Watch for her to be involved with womens programs and racing events at all 3 local Snow Time resorts this winter.

You can now make online reservations for Kid's Mountain Camp. KMC has it's own supply of mini snowboards for mini riders!

Valet parking for $12! Jeeves, will you park the Rover out back?

The maintenance shed has been expanded. This may not sound like a biggie, but it should ease a bottleneck for groomer maintenance. The end result should be the ability to get more grooming done every night and maybe, just maybe a return to evening grooming for night skiing?

 

Things that were new for the 2000-2001 season...

2001 Summer News:
-The golf course opened up on April 1, 2001. It's a beauty.
-Mountain biking operations have been terminated.  It just did not make enough money to justify the wear and tear on the lifts. Hardly anyone has missed it.
YIKES - it's PRICE HIKES! Just about all the prices were raised, except for season passes and the advantage card. The 8 hour flex ticket is up $1 ($44 for a weekend day pass). The 4 hour flex ticket is up ... by $4. Teen discounts for 13-19 year olds are history. Juniors are now from 6-10 (used to be 7-12). Seniors 65-69 no longer get weekend discounts. No more free passes to those over 70 (I need to double check this  - it may just be omitted from the brochure). Rentals went up $2-4. Package deals went up from $2-$13. Kids Mountain Camp prices went up $1-$3. Child care (non-skiing) prices went up. Group lessons went  from $20 to $22. Private lessons were raised from $45 to $48. Regular season pass prices dropped from $5 - $20, but night season passes were raised $39 (early season) and $59 (late season). 
Your Advantage Wow! But you can beat these price hikes with the Ski Advantage card. Yes, the Ski Advantage card is back and better than ever. It's good for discounts up to 40% off at Ski Liberty, Ski Roundtop and Whitetail (discounts at Ski Windham too!) on lift tickets and lessons. If you are a single skier, you need to ski 5 times for the card to pay off. But as your family size grows, you need less trips for the card to pay off. A family of 5 could easily save money by their second trip. The early season price is $69, plus you can get $5 off if you buy it at a ski show. Rusty recommends the Ski Advantage card for skiers who will be visiting between 5-19 times during the season. The family price is a great deal (early season price is $119 for the WHOLE family). What a bargain even if you're only a family of two! The more you have in your family, the less times you need to ski to save money with the Advantage card. New this year, you no longer have to accumulate your 5 visits at the same  resort to get your next visit free (there was a computer caused limitation last year). So you can use your advantage card to more than make up for the increased prices and actually save money.
For Serious Skiers

If you're going to ski more than 20 times per season, a season pass is probably a better deal for you. This year, seasons passes are good at all of the (southern) Snow Time resorts! And if the resort you bought your season pass at is closed, you can use your pass at Windham! 

Have you seen the Whitetail Race Team web site?

NASTAR has been replaced with a pay per run timed course ($1/run)

For Wanna Bees

FLASH! Learn to Ski or Snowboard package is just $15 at Whitetail through December 22, 2000. If you like it, buy your ticket for next trip before you leave for just $29 (vs $62).

"Bounce Back" = All first time skiers who purchase a First Class (Learn to Ski) package will have the opportunity to purchase a package deal for a return visit for $29, but it must be purchased on the SAME DAY (i.e. before you leave). Rusty thinks this package also include free rentals for the rest of the season!

The ski rental inventory has been totally replaced with SHAPED skis (that's 2700 new pairs of skis)! Adult beginners should be using the 120cm and 130 cm sized skis to accelerate their learning experience. 200 new rental snowboards have also been added, with some children sizes dedicated to the Kid's Mountain camp operation. The new rental boards are learning boards that are far easier to turn and learn than normal boards. The rental building has been expanded by 2000 square feet. Most of this space addition was simply covering up the outside locker area, but the inside layout of the building has been redesigned to maximize "flow".

The new night club card program is for groups of 15 or more. It's like a season pass for night skiing. Also, lessons are FREE with this program

SNOW!

Whitetail has expanded their snowmaking capacity. The focus is on putting fan guns on Snow Park trail and the top of Angel Drop so that we can open trails faster and minimize thin spots at the tops of the trails. Whitetail has 30 new fan guns (in addition to the old 10) , 35 new tower guns and 100 new sled guns. The tower guns are on Upper Angel Drop, Home Run and Snow Park. The fan guns are also on towers and they look MEAN. Bold Decision and Snow Dancer are getting "regular" tower guns.

The reason the new fan guns mean so much is that they compress their own air. Before, when temperatures were higher than 20 degrees, the amount of snow Whitetail could make was limited by how much air they could compress. Now, Whitetail will be limited by how much water they can pump. We'll be able to make the maximum amount of snow all the way into the mid twenties.

The inside news is that a side benefit of the snowmaking expansion was that they had to run power up to the top of Snow Park and Angel Drop. This is going to make it a lot easier to add lights to the expert trails because the power infrastructure is now in place.

Whitetail also got a new Bombardier groomer (they cost $183K!). But the inside story is that a certain someone was a little hard on the old groomers. This was a replacement, not an expansion of the fleet.

Real Estate News...

Whitetail has an 18 hole golf course! The course will be open to the public next spring. Construction of the conference center is scheduled to begin next fall.

The "complex" has a tennis court and a new outdoor pool and hot tub.

The first Inns at Whitetail building is sold out. A second building is ready to get started. A new complex called "the barns" will be going up on the other side of Blair's Ridge. 

Rusty is still waiting for his slope side townhouse to be built. He's not holding his breath.

Miscellaneous stuff

More trails? Whitetail is now advertising 19 trails instead of 17. Nothing new though. Angel Drop is now Upper Angel Drop and Lower Angel Drop. And the half pipe is now called a "trail". 
Also, Snow Park was temporarily changed from a green rating to a blue rating., but this was probably more of a misprint than an intentional change.

The changing rooms are back! The new location is the upper mezzanine bathrooms. (Rusty is still wondering how a bathroom can be called a changing room because a bench was put in it.)

There will be 4 late night ski nites this year (open till 1AM). New Year's eve will be one of the dates.

Government and Military personnel no longer have a special discount day, but they can take $2 off any day just by showing their id.

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