Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 9, 1995 TAG: 9501100004
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID BARUDIN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The 11,000-acre resort is celebrating with packages and appreciation days that make the $37 weekend and $31 midweek adult lift ticket prices more affordable for a family ski vacation.
"It's appropriate to show our appreciation to the people who helped Wintergreen evolve from a regional ski area to a national, year-round resort," said Mark Glickman, the marketing director.
The best overnight ski deal is the Sunday-through-Thursday lodging plan that comes with unlimited day and night skiing. Kids 5 and under stay and ski free. On Wednesdays, youngsters 17 and under ski free with an adult.
All skiers renting gear receive a free 90-minute ski lesson at their ability level. Approximately 53,000 skiers took lessons last year, making Wintergreen one of the top 10 resorts in the country for the number of lessons per skier visits.
The 20th anniversary party will be held on Thursday, Glickman said. Skiers will be able to purchase a $20 ski package good for lift ticket, rentals and a lesson. There will be an obstacle course, '70s music, a barbecue and prizes for the best bell bottoms, leisure suit and Patty Hearst look-a-like. Dan Egan, a world-renown skier, will hold clinics, and skiers will be able to try the latest in skis and snowboards.
Sprinkled throughout the season are 20th Anniversary Ski Appreciation Days that will cater to skiers from a variety of locations. Jan. 24 is appreciation day for the Roanoke and New River valleys, when $20 will cover a lift ticket, rentals and lesson.
The evolution of Wintergreen began with its inaugural ski season in 1974-75, when some 30,000 local skiers came out to the new slopes below picturesque 3,850-foot Devil's Knob, located off the Blue Ridge Parkway south of Waynesboro.
Wintergreen's fledgling slopes were a financial success from the start, even in the face of a mid-'70s slump in the national real estate sales market, which many four-season resorts depend on to support their ski operations.
"No question, skiing was the main amenity that fed the resort, and still does," said Uel Gardner, who was Wintergreen's ski operations manager for 16 years before retiring in 1992. "We sneaked a little something in every year so we could perform a little better - more snow making and grooming equipment, widened slopes, took trees out between Potato Patch and Dobie Slopes and kept adding snow making. Skiing never lost money."
John Kirchner, the current ski area manager, said the early growth was outstanding.
"By the late 1970s we were skiing 100,000 people," he said. "The addition of the Highlands [ski terrain] in 1982 caused another increase in demand. In the mid-1980s, during back-to-back cold winters, skier visits peaked at about 179,000."
The success of skiing helped Wintergreen gain national prominence in Family Circle and Better Homes & Gardens magazines as a top 10 U.S. family mountain resort. Skiing Magzine called Wintergreen "the South's single best ski resort."
Wintergreen also has been recognized as one of the nation's most environmentally sensitive recreational communities. Through its Wintergreen Nature Foundation, the resort has set aside 6,760 of its 11,000 acres as an undeveloped wild area which is under the care of a full-time biologist-naturalist. The setting is home to more than 450 wildflower species and is used for conservation research and education.
"We're fortunate that the developers have nurtured a solid ecological foundation in building a top-notch resort," said Glickman.
Wintergreen's developers are a nonprofit, taxable corporation of resort property owners who turn resort profits back into buildings and improving the facilities. The owners spent $1 million upgrading snow-making capacity for this season. The addition of compressors and other gear will mean 50 percent more machine-made snow in early and late season and during midwinter warming trends. This investment in snow making is the largest since the system was installed 20 years ago.
"The improvement will greatly enhance the skiing experience," said Kirchner. "More compressed air means we'll be able to open more slopes earlier and replenish the skiing surfaces quicker."
The improvements in snow making follow a $3.2 million renovation of the main check-in and the Blackrock Village courtyard, completed in time for last season. Incoming guests now get to their rooms and onto the slopes faster.
The redesigned courtyard adjacent to the slopes includes the the outdoor Terrace Grill where parents can eat lunch while watching their kids learn to ski on a fenced-off teaching slope. Walkways connect the Terrace and Treehouse For Kids ski school with a skier-services pavilion. Additional eateries and shops are in the Mountain Inn.
From the courtyard, Wintergreen's 17 slopes and trails fan out like a spiderweb across 86 acres of forested mountainside, making this Virginia's largest ski area. Five advanced and expert Highlands slopes account for one-third of the overall terrain, with more than 1,000 feet of vertical drop and combined runs of up to 4,450 feet in length.
The other slopes offer skiing for everyone from beginner to advanced-intermediate. Four triple and one double chairlifts help limit lengthy lift lines to holidays and peak weekends. Ten slopes are lighted at night for all skier levels.
Wintergreen's 20th season comes on the heels of Virginia's best ski season in five years. Last winter's cold temperatures, which lasted into March and dumped more than 40 inches of snow on the Blue Ridge, brought some 140,000 skiers to Wintergreen's slopes. That interest has carried over into the new season, although the kind of cold weather needed for snow making really didn't catch up with the enthusiasm until last week. By the end of the week, Old Man Winter was back in business and Wintergreen was reporting a base that matched Snowshoes.
"We've been making snow almost around the clock," said Glickman. "The cold weather came just in time for the heart of our ski season."
Lodging for Wintergreen's 1,300 guests is in chalet homes tucked in the mountains. There are free shuttles to the slopes.
For real estate buyers, the condo market starts at around $70,000, home sites at about $20,000 and homes from $100,000 to $790,000.
Dining is in five restaurants, highlighted by the linen-set Copper Mine Restaurant, where the weekend lunch buffets are the mountain's best eating value at under $10. Family-style country cooking is available at Rode's Farm Inn in the Rockfish Valley, beneath Wintergreen Mountain.
The valley also features the 7,005-yard par 72 Stoney Creek Golf Course where skiers can play golf at no extra charge.
David Barudincovers the ski industry as a free-lance writer who lives in Roanoke. Bill Cochran also contributed information to this story
by CNB