Winter Sports in Pittsburgh? (Erie, York: ski resorts, home, neighborhoods)

[Fiddlehead]

Hey everyone,

Just riffing off something I read below. Vis a vis, reliability of winter cold and snow.

My son, dogs, and I love the snow in winter. We get about ten storms a winter and probably eight melt or turn into rain before noon. We do not get to do winter sports in and around town very often, and at more for 2-3 days per winter. How is the scene in Pittsburgh. Is there potential for bigtime sledding and x-c skiing around the burgh?

How far to downhill? Is it any good? I am now powderhound (just had knee surgery, so don't need to get crazy), but would like to go with my 6 y.o. I love being on the slopes, even if they are small.

As for reliable cold.... I can imagine that constant freeze thawing would get old, but a mild day now and again can be a nice break. For me the ideal would be a relatively cold, short (3 month or so) winter with plenty of snow, but one that tapers off shortly after the spring equinox, allowing spring. For instance, I have heard Butte, MT has two seasons, winter and August. No thanks...But 4 clear seasons is great for me.

[Fiddlehead]

Forgot to say, I live in Ashland, Oregon.

[Hopes]

In Pittsburgh, we don't get plenty of snow in a steady manner. It has been over a decade since we had some blizzards. We're due for a winter with heavy snowfall eventually.

Downhill skiing is one hour away to the East, and the snow is reliable in the mountains for an average of 2 months, some years have extended weeks of skiing.

We do have four seasons, but our main seasons are Summer and Winter with Fall coming in third. I personally think our Spring is rather short because it turns warm rather quickly.

You'll have opportunities to go sled riding and skating in Pittsburgh. Skating will be available more often because the temperatures hover around freezing most of the time.

Sled riding won't be available on a weekly basis. A good snowfall only happens 3 to 4 times most years. The rest of the time, it's just an inch or two of snow, slush or ice.

But within a hour North or East, you can have access to lots of snow almost regularly.

[Fiddlehead]

Thanks Hopes. Cool-3 to 4 times a winter would be good enough for some family time in the snow, with a bigger trip somewhere in there too. Is the best downhill skiing in PA or up in NY, over in MI, or south in WV?

Where are the best places for x-c skiing?

[AaronPGH]

If you want the biggest hills, I'd say WV is the nearest place with some good nearly 1000 ft vertical. Snowshoe has two trails that are a 1500 ft vertical. Be warned though, Snowshoe gets absolutely mobbed on peak winter weekends...and it's pricey since it's an Intrawest-owned resort. 7 springs is *ok*, but way over crowded.

Personally, and it's a TINY place, but the best snow and family skiing I've found nearby has been Peak n Peek in Jamestown (?) NY. It's about 2.5 hours away. Tiny vertical, but they always have powder because of their proximity to Lake Erie. It's also very cheap, and never usually crowded.

I haven't been further upstate in NY yet. I hear Holiday Valley is good but I've never been there. You're not going to find anything around Pittsburgh that's like western skiing though. I figure you already realized that however.

[Fiddlehead]

Hi AaronClark,

I just googled Peek and Peak and saw a cool home video of some guys skiing there. It looks like a great place to teach a kid to ski. Thanks for the tip.

I would suspect that up by the Great Lakes it would be colder and maybe less icy?

Yea, not looking for Snowbird or Telluride in PA! Just family fun options.

[Hopes]

I prefered Hidden Valley for teaching children to ski. The slopes are more gentle. Even Seven Springs has some rather steep parts on the beginners slopes. Hidden Valley also has a great intermediate slope that is really a beginner slope but labeled intermediate because it's a couple of miles long. It's just a great slope for beginners to feel like they get to stay out there for a while!

I've always wanted to try Blue Knob. It's in a more mountainous part of PA but still within 2-1/2 hours.

Here's a map with ski resorts in PA: http://www.skisite.com/downhillList.cfm?state=PA

I thought there was one up near Erie, but I guess it's actually in upstate NY. (I was planning to try that area last year too.)

The problem with heading towards Erie is you'll end up in some frightening snow storms. My husband drove up there regularly and WHITEOUTS are very common when driving the highway. It's bitter cold too.

Here are the ski resorts in West Virginia: http://www.skisite.com/downhillList.cfm?state=WV

Here are the ski resorts in New York: http://www.skisite.com/downhillList.cfm?state=NY

There will always be PLENTY of snow within an hour's drive from Pittsburgh in the winter.

The Erie snow belt ends about an hour North. It's not mountainous up there, but there's a lot of snow. And the mountains are East.



Here's the annual snowfall for Pennsylvania:

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/ctp/features/snowmaps/annualsnow.gif (broken link)

[Fiddlehead]

Cool pattern in NW PA. with the lake effect snow to the north.
Jeez, this thread is getting me snow crazy.

[BrianTH]

Everyone has covered the big picture. I'll just note if you end up looking to live in the East End neighborhoods near Pitt, there are some cool sledding/tubing and cross-country options in the local big parks. As previously noted, with the milder winters we have had lately you are looking at probably just a handful of decent occasions lasting a few days each with good snow on the ground, although in the past we have gotten some longer periods.

[Fiddlehead]

Yes, I am looking into the eastside neighborhoods (Squirrel Hill, Regent Square,etc.). However, I have a red heeler who is a pretty fierce watchdog. I cannot imagine him biting anyone, who did not really deserve it (i.e., breaking and entering), or barking mindlessly, but he can get worked up by noises (dogs, people walking by) and bark or by sirens and howl. And although I really like the high density look of that area, I wonder if I would get into trouble with the neighbors. A shame really, because I love the idea of being so close to the big parks and everything else.