Flat Top Mountain, and Winterplace Ski Resort

Flat Top Mountain & Winterplace Ski Resort

The first ski resort on Flat Top Mountain was established on the north slope of Bald Knob in 1958. Named Bald Knob Ski Slopes, the resort was the second commercial ski location in West Virginia, following the predecessors of Canaan Valley Ski Resort. It was founded by future West Virginia governor Hulett C. Smith and businessman John McKay, and designed by former Army officer Robert K. Potter. Operating with four tow ropes and a double chair, the resort's longest trail extended 2,800 feet. It was marketed as the southernmost ski resort in the Eastern United States. The resort closed in 1961; the site is now known as Old Winterplace. The current ski resort, sometimes known as New Winterplace, was established fifteen years later on Huff Knob, southeast of the former resort site; the two resort sites are separated by I-77.

The mountain

Winterplace is nearly equidistant between Beckley, West Virginia to the north on Interstate 77 and Princeton, West Virginia to the south. The resort's southern location and proximity to the north-south I-77 corridor draws visitors from North and South Carolina as well as local skiers from Virginia and West Virginia. The Southern West Virginia visitor's bureau promotes the resort as "the most accessible, affordable ski resort in the Southeast"

The resort's top elevation is 3,600 feet (1,100 m) with a vertical descent of 603 feet (184 m). It has 90 acres (360,000 m2) of skiable area, 28 trails, a terrain park, and nine lifts. The average snowfall for the resort is 100 inches (2.5 m). A fifty million gallon reservoir lake enables supplementary snowmaking at a rate of 7,000 gallons of water per minute. The resort's 16-lane snow tubing facility is cited as the largest in West Virginia.

The resort's ski trails extend up the northern slope of Huff Knob, in the curve of I-77. The terrain in front of the resort complex is devoted to beginner skiing; three chair lifts climb midway up the ridge, providing access to mixed easier and intermediate trails, plus the resort's terrain park and snow tubing facility. Another set of two parallel chairs extends from the resort's mid-mountain lodge to the summit, accessing expert and intermediate terrain. A run of 1.25 miles is available by skiing from the mountain summit to the main base, but multiple chairlift rides are required for return; other trails are a fraction of that length.

Wikipedia Winterplace

Located on the otherside of Flat Top Mountain is Mavis Manor, where I the Inn Keeper live. Come stay and share you're Winter adventures with me, or at least a fun story. If you don't really enjoy snow, but are down here in the winter, I make awesome coffee, I'm not trying to brag, well I'm bragging a little bit, who doesn't love a nice warm cup of well made coffee. So, if your coming to Flat Top to Ski or look out the winter and talk about how cold it must be outside with a warm cup of coffee in hand, Mavis Manor is the place to be.

Cheers
-SirJustyn