Wintergreen Resort is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and Mother Nature has gifted the Nelson County destination a wintery wonderland just in time for the milestone.
Central Virginia has had consistently cold temperatures for much of the 2024-25 winter sports season, which has allowed Wintergreen's snowmaking team to keep the resort's slopes blanketed with a deep base of the white stuff. The resort also has seen 30 inches of natural snowfall this winter.
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The chilly temperatures and natural snowfall have been a welcomed change for Wintergreen, which has had to work through the challenges created by mild winters in recent years. During the 2022-23 winter sports season, Wintergreen closed for the season in late February after being open for only 68 days, its shortest season in at least a decade, due to warm temperatures.
"The past few years, the weather didn't play in our favor as much as it has this year," Wintergreen spokesman Josh Ellwood told The Daily Progress. "We have had an incredible ski season. The weather has been our best friend for most of the season, and conditions all season -- pretty much since we have opened -- have been awesome."
As the calendar flips over to March, all 27 of Wintergreen's ski trails are open and the resort has a snow base that varies between 30 and 45 inches. Ellwood said Wintergreen's winter sports season usually runs until about the second week of March, but the resort has the ability to stay open longer if the weather is cold enough and there is still demand.
"[Mid-March] is normally when weather forces us to close," he said. "With the current weather forecast, we may end up picking our closing date this year more so based on demand rather than conditions."
The demand for snow sports at Wintergreen comes in a variety of forms. In addition to traditional skiing and snowboarding, the resort has two parks for freestyle riders and a snow-tubing hill. The resort also offers programs for adaptive skiers.
Getting started
Wintergreen has a variety of options for those interested in learning how to ski or snowboard. The resort offers beginner group lessons as well as private instruction in addition to hosting adult ski and snowboard clinics. Wintergreen also has skiing and snowboarding equipment available for rent.
"We like to lean on the fact that we are a really good beginner mountain," Ellwood said. "We introduce a lot of people to the sport, and we kind of take some pride in that."
This season, Wintergreen added to its beginner offerings with the Fuller Experience, a free learn-to-ski program for riders 8 years and older. The program is named after Rick Fuller, who was a longtime ski instructor at Wintergreen prior to his death in 2021.
The program offers three two-hour group lessons and includes equipment rentals and lift tickets. Students who complete all three sessions in the program are eligible for a discounted season pass for both the remainder of the current season as well as the following season. Ellwood said the Fuller Experience program reached full capacity in its first season.
"This year, we just started it and it was very successful," Ellwood said of the program. "We will make tweaks as we need to over the offseason, and we absolutely will offer it again next season."
Skiing and snowboarding
Wintergreen is nestled high in the Blue Ridge Mountains, boasting a summit elevation of 3,515 feet. The resort has 129 skiable acres, making it the largest of Virginia's four winter sports resorts.
Wintergreen is an "upside down" resort, meaning that its base area is at the top of the mountain instead of the bottom. Unlike many resorts, where skiers and snowboarders have to ride a lift to the top of the mountain before getting their first turns of the day, riders at Wintergreen start their day with a trip down the mountain before getting on a lift for the first time.
The mountain's 27 trails offer a wide variety of terrain, ranging from mellow, beginner-friendly runs to steep black diamonds for experts. Nearly half, about 45%, of Wintergreen's trails are rated as intermediate runs, while 23% are ranked as beginner runs and 32% are graded as expert runs.
Wintergreen's mountain layout creates three distinct sections that are each serviced by one primary lift. The middle portion of the mountain, which is located next to the resort's Mountain Inn, rental shop and restaurants in the base area, is home to nearly all of Wintergreen's beginner runs, as well as the resort's two freestyle parks.
This area is primarily serviced by the Blue Ridge Express six-pack chair but also includes the Logger's Alley triple chair, which is used primarily by terrain park riders on weekends, and the Potato Patch double chair.
From the beginner area, riders looking to access more challenging terrain can take Upper Crosstrail, a beginner trail that goes through a tunnel and feeds into Eagles Swoop, an intermediate trail. This serves as the entrance to Wintergreen's intermediate area, which is serviced by the Big Acorn quad chair.
In addition to its five intermediate runs, this area also has three black diamond runs, including the Sunrise Glades for tree-skiing enthusiasts. Riders departing the intermediate area take Eagles Swoop to Lower Crosstrail, a green trail that returns riders back to the beginner area.
Most of Wintergreen's expert terrain is located in the Highlands, which is home to nine black diamond runs and one double-black diamond trial, Lower Cliffhanger.
To access the Highlands from the main base area, riders can take either the Dobie or Diamond Hill runs in the beginner area down to the Blue Ridge Express six-pack chair. Just past the lift are downhill entrances to several of the Highlands' trails (the Gap, Hydraulic, Lower Cliffhanger and Devils Elbow).
Once skiers and snowboarders are in the Highlands, they will ride Highlands Express six-pack chair. To return to the base area from the Highlands, skiers take Logger's Alley, a black diamond trial that merges with Diamond Hill in the beginner area, and take either the Loggers Alley triple chair or the Blue Ridge Express six-pack chair back to the top of the mountain.
According to On The Snow, an online ski report for resorts across North America, Wintergreen's five lifts can accommodate around 11,000 guests per hour.
"We are pretty happy with our uphill capacity," Ellwood said. "In terms of meeting demand for the amount of guests that we service, everything seems to be on point right now."
Freestyle riding
Wintergreen has both a progression park and a terrain park for freestyle skiers and snowboarders. The progression park has smaller features than the terrain park and gives newer freestyle skiers and riders a chance to hone their skills.
The terrain park offers some larger features enjoyed by more experienced riders, including rails, tabletops and boxes. The layout of the park is constantly updated by Wintergreen's terrain park team in order to help keep things fresh and challenging.
"We have a great terrain park team and they do like to mix it up," Ellwood said. "It's very likely that you won't see the same setup for more than two or three days in a row. They are always switching out features and just kind of keeping it fun for everybody."
The terrain park hosts rail jam and slopestyle events during the winter sports season. Wintergreen also has a freeride team that participates in competitions both locally and regionally.
Snow tubing
One of Wintergreen's most popular winter activities does not involve skiing or snowboarding at all.
Situated between Wintergreen's beginner and intermediate slopes is the Plunge, the largest snow tubing park in Virginia. According the resort, the Plunge has a vertical drop higher than a 10-story building and is longer than three football fields, which allows riders to reach speeds of up to 30 mph.
"Tubing is incredibly popular. It seems every year there is no interest lost in tubing," Ellwood said. "And I think that part of that is skiing may not be for everyone, so even if a family is up here on vacation and you may not have a skier [in the family], everyone can have fun tubing."
Riders must be 42 inches or taller to ride at the Plunge, which is open for snow tubing Thursday through Sunday each week during the winter sports season as well as some Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays during holiday periods.
Adaptive sports
Wintergreen has a strong presence in the adaptive skiing community, which helps people with disabilities get on the slopes.
Wintergreen Adaptive Sports is a nonprofit organization that offers lessons for adaptive skiers and puts on special events at Wintergreen throughout the winter sports season. The organization's headquarters are located right next to Wintergreen's slopes.
According to its website, Wintergreen Adaptive Sports has provided adaptive instruction in outdoor sports to more than 4,000 students with disabilities. The organization also puts on events each winter, including a four-day Winter Kids Amputee Camp.
Wintergreen Adaptive Sports also annually hosts a Wounded Warriors Weekend, which brings together service members who have sustained injuries or disabilities, along with their families and caregivers, for a weekend on the slopes.
"Wintergreen Adaptive Sports are a huge part of our offerings," Ellwood said. "It's a great program to have."