Tubing park at Snowshoe goes green (and red, blue…)

Snowshoe Mountain is installing lights that are expected to trim energy use by 80 to 85 percent at its Coca-Cola Tubing Park. But the new lights aren’t just efficient, “they’re also pretty spectacular,” says resort spokesman Shawn Cassell.

With a wide variety of color options that allow for stunning light shows, the new cost-saving LED system will make for a sensational snow-tubing experience.

The system is only one of several energy reducing innovations that the resort—expected to open November 22, weather permitting—has recently instituted.

“We invested nearly $4 million into our snowmaking system in 2018, and the impacts of those upgrades were obvious right from the start last winter,” Cassell said.

“We opened with the most terrain we’d had in a decade last season, and the upgraded equipment allowed us to expand terrain and maintain a consistent, quality snow surface throughout the winter, despite a historically low natural snowfall total.

“Going into year two, our snowmaking team has an even better handle on the new equipment and we’re excited to see them back in action.”

The snowmaking investments reduced the resort’s energy use by about five million kilowatts annually.

“The upgraded snowmaking equipment is much more energy-efficient than its predecessors,” he said, allowing Snowshoe to lighten its carbon footprint and cut costs, “all while making more snow than ever before.”

Also new this winter, the Snowshoe Ski & Ride School will debut an innovative, new style of lesson specifically for families, he said.

“Mommy-and-Me lessons will allow parents—or aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.—to take ski or snowboard lessons with their children.”

The program is designed to improve the skiing and riding skills of parents and children and teach the parents techniques to help coach their children as they progress.

At the second-highest point in West Virginia, at 4,848 feet above sea level, Snowshoe enjoys one of the longest periods of natural snow-cover in the Allegheny Mountains.

The resort includes 11,000 acres adjoining the Monongahela National Forest and offers some of the most skiable terrain in the region as well as extensive lodging options, fully developed mountain biking trails, a Gary Player golf course, wedding and convention areas, and a wide variety of outdoor activities.

Snowshoe was chosen as the “Best Ski Resort” in the region by the readers of Blue Ridge Outdoors.

The Snowshoe Bike Park was recently named the No. 1 Bike Park in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic Regions by MTBParks.com and hosted the 2019 Mercedes Benz UCI MTB World Cup Finals.

Snowshoe Mountain Resort is part of the Alterra Mountain Co. and is included on the Ikon Pass. Find out more at www.snowshoemtn.com.