Seven Springs 1/28/11

[toast21602]

So this weekend I went out to see the gf in Pittsburgh and thought i might as well try and make the long drive not as terrible by stopping at Seven Springs to check the place out. Yesterday they claimed to have 7 inches fall, and 2 overnight, and then this morning 3-5 more fell. I wasn't really expecting too much of the place since nobody really talks about it, but let me tell you, it may not have the vert or steepness of other places, but their open terrain policy, acres and acres of glades, and tons of natural snow with a decent pitch to the mountain makes it better than anything I have skied in PA for sure. It seems as though there really aren't too many hardcore people to track the place out like Blue usually gets, but maybe that's because it's spread out over so much of the area that there is too much to cover. Oh well, i benefit from that. One cool thing about the place, is that when you drive on the access road to come in, it looks like you are going to have to pay a toll, but the booth is actually where you buy your ticket. No need to go into the lodge, you can just do it right from your car window. Super convenient. Oh, and they have two high speed 6packs. what now Blue?

 

 

Left my house at 5:15 this morning and pulled into one of the lower lots around 8:50. This pic makes the place look small, but this is where the super pipe and kiddy area is. The North Face are is where there are steeper and longer runs.

 

 

i got down to the lifts after booting up around 9:10 and the lifts were spinning with not many people around. It's awesome how wide open some of their trails are. so much room to have fun.

 

 

Their lodges are pretty baller too. and they have so many hotel rooms there. crazy.

 

 

 

the first lift ride up i knew it would be a good day. still tons of snow that was hardly tracked out from the last storm they got on wednesday and filled in nicely with the recent snow. consistent boot deep shots on ungroomed trails and boot-knee deep in trees all day.

 

 

After exploring much of the mountain and everything that it offered, i pretty much decided on staying over on the north face lapping the Gunnar lift because i found an entire gladed area that was untouched near the Turtle Neck glades which fed into the Turtle Claw glades.

 

this is steeper than it looks, and much more clear than it looks, but it's the only picture i took of it. also tried taking a video, but it's shaky. you can still see how nice everything was, though.

 

 

Turtle Claw glades/run. run of the day. steep start and then flattens out. boot deep most of the day.

 

 

The Avalance lift and Tyrol lift had some great trees to rip in on either side of the lifts and that's where i ended my day.

 

 

ended up having the best day i ever had in PA. topped the JF PASR day last year times 10. ended up getting awesome fresh turns on every run and even got a face shot once after blasting through a pillow sitting on a tree stump. i wish there were other out there with me to share in the fun. sorry for lack of pictures of people skiing, but the place was empty, and i was riding solo. oh well.

[RootDKJ]

Wow, great write up Toast. Reading all of that makes me want to bump Seven Springs higher on my to-do list (it's in the 10 year plan). I was actually looking at your PhreSheez tracks this afternoon and noticed you kept hitting the same lift/run.

 

One of my best friends from elementary school through high school was a snowboard instructor there a few years ago. I don't know if he's still there or not but I'd love to re-connect with him someday for some turns.

[toast21602]

If you ever want to go out I'll come with. Place is funnnn.

[trackbiker]

Nice report and pics, toast. Never skied there but I stayed at the hotel for a convention in the fall one time and rode the alpine slide. Wow, you made great time getting there! (65 all the way, right? )

Glad you had an uncrowded powder day. It is pretty far from a population center but I heard that it gets crazy busy on the weekends from the Pittsburgh and D.C. crowds. A good friend of mine skied there on a weekend once and now will only go on weekdays. Heard the apres ski scene is great though.

[Tyler]

im telling ya the place is sweet, ill be riding there again sunday. they get a ton of snow for pa and the parks are perfect.

 

only downfall about the place is crowds. makes blue mountain on a holiday look pretty empty on any given weekend at springs

[toast21602]

im telling ya the place is sweet, ill be riding there again sunday. they get a ton of snow for pa and the parks are perfect.

 

only downfall about the place is crowds. makes blue mountain on a holiday look pretty empty on any given weekend at springs

 

I thought it was going to be crazy yesterday when I saw how crowded the lot was when I got there but everybody was spread out. I didn't wait in a lift line at all thank god. I believe it gets packed. All the locals were so pumped that it was empty and said it was the best day if the season so far. Great timing for me.

[Justin]

only thing that blows about that place is the drive. I've been wanting to hit up 7springs for a while now, their park has been going off pretty big as well this year. I pretty much refuse to drive like 4+ hours to go ski somewhere in PA....and I never have an excuse to go to pittsburgh. looks like some serious fun though, two high speed six packs is insane

[moe ghoul]

Nice TR from PA's west coast.

[n0xidee]

You got really lucky and hit it on the perfect day. Awesome for you. When I went the place was insanely crowded and snow was lacking.

 

But the mountain is a cool layout. They know they don't have the vert so they made it wide and the open terrain is awesome.

[Zonked]

cant wait to go monday after class

[Ride Delaware ?]

Looks awesome. I have wanted to try the place out, and with the snow years they have had these past two seasons, it sounds like I need to get up there soon. However, it is 7 hours from here, and if I am going to drive that, I could be in WV or SoVT... Maybe one day... Definitely glad to hear you had a good time. If I ever have the chance to get there, I will definitely do it...

[toast21602]

cant wait to go monday after class

 

Come to Blue : )

[Jer]

its been a good year so far. Ill be in a snowcat pushing for the big jumps in the spot. tues -fri. wave if you ride by!

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Here Salty Toasts epic seven springs day. I guessed right 2011

[saltyant]

23 minutes ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

Here Salty Toasts epic seven springs day. I guessed right 2011

Good stuff. Wow, two high speed six packs??? Sounds like my kinda place.

[toast21602]

I was out there when they recorded ~250” that season and snowed the day I stopped there. Somebody on the lift asked where I was from and I responded ‘back east’ because I legit felt like I was out West. If you go, hopefully you have a similar experience.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RootDKJ]

6 hours ago, toast21602 said:

I was out there when they recorded ~250” that season and snowed the day I stopped there. Somebody on the lift asked where I was from and I responded ‘back east’ because I legit felt like I was out West. If you go, hopefully you have a similar experience.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I remember that.  You hit the jackpot that day.