Need help deciding where to visit regularly (from Pittsburgh)

[comingfromPGH]

Hi Everyone,

My name is Michael and I am new here. I am hoping to get some advice on a potential big move for me and my partner in the next few years or so.

We live in Pittsburgh and are planning to one day have a cabin/lake house that is within an hour of a solid ski mountain. We would be visiting on and off from Pittsburgh, so that limits the decisions as we don't want to have to drive more than 7 hours to the house and additional hour to the mountain.

I have come up with two options. Maybe there are more! I am welcoming any and all info.

1. Shack up by the Fingerlakes (less than 6 hours from PGH) and ski Greek Peak (30-60mins from certain Fingerlake areas)

2. Shack up by Piseco Lake (or other nearby lake ~7 hrs) and ski Gore Mountain (~1hr from lake)

Is Gore a no brainier? I have skied both at some point (several years ago) but only remember having fun at both. I know Gore is way bigger, but was reading that they don't have the best snowfall/powder.

Thanks in advance!

 

[cdskier]

Gore is a terrific mountain. They may not always have the best snowfall, but Greek won't either. If you did choose the Finger Lakes option, Greek isn't the only choice so you could mix it up a bit and have multiple areas to ski depending on where you were. Bristol would be the other large one in the Finger Lakes over by Canandaigua lake. I'd still rather ski Gore, but just wanted to point out that the Finger Lakes could give you variety.

I know a lot about the Finger Lakes but I know absolutely nothing about the area around Piseco Lake. Finger Lakes is a wonderful area in pretty much any season plus the wineries are a nice bonus. Piseco could be as well, but I know nothing about it.

So from a purely skiing perspective, I'd choose the option closer to Gore probably. For a year round vacation option, I love the Finger Lakes and would love to have a place (or even live there) one day.

 

[jimk]

Which is more important to you, summer lake activities or winter ski activities? Thing about Greek is that it's not much bigger than seven springs and many hours further away from burgh. Gore would seem to beat it for ski potential. The other thing to consider is travel time, 7 hours is pretty long for a regular friday to sunday weekend visit? You'd probably want to make most visits a long weekend at a minimum and preferably even longer.
My folks owned a ski cabin for 15 years that was about 3 hrs from main residence and that seemed a decent max travel time for regular weekend use, and use it we did! DC to Blue Knob.

 

[comingfromPGH]

Gore is a terrific mountain. They may not always have the best snowfall, but Greek won't either. If you did choose the Finger Lakes option, Greek isn't the only choice so you could mix it up a bit and have multiple areas to ski depending on where you were. Bristol would be the other large one in the Finger Lakes over by Canandaigua lake. I'd still rather ski Gore, but just wanted to point out that the Finger Lakes could give you variety.

I know a lot about the Finger Lakes but I know absolutely nothing about the area around Piseco Lake. Finger Lakes is a wonderful area in pretty much any season plus the wineries are a nice bonus. Piseco could be as well, but I know nothing about it.

So from a purely skiing perspective, I'd choose the option closer to Gore probably. For a year round vacation option, I love the Finger Lakes and would love to have a place (or even live there) one day.

thank you for the input! Bristol would be much closer... I may need to still take a trip out west every year/other though.

 

[comingfromPGH]

Which is more important to you, summer lake activities or winter ski activities? Thing about Greek is that it's not much bigger than seven springs and many hours further away from burgh. Gore would seem to beat it for ski potential. The other thing to consider is travel time, 7 hours is pretty long for a regular friday to sunday weekend visit? You'd probably want to make most visits a long weekend at a minimum and preferably even longer.
My folks owned a ski cabin for 15 years that was about 3 hrs from main residence and that seemed a decent max travel time for regular weekend use, and use it we did! DC to Blue Knob.

It's hard to say. ski activities maybe, but I see us spending more time doing outdoor summer-ish activities like hiking/swimming/etc.

 

[cdskier]

It's hard to say. ski activities maybe, but I see us spending more time doing outdoor summer-ish activities like hiking/swimming/etc.

That's the type of stuff that makes me thing the FLX area would be ideal for a vacation place. So much terrific hiking in the FLX with the various state parks and gorges. Simply stunning waterfalls in that area.

 

[jimk]

@Nick bought a vacation home near skiing and similar driving distance, but different part of the US. believe his plan is to use it as much for summer as winter with kids. he might have some insight on usage, travel time, and other stuff to consider, and pros/cons.

 

[Ski2LiveLive2Ski]

Anywhere you could find that is reasonably accessible to both Greek Peak and Plattekill?

 

[ss20]

My totally off-the-reservation recommendation- Snowshoe, WV. Only driven through there in the summer and never skied their, but it's a petty area.

My understanding is it's 1,200 vertical feet and bigger than anything in PA or western NY. Google says it's less than 4 hours from Pittsburgh. You would have to drive double that distance for a real "destination" Northeast resort. Sleeper pick?

 

[KustyTheKlown]

ive been once when i went to college in dc. its definitely not bad. high elevation (4800) so it gets decent snow. its remote as fuck tho. nothing there or anywhere near. its upside down. base and parking are at the top.

 

[JimG.]

Gore is a terrific mountain. They may not always have the best snowfall, but Greek won't either. If you did choose the Finger Lakes option, Greek isn't the only choice so you could mix it up a bit and have multiple areas to ski depending on where you were. Bristol would be the other large one in the Finger Lakes over by Canandaigua lake. I'd still rather ski Gore, but just wanted to point out that the Finger Lakes could give you variety.

I know a lot about the Finger Lakes but I know absolutely nothing about the area around Piseco Lake. Finger Lakes is a wonderful area in pretty much any season plus the wineries are a nice bonus. Piseco could be as well, but I know nothing about it.

So from a purely skiing perspective, I'd choose the option closer to Gore probably. For a year round vacation option, I love the Finger Lakes and would love to have a place (or even live there) one day.

Totally agree with this. And while these areas may not get the most snowfall from storms they certainly benefit from copious lake effect snow. Spent last Thurs-Sun at Gore and it snowed every day except Sunday.

 

[kendo]

I'd recommend the Finger Lakes region. Awesome options for true (4) season enjoyment. Hiking, Biking, Wineries, Craft Beers, Boating, Skiing, Ice Fishing, Sailing, small town Festivals and more without the excessive travel time from Pittsburg to the Adirondacks or beyond. Property on the lakes is getting more expensive every year as most of the old cottages have been turned into year round homes or knocked down for new homes. I'd look at the smaller lakes of Conesus, Honeoye, Canandaigua or Keuka if you want a waterfront location.

I'm biased as I grew up on one of the above Lakes and skied Bristol & Swain ... a lot.

Bristol has 1200 continual fall line vert with (2) HSQ and other lifts so you can get a lot of runs in. They do a good job with snowmaking and get good natural snow as they're at the far end of the Lake Erie, lake effect zone. Night skiing is popular so with a pass, you can get a lot more skiing in than day only resorts.

Swain (where AJ Kitt learned to ski) has 650 vert with (3) old and VERY SLOW quad's from the 70' or early 80's and a 50 yr old double. More of a family resort with a lot of regulars that have skied there forever. Swain gets a lot of snow directly off Lake Erie. Good mix of trails and enough of a challenge to keep you coming back. Needs to replace the double with a HSQ to compete with Bristol but doubt the owners have the capital. Night skiing is also popular. Skied Swain with a buddy last Feb on a weekday and there were literally ~10 others skiers at the resort. Weekends they're busy with Rochester, Buffalo and Cleveland skiers. Weeknights they have school ski clubs and local race teams on the slopes (how I learned to ski), not sure if they still do or if Bristol has pulled them away.

Another popular resort is Holiday Valley in Ellicottville (a great little town). Have a lot of friends that have migrated there from Bristol and Swain or ski there a few times per year for variety. HoliMont is a semi-private resort adjacent to HV and is a nice area to ski.

 

[cdskier]

Swain (where AJ Kitt learned to ski) has 650 vert with (3) old and VERY SLOW quad's from the 70' or early 80's and a 50 yr old double. More of a family resort with a lot of regulars that have skied there forever. Swain gets a lot of snow directly off Lake Erie. Good mix of trails and enough of a challenge to keep you coming back. Needs to replace the double with a HSQ to compete with Bristol but doubt the owners have the capital. Night skiing is also popular. Skied Swain with a buddy last Feb on a weekday and there were literally ~10 others skiers at the resort. Weekends they're busy with Rochester, Buffalo and Cleveland skiers. Weeknights they have school ski clubs and local race teams on the slopes (how I learned to ski), not sure if they still do or if Bristol has pulled them away.

Another popular resort is Holiday Valley in Ellicottville (a great little town). Have a lot of friends that have migrated there from Bristol and Swain or ski there a few times per year for variety. HoliMont is a semi-private resort adjacent to HV and is a nice area to ski.

When I lived in Rochester, everyone I knew went to either Bristol or Holiday Valley. I don't know why I don't remember anyone mentioning Swain. Looks like it is only a 10 minute longer drive compared to Bristol. (I also personally couldn't justify the hour extra drive to Holiday Valley when I could be at Bristol within about 45 minutes although HV was still a popular choice with a number of people I knew). Price-wise it probably would have been an ideal spot for broke college kids to go!

 

[kendo]

Swain did a ton of school ski club business (grades 5-12) starting in the 70's on weeknights. That's where our school club went and the season's passes were a lot cheaper than Bristol - less lawns to mow in the summer to ski all winter!

I see Swain just hosted the Section V high school races. Great to see.

 

[jimmywilson69]

7 hours just to get in the area of Gore is pretty far. Living in south central PA and being a solid 5-6 hours to south Vermont or 7.5-8 hours to Killington is just a lot to do in a regular weekend. Hell our Cabin is up near Clarion (3.5 hours) and this at the limit where you don't feel like you are driving all weekend to use it from Friday evening to Sunday Evening.

The Finger lakes is amazing. We love it. its about the same distance as our cabin. Forget the wineries that is just an added bonus if you want it. There is so much awesome outdoors stuff to do up there it would be a great place for vacation home. The skiing as other's have mentioned isn't big boy mountains but looks serviceable at Bristol. I can't speak to Greek Peak.

If you are looking more ski centric Holiday Valley is in my opinion much better than 7 Springs. I grew up in western PA and skied 7s all the time. They do get a lot of snow there, but the skiing is bland. While still only ~700 ft of vertical Holiday Valley just seems a bit more "interesting". Ellicotville feels like and is a legit ski village. There are 2 ski places there too. Although Holimont is members only Sat and Sun I believe. They get tons of lake effect there. I would imagine that the summer outdoors activities aren't as great at Holiday Valley vs the Finger Lakes though.

 

[deadheadskier]

My totally off-the-reservation recommendation- Snowshoe, WV. Only driven through there in the summer and never skied their, but it's a petty area.

My understanding is it's 1,200 vertical feet and bigger than anything in PA or western NY. Google says it's less than 4 hours from Pittsburgh. You would have to drive double that distance for a real "destination" Northeast resort. Sleeper pick

My totally off-the-reservation recommendation- Snowshoe, WV. Only driven through there in the summer and never skied their, but it's a petty area.

My understanding is it's 1,200 vertical feet and bigger than anything in PA or western NY. Google says it's less than 4 hours from Pittsburgh. You would have to drive double that distance for a real "destination" Northeast resort. Sleeper pick?

No lake activities anywhere close by.

Snowshoe gets ample snow, but the weather there is freaking awful. Like 2-3 days a week no matter the season you are stuck in dense clouds and fog being at 4800 feet. I lived there for a little over a year and I found the weather massively depressing.

They have two trails off the back that are 1500 vertical and legit, but the vast majority of the mountain is 600 vertical or so

I actually find Seven Springs to be a better mountain overall. Seven Springs is like an hour from Pittsburgh.

If I lived in Pittsburgh, I'd be looking for a place near Youghiogheny River lake and just ski Seven Springs; then fly out west for better skiing. That sounds far more enjoyable to me than driving seven hours frequently to ski Gore or Greek Peak.

 

[jimmywilson69]

Good point on Snowshoe. I've never been there, but the weather doesn't surprise me based on how high the plateau is down there and the those bumps tend to catch clouds.

While I did say 7s being bland, the Laurel Highlands as a whole is really a great place for year round activities. All within an hourish of the Burgh. Which by the way is a pretty awesome city as it continuously reinvents itself from a Steel town. If you've never been its worth a visit. Lots of culture with great food and things to do.

Might be worthwhile to look for a place down around Ohiopyle, which is a short drive to 7s and about that same hourish from the Brugh

 

[deadheadskier]

Pittsburgh is indeed a fantastic small city. My brother went to Carnegie Mellon and I visited him several times.

After I lived in Snowshoe, I moved on to Wisp and Deep Creek Lake. We'd go hang in Pittsburgh pretty frequently.

Even Deep Creek / Wisp would be a more appealing vacation home option for me coming from Pittsburgh than regular seven hour travel to NY

 

[jimmywilson69]

good point on deep creek. Also the newly reopened Timberline is only about an hour from there. I had some friends visit Timberline in early January and they thought it was pretty good especially with the new lifts. They were staying at a family members house in Deep Creek and said Timberline skiing was much much better than Wisp.

 

[comingfromPGH]

All great info - thanks everyone.

Gonna say nay on Snowshoe given weather and lack of lake.

Leaning towards the fingerlakes for the warm outdoor activities and Bristol just being good enough (and somewhat close proximity). Will prob want to go out west once ever 1-2 years but that is fine too. Canandaigua might be the move - is there still a lot of good and diverse hiking around there?

Kind of want to get out of PA for it to seem more of a vacation spot.