The Goggle Tan.

Ah, a snow-person’s greatest trophy; tan lines that mark your face at such a contrast that when you walk into your office job on Monday the “others” think you look ridiculous.

The 2013 season blessed me with the marks of a true skier, if only for a week. Last season had a different idea… I decided to go rouge and live through the winter without a season pass. Nine different mountains and four states later, I never left the comfort of the familiar Mid-Atlantic. No trips to the droughted west and no trips to Vermont, where it inherently dumped feet of snow until what seemed to be July. Is there still snow there? Even so, I still got a few pow days in. Slushy, heavy snow caked my skis but that still beats hitting rocks and praying to God your face isn’t going to hit the ground. I am a subordinate to Ski the East. I am the Ski the Tri-State area and maybe go 4 hours north, as that is what my paycheck and PTO allowed me.

End of December through early March offers 10 legitimate ski weekends or 20 Saturday/Sundays, without counting holidays. I managed to ski 18 of those days last year. This year there’s a 2015 Ridiculous Pass for Snowshoe thrown into the mix, and I vow to ski and write about a different mountain every week… but maybe avoid the holiday lines. I might even make it to Killington.

Places within 2-3 hours of me:
Maryland: Wisp
New York: Holiday Valley
Pennsylvania: Seven Springs, Hidden Valley, Blue Knob, Peek & Peak, Liberty, Whitetail
West Virginia: Canaan Valley, Timberline, Snowshoe/Silver Creek
Mini-Mtns: Mystic Mountain (Nemacolin Woodlands Resort), Tussey, Boyce Park

What other ski areas have I missed? I’d like to get a Mid-Atlantic goggle tan this time around.