Wintergreen Resort Review: Winter Fun Tubing and Skiing

This past winter my family and I visited Wintergreen Resort Virginia.  None of us had ever been skiing or snow tubing and Wintergreen came highly recommended by close friends of ours.  We wanted a resort where we wouldn’t have to drive several miles to get to the slopes or tubing tracks, restaurants, shops, and most importantly, a resort that was super kid-friendly.  Did it fit the bill? Read my Wintergreen Resort review and find out!

This was our first adventure as a family to a ski resort.  We knew enough to realize that skiing on the east coast is not the same as heading out to Colorado and being in the south isn’t the same as going to Vermont.  We wanted someplace close enough to drive to, but that was fun for us and the kids.  We weren’t looking for some black diamond slope that leaves your stomach in your throat.  So with that in mind, it did narrow our choices down significantly. From what we saw online in other reviews and from what we’d been told, it would be a good ski resort to enjoy and had great tubing.

With all our snow gear in tow, we were ready for some good snow time fun in the mountains.  It was February after all…

So we drive up there and of course my worry wart husband is all stressed out about driving our minivan up through the potentially snowy, icy Blue Ridge Mountains.  I wasn’t worried, but of course, I wasn’t driving. He was going on about sliding down the mountain, hoping the roads were plowed, etc. so I was praying they weren’t too bad just to shut him up.   As we get closer we are looking for the snow covered mountains and, well, we weren’t seeing snow…anywhere.  Good for driving, but a liiiiitle but worrisome when you’re looking to go skiing and tubing. We figure, it’s winter, we’re in the mountains, and there should be snow everywhere. Well obviously we’re wrong. 

We did finally get up to the resort and we saw the snow on the trails, and a little on the ground in patches.  It was almost 60 degrees!  We were somewhat disappointed.  Of course the trails, and tubing runs were covered in snow they had made, but there wasn’t going to be any playing in the snow outside the room.  It turns out that they had a snowfall a few days before we got there and that was the FIRST natural snow they had all winter!  That’s crazy. It had been cold enough to make snow, but the warm temperatures were melting everything and it was too warm to make any more.

The trip included me and the hubby, my two kiddies, and my parents so we needed two bedrooms. They have several different lodging options from studios, 1-5 bedroom condos, and 2-7 bedroom homes. Some of the homes had breathtaking views, but they weren’t going to fit our budget. We decided to go with a 2 bedroom condo and our unit happened to be in Fairway Woods which overlooked one of the golf courses. Wintergreen Resort is not just a ski resort, but a four season resort. They have two golf courses, a top 10 ranked tennis academy, a spa, and various other activities.  A golf course view doesn’t offer up much in the winter, but it was the fun for the kids we were looking for anyways.

The master had a queen bed and the second bedroom had two twins. My oldest son tosses and turns so much that my husband and I often flip to see who ends up sleeping with him. Fortunately, we brought our queen sized air mattress and there was just enough room for it at the foot of the beds. He could toss and turn to his heart’s delight and we could get a decent night’s sleep.

It had a kitchen with everything you would need to cook - dishes, plates, utensils, etc. and the living room had a small tv with a DVD player as necessary to entertain the kids. It was clean and basic, nothing extravagant. Each unit is different and while they show a representative 2 br condo, the unit we were in was not as nice so it’s a hit or miss proposition.

Shuttles stopped at various points throughout the resort and would take us from our room to the ski rental area and also from there to the tubing area.  They seemed to come along fairly frequently, ran continuously, and were never full.  On the weekends they run continuously, however during the week, you need to call to have them pick you up and take you to/from where ever you might want to go.

Part of why we chose this resort was for the dedicated kids play area called Ridgely’s Fun Park. It’s $10/ hour per person and they limit the amount of tickets they sell for each hour so it doesn’t get too crowded.  It’s specifically designed for the little ones.  It’s a mini hill with a small two lane tubing run that anyone 3 and up could do on their own or smaller ones on mom or dad’s lap. There are little sleds, snowball makers, and big plastic blocks to hide behind or make forts with when the inevitable snowball fights break out. There are large corrugated pipes used as tunnels for the kids to crawl through and a tee-pee with a bonfire you can go into to warm up. One family had brought all the goodies to make Smores and was kind enough to share with us.

Now it was pretty fun except that the snow was more like slush or like a giant snow cone, because it was mostly snow that had been made and was melting.  It was still fun, but you can’t really pelt your kids in the face with an ice ball like you could with a handful of powder.

Right across from Ridgley’s is a place called The Dome.  It’s basically a game room with the standard fare - air hockey, a pool table, and foosball, but also has Wii’s and XBox’s.  It’s $18 for 2 hours.  If the weather is bad, you need a ski break, or you’re a gamer, this is your place.  Out front they have a big bungee/trampoline thing (I’m not sure what else to call it),  a climbing wall, and a miniature golf course.

Another big reason we chose Wintergreen Resort was that it has a great snow tubing run called The Plunge.  It’s 900 feet long and a 100 foot vertical drop.  I was looking forward to this more than the skiing!  Only one person per can go in each tube, but you can hook several tubes together to get more speed.  At $25 for two hours, it’s definitely worth it.  They say you travel at speeds up to 30 mph and I can believe it.  I almost think they should make you wear a helmet, because if you get bounced off this thing, it’s going to hurt. 

They have 12 lanes and again like at Ridgely’s they only sell so many tickets during each 2 hour block so it isn’t too crowded.  That way you are sure to get plenty of turns.  Our first trip was during the 4-6PM time slot.  Hubby stayed behind with our little one who is too small to go barrelling down this thng because you have to be at least 42 inches tall.  It was a total thrill.   The only problem is that my 6 year couldn’t make it all the way to the end because he wasn’t heavy enough to get enough speed.  When all 4 of us linked all our tubes together - we were flying!

My husband came out for the 7-9PM session with me as my folks and 6 year old went back to the room.  Now here’s where the lack of snow works in our favor. During the afternoon the sun comes out and melts the snow/slush, then at night when the temperature drops, it freezes into a sheet of ice and increases the speed big time.  This is snow tubing to the extreme.

At the end of the run they have these rubber mats on each track that are supposed to slow you down/stop you and a little ways past that is an orange mesh retaining fence.  During the daytime the rubber mats work pretty well.  During the nighttime when you are really hauling ass…not so much.  If not for that orange fence which looks to be made of the same crap they used to make those plastic rings that hold a six pack together high quality plastic, you’d be preparing to meet your Creator as you go sailing head over ass off the edge of the cliff. 

If you’re not much for spinning, twisting, going fast backwards, then stay home or hit The Dome. Otherwise the snow tubes are awesome fun!

Once you purchase tickets for The Plunge you are entitled to a 75 minute group ski lesson for $15 (which includes the equipment, and lift access to the training slope).   Due to a snafu, the lesson started without us and left us at the rental area.  However an instructor was nice enough to give us a private lesson instead of the group lesson. His name was Kevin, but his nickname is “Chocolate”.  Evidently he loves chocolate and always carries some around with him and gives it to people during the lesson (instant brownie points of course…who doesn’t love chocolate).  He was fantastic with us and even more so with my son.  If you go to Wintergreen Resort and get a private lesson (or check the instructor for a group lesson), I highly recommend you request him. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

My son loved the lesson so much we decided to put him in a kids class the following day.  Their Ridgeley’s Rippers class is $65 for a half day or $95 for a full day 8-4.  It’s a combination of ski lessons (including equipment and lift access), time on the slopes, snacks, and lunch in their indoor facility called The Treehouse.  Now if you do this on the weekend, it’s quite crowded and while they probably try to keep a low child to instructor ratio, you’ve got a lot of little ones in one area so I can imagine what that would be like.  Fortunately, we brought him there on a Tuesday and there was hardly anyone there.  For the morning session there were only 2 kids per instructor and since he had already taken a lesson the previous day, he was able to go right out to the slope.  After a few runs, he came back for some more practice at the training area.  The training area is off limits to parents and is nicely fenced in so no one will come crashing into the kiddies.  You are able to stand outside and see the area, but can’t get close enough as to distract the kids while they are practicing.  It was well designed.

A few kids were enrolled only for the half day session so for the afternoon session each child had his own private instructor since there were only 4 of them.  So it was a few hours out on the trail, back for another snack and hot chocolate, then a few more hours all by himself with the instructor, who was also great with him.  My son loved it and by the end he was so thoroughly exhausted that he could barely walk.  But he loved it, every minute of it and had a grin from ear to ear.

Overall, I’d say it was a great first ski and tubing experience, especially for the kids.  I really can’t say enough about how fun the tubing was. We went in early February and although the weekend did have plenty of action, during the week it was almost like a ghost town so it was perfect for individual attention and lots of room on the slopes. If you are looking for a mix of skiing, tubing, and fun for the little ones, we think you should give Wintergreen Resort Virginia a try.