CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Delegate John Doyle, D-Jefferson, is looking for the best places in West Virginia to go downhill fast.
As the lead sponsor of HB4192, Doyle seeks to create a West Virginia Ski Resort Industry Commission charged with, among other things, identifying promising locations for new ski resort developments and developing policies to encourage ski industry growth.
"There are dozens of places in West Virginia with elevations of more than 4,000 feet that would provide at least 1,500 feet of vertical drop," said Doyle, a ski instructor in his non-legislative life. "Even if just a few of them are eventually developed as ski areas, I'm convinced we could double the number of skiers that are coming here now."
Vertical drop is the distance between the summit and base of a mountain, measured straight down. If a ski run's top elevation is 4,000 feet and the elevation at its base is 1,000 feet, its vertical drop is 3,000 feet. The higher the vertical drop is, the longer and steeper a resort's ski and snowboard trails can be.
Snowshoe Mountain Resort's Western Territory runs, Cupp Run and Shay's Revenge, have vertical drops of about 1,500 feet, the biggest in the state. Timberline's top-to-bottom runs have a vertical drop of about 1,000 feet.
"We have something in West Virginia that the rest of the Mid-Atlantic lacks -- big vertical terrain in a snow belt," Doyle said. "We have several counties in our Eastern mountains with the potential to offer a product equaling what's available in New England. But we need more than two runs with more than 1,500 feet of vertical to compete with ski areas there and to the west."
By offering an abundance of longer and more challenging runs, "we could get the people who travel west or north to ski to come here for their big mountain skiing," Doyle said. "A lot of people in the Washington, D.C., area go to Pennsylvania to ski because they presume they'll find colder weather by traveling north. They don't realize we have colder mountain climates in our higher elevations. And there is nowhere in Pennsylvania with more than 1,000 feet of vertical."
Doyle's bill calls for creating a nine-member ski industry commission consisting of three delegates, three senators, two citizens with ski industry expertise, and the secretary of commerce or a designee.
The commission would issue a report on its findings and recommendations during the October 2011 interim meetings.
West Virginia's ski resorts currently draw more than 800,000 skier visits annually, pumping an estimated $250 million into the economy.
Reach Rick Steelhammer at rsteelham...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5169.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Delegate John Doyle, D-Jefferson, is looking for the best places in West Virginia to go downhill fast.
As the lead sponsor of HB4192, Doyle seeks to create a West Virginia Ski Resort Industry Commission charged with, among other things, identifying promising locations for new ski resort developments and developing policies to encourage ski industry growth.
"There are dozens of places in West Virginia with elevations of more than 4,000 feet that would provide at least 1,500 feet of vertical drop," said Doyle, a ski instructor in his non-legislative life. "Even if just a few of them are eventually developed as ski areas, I'm convinced we could double the number of skiers that are coming here now."
Vertical drop is the distance between the summit and base of a mountain, measured straight down. If a ski run's top elevation is 4,000 feet and the elevation at its base is 1,000 feet, its vertical drop is 3,000 feet. The higher the vertical drop is, the longer and steeper a resort's ski and snowboard trails can be.
Snowshoe Mountain Resort's Western Territory runs, Cupp Run and Shay's Revenge, have vertical drops of about 1,500 feet, the biggest in the state. Timberline's top-to-bottom runs have a vertical drop of about 1,000 feet.
"We have something in West Virginia that the rest of the Mid-Atlantic lacks -- big vertical terrain in a snow belt," Doyle said. "We have several counties in our Eastern mountains with the potential to offer a product equaling what's available in New England. But we need more than two runs with more than 1,500 feet of vertical to compete with ski areas there and to the west."
By offering an abundance of longer and more challenging runs, "we could get the people who travel west or north to ski to come here for their big mountain skiing," Doyle said. "A lot of people in the Washington, D.C., area go to Pennsylvania to ski because they presume they'll find colder weather by traveling north. They don't realize we have colder mountain climates in our higher elevations. And there is nowhere in Pennsylvania with more than 1,000 feet of vertical."
Doyle's bill calls for creating a nine-member ski industry commission consisting of three delegates, three senators, two citizens with ski industry expertise, and the secretary of commerce or a designee.
The commission would issue a report on its findings and recommendations during the October 2011 interim meetings.
West Virginia's ski resorts currently draw more than 800,000 skier visits annually, pumping an estimated $250 million into the economy.
Reach Rick Steelhammer at rsteelham...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5169.
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No doubt the conditions and trails in New England are better than in WV. The same can be said for Colorado vs. New England. While Colorado skiing is much better than New England, New England is a lot closer for millions of people. For the markets I mentioned before, WV is a lot closer than NE and is a suitable alternative.
Maybe if this commission can do some of the groundwork then ski companies will be more willing to invest in WV.
Build the roads first, then the businesses will follow.