My friend Heather and I had been talking about a girls getaway for a few months and the stars aligned for an early February trip. We bandied about a few ideas but when she mentioned that she wanted to try her hand at skiing I had the perfect place in mind-Wintergreen Resort.
Wintergreen, tucked into Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains near Charlottesville, is an easy 3 hour drive from my home in Virginia Beach and one of the best ski resorts in Virginia. After a leisurely drive with a stop at one of my favorite wineries (Wintergreen is surrounded by some of Virginia’s best wineries, cideries and craft breweries) we started our way up the mountain. With a mountaintop location the resort features some absolutely amazing views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and surrounding valleys.
Our home for the weekend was a 2 bedroom slope-side condo that was perfect for a group of friends or a small family traveling together. As I learned over the weekend Wintergreen spans over 11,000 acres with a wide variety of vacation properties ranging from condos to grand mountaintop homes. Wintergreen is a four season resort, with an award winning golf course, luxurious spa (which I will definitely need to try the next time I’m up here), lake access and miles of hiking trails (some of which connect to the old Appalachian Trail).
Food at most ski resorts can be a little hit or miss but Wintergreen serves up some seriously good eats. Our days started at the Copper Mine Bistro with a hearty breakfast to fuel a day of skiing. The Edge is a casual tavern serving up comforting favorites like burgers, tacos and creative salads alongside some of the best local brews on draft. Dinner at the Devil’s Grill is a bit more refined but not at all pretentious. Cider-braised chicken with white cheese grits, caramelized onions and meltingly tender collard greens offer up the best of the mountain south on a plate.
Snow is not a given in the south so I was thrilled with the amount of snow we had on a 50 degree day. Wintergreen has some of the best snow making on the east coast which meant I didn’t have to worry about a little warm weather getting in the way of my slope time. In fact, it was kind of great not to have to worry about bundling up like Ralphie and Randy from A Christmas Story. One layer and light coat were all I needed to enjoy a day on the slopes. While I’m more than happy to slalom my way down the easy and intermediate trails Wintergreen has 14 black diamond runs if you’re looking for a bit more of an adrenaline rush.
My friend Heather was a complete newcomer when it came to skiing so I arranged a private lesson for her(Wintergreen offers a wide array of group and private lessons ranging from novice to expert and everything in between). 90 minutes later, under the expert instruction of Savannah, Heather was owning the easy runs like she had been skiing for years.
Adventure, great food and a stunning location in the Blue Ridge Mountains make Wintergreen Resort a great getaway anytime of year and I will definitely be back.
Andi says
I’ve never thought about skiing as a girlfriend trip, but in fact, I think it would be pretty awesome.
Joseph Graham says
This has always been on my bucket list. Always to scared to try skying.
Would love to guest blog for you.
noodlebudget.com is my site.
BonBon says
FUN… can’t wait for my girlfriends getaway:) Not in the snow though…. we are all island girls:) hehehe
Kristin @ Camels & Chocolate says
Sold! Jade and I will have to add this to our ever-growing leave-the-boys-and-home-and-go travel list 😉
selina @ life outside work says
That condo looks beautiful and it looks like you had great weather – those blue skies! We haven’t been skiing for years, pre-kids we went quite a bit! We have been talking to the kids about taking them down one winter – might have to squeeze in a trip to the Aussie ski fields this year 🙂