Ski Season

MERCERSBURG, Pa. -- Despite the recent rain and warm weather, Whitetail Resort near Mercersburg plans to open for the ski season on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. For more information on updated conditions, check out www.skiwhitetail.com .

waynesboro@herald-mail.com MERCERSBURG, Pa. - The second annual Great Outdoors Festival, a two-day "break-even event aimed at getting people to the Whitetail Ski Resort off season," brought about 2,000 people to the facility outside Mercersburg over the weekend, a Whitetail spokesman said. "We do this to familiarize people with Whitetail," spokesman Chris Black said. Those who went saw dog training and trials, a wood-chopping demonstration by Penn State Mont Alto forestry students, a fly-fishing exhibit and wood carving.

By STEVEN T. DENNIS Staff Writer, Waynesboro MERCERSBURG, Pa. - Whitetail Ski Resort's new slope-side townhouses are selling like hotcakes to convenience-conscious Washington-area skiers, resort officials said. The resort has sold nearly $6 million worth of the single-family homes in its first phase of construction now under way. Twenty-eight of the 48 units averaging $206,000 have been snatched up, said real estate director David Loughlin. About five more homes are in the process of being sold, he said.

Whitetail Resort, with less than six weeks to go before its 2012-13 winter ski season opens, said goodbye to summer Sunday, the last day of its annual two-day Great Outdoors Festival. Sunday's cold, damp weather, the prelude to the predicted major rain and wind storm threatening the area, held festival crowds Sunday to around 800, down from Saturday's estimate of 2,400, said Whitetail spokeswoman Katrina Gayman. The outdoor festival is held on the fourth weekend in October, which leads to Oct. 31, the last day to get deals on discount season passes and advantage cards, said Gayman, director of marketing and sales.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com MERCERSBURG, PA. - It was beginning to look a lot like winter Friday afternoon at Whitetail Mountain Resort.Snowmaking machines were in full fury at the ski resort on Blairs Valley Road as they began filling the slopes and grounds to set the base for this winter's ski season. The resort was taking advantage of this week's cold temperatures to start shooting the white stuff, said Chris Black, marketing coordinator for Whitetail. The snow guns starting cranking Thanksgiving evening.

Whitetail enjoys early opening By RICHARD F. BELISLE / Staff Writer, Waynesboro MERCERSBURG, Pa. - Don MacAskill, general manager of the Whitetail Ski Resort, has a stake in the weather. His personal barometers tell him that it's going to be a cold, snowy winter, he said. A possible harbinger of wintry days ahead came Thanksgiving weekend, when temperatures dropped enough to open Whitetail's ski season a month early. Snow was made on five of the resort's 19 ski and snowboarding trails, creating a startling juxtaposition of white against the green of the 14 trails that had yet to taste the season.

By LISA GRAYBEAL Staff Writer, Waynesboro MERCERSBURG, Pa. - Unless the area gets an unexpected blizzard in the next few weeks, the local ski season is over. Whitetail Ski Resort, located on Blairs Valley Road, ended its sixth season on March 2, when spring-like temperatures turned the remaining snow on the trails into slush. Now there are more patches of bare ground and grass than snow, and the chair lifts stand idle up the steep slopes. "This was one of our shortest seasons," said Rachel Nichols, communications manager at Whitetail.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com MERCERSBURG - About 300 skiers and snowboarders took to the trails at Whitetail Ski Resort on Saturday for the opening day of the 2002 skiing season. It was only the second time in the resort's 11-year history that the season has opened in November. October's above-normal rainfall in the area is a harbinger of a cold, snowy winter, said Chris Black, marketing director at Whitetail. He said the resort is expecting excellent snowfall this winter based on the fall rains.

MERCERSBURG, Pa. - A proposal to sell the White Tail Ski Resort and a golf course to the Mercersburg General Purpose Authority appears to be dead, according to authority officials. (cont. from front ) Almost two months after they went on the market, $42 million in bonds to finance the purchase of ski resort and golf course remain unsold, according to officials. "I think the sale is off. I don't think they are marketing them (bonds) anymore," said the Rev. Michael R. Brendle, chairman of the authority.

MERCERSBURG, Pa. - The owners of Ski Liberty and Ski Roundtop resorts in Pennsylvania said Tuesday they are buying the financially strapped Whitetail Ski Resort near Mercersburg for an undisclosed sum. [cont. from front page ] Eric Flynn, spokesman for Snow Time Inc., one of four final bidders for the 600-acre resort, said Whitetail will open for the upcoming ski season. The selling price will be announced after final documents are signed, Flynn said. He said the purchase of Whitetail won't conflict with or compete for skiers with operations at Ski Liberty in Fairfield, Pa., and Ski Roundtop in York County.

Cardin should focus more onbudget, less on columns To the editor: “Quick action can fend off sequestration” is the headline on Sen. Ben Cardin's column of Feb. 27. He uses the first six paragraphs of this column to promote the liberal scare tactics that Maryland will be devastated as a result of this “scarequester.” Anyone who remotely follows the news regarding this issue knows that the sequester does not reduce spending,...

Whitetail Resort, with less than six weeks to go before its 2012-13 winter ski season opens, said goodbye to summer Sunday, the last day of its annual two-day Great Outdoors Festival. Sunday's cold, damp weather, the prelude to the predicted major rain and wind storm threatening the area, held festival crowds Sunday to around 800, down from Saturday's estimate of 2,400, said Whitetail spokeswoman Katrina Gayman. The outdoor festival is held on the fourth weekend in October, which leads to Oct. 31, the last day to get deals on discount season passes and advantage cards, said Gayman, director of marketing and sales.

CLEAR SPRING -- Ever since Whitetail Resort was built near Mercersburg, Pa., rumors have swirled around Clear Spring about the inevitability of a motel catering to skiers being built there. Now that rumor is a reality in the form of a three-story motel with 79 rooms off Md. 68 just behind the town's McDonald's restaurant. Jo Ann Rankin, general manager of the Sleep Inn, said the doors opened June 24. An official grand opening is scheduled for Aug. 4 from 1 to 5 p.m. featuring a ribbon-cutting ceremony, which is expected to be attended by state and local officials.

MERCERSBURG, Pa. -- Despite the recent rain and warm weather, Whitetail Resort near Mercersburg plans to open for the ski season on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. For more information on updated conditions, check out www.skiwhitetail.com .

MERCERSBURG, PA. - No snow? Who cares? Not Whitetail Resort, which began its seventh annual Great Outdoors Festival and Ski Swap Saturday afternoon. The two-day event, which draws about 4,000 people every year, serves as the kickoff for the winter season, said Don MacAskill, the resort's general manager. "We use it to get into the ski season and also to celebrate the fall activities," MacAskill said. The festival featured falconry exhibitions, dog retrieval demonstrations and fly-fishing clinics.

MERCERSBURG, PA. No snow? Who cares? Not Whitetail Resort, which began its seventh annual Great Outdoors Festival and Ski Swap Saturday afternoon. The two-day event, which draws about 4,000 people every year, serves as the kickoff for the winter season, said Don MacAskill, the resort's general manager. "We use it to get into the ski season and also to celebrate the fall activities," MacAskill said. The festival featured falconry exhibitions, dog retrieval demonstrations and fly-fishing clinics.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com MERCERSBURG, PA. - It was beginning to look a lot like winter Friday afternoon at Whitetail Mountain Resort.Snowmaking machines were in full fury at the ski resort on Blairs Valley Road as they began filling the slopes and grounds to set the base for this winter's ski season. The resort was taking advantage of this week's cold temperatures to start shooting the white stuff, said Chris Black, marketing coordinator for Whitetail. The snow guns starting cranking Thanksgiving evening.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com MERCERSBURG, PA. - The lights lining the ski slopes of Two Top Mountain, home of Whitetail Mountain Resort, will be a lot brighter this winter for those driving along northbound Interstate 81. "Every light fixture on the mountain is being changed from 400 watts to 1,000 watts, more than doubling the amount of light for nighttime skiers and snowboarders," said Chris Black, marketing coordinator for the ski...

waynesboro@herald-mail.com MERCERSBURG, Pa. - The 2003-04 ski season at Whitetail Mountain Resort didn't match the record 2002-03 season, but it did come in a close second, said marketing coordinator Chris Black. Final figures have not been tabulated, but business during the season that ended March 14 is expected to be about 10 percent below last year, he said. Weather, as always, was the determining factor, he said. "Last year, we opened earlier and closed later and we had a lot of natural snow," Black said.