Winter is coming

Well, it’s that time of year again. Where did the summer go? The kids are back in school, the leaves are turning and if you live in New England you have been hearing ski resort ads on the radio. It’s time to start thinking about your ski trips for the coming winter. Many of the major resorts in New England & Canada open in mid November. That’s only two months away.

This is the 25th anniversary of Tours de Sport offering ski & snowboard vacations throughout the Eastern United States and Eastern Canada so we have a bit of experience in trip planning. There is still plenty of availability for the Christmas holiday, some great deals for early season getaways, and don’t forget about Presidents’ week. We can help with your family vacation, a couples’ weekend or group trip.

And, by the way, the Old Farmer’s Almanac is forecasting a colder and snowier than normal winter which should be great news after last year. So go on-line and design your vacation or give us a call and speak with one of our vacation specialists and get going on that ski vacation today.

Snowshoe Resort: Southern Skiing

With most of the major ski resorts on the eastern seaboard located north of New York City, it can be very difficult and expensive for residents in the southeastern United States to enjoy a winter vacation at a full-serivce ski resort. However, Snowshoe Ski Resort in West Virginia is often overlooked when discussing the top eastern ski resorts, and offers a pleasant surprise to nearly all first-time visitors.

Snowshoe offers 57 trails serviced by 14 lifts, and is one of the few resorts offered by Tours de Sport that has night skiing, which is offered on about half of its trails. Because of its location in eastern West Virginia, Snowshoe is the main draw for a large geographical area. Snowshoe is situated less than 400 miles from such major U.S. cities as Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, Columbus, Louisville, Knoxville, and Charlotte. As a result, many of the lodging properties are in high demand, especially during holiday seasons.

Snowshoe has a very unique layout, as most of the lodging properties are actually located at the top of the mountain instead of the base. Therefore, guests start their day not by walking over to the lifts, but by skiing down from the top of the mountain. The quaint pedestrian village at the top of the resort contains nearly all of the restaurants, as well as shopping, and and nightlife areas. Just outside the village, guests can stay in true ski-in / ski-out accomodations on the north or south ends of the resort. The Silver Creek area on the backside of the mountain is almost a separate resort altogether, since it can only be accessed by a car or bus when traveling from the main village. There is lodging available in the Silver Creek condos, which is an ideal location for families as it is located near the children's area, which includes the tubing park.

Be sure to call you Tours de Sport representative today to book your Snowshoe ski vacation!

"One Word" on 25 Resorts

In the next in our continuing series of posts celebrating our 25th anniversary, I'll take a stab at playing the word association game. In a completely unscientific setting, I had my 13 year old boarder dude give me the name of an Eastern ski resort, and I wrote down the first word that came to mind. Shown below are responses for, you guessed it, 25 resorts. Any offense to your local resort's chamber of commerce or marketing department is purely unintended!


1) Windham Mountain, NY - W (the letter)
2) Sunday River, ME - vistas
3) Mont Tremblant, PQ - joy
4) Stowe, VT - tradition
5) Hunter Mountain, NY - fast
6) Attitash, NH - fun
7) Snowshoe, WV - upside-down
8) Smuggler's Notch, VT - family
9) Waterville Valley, NH - hockey
10) Whiteface, NY - history
11) Killington, VT - unlimited
12) Mont Sainte Anne, PQ - cuisine
13) Loon Mountain, NH - rising
14) Elk Mountain, PA - uncrowded
15) Wintergreen, VA - sunny
16) Seven Springs, PA - yo-yo
17) Wisp, MD - throwback
18) Mount Snow, VT - home
19) Montage, PA - sale
20) Sugarloaf, ME - friendly
21) Sugarbush, VT - powder
22) Le Massif, PQ - unique
23) Okemo, VT - surprising
24) Jay Peak, VT - tram
25) Ascutney, VT - monadnock

What "one word" come to your mind when you hear the name of these resorts?