Wisp Resort

When you hear Resort you think Ooo-​LaLa. Well this resort isn’t.
The front desk staff is nice but not knowledgeable of there product. We were told our trim had two double beds and a Murphy bed when we checked in we had a King bed with a pull out couch and when we told the staff of the issue she again stated what she «knew» was in the room. Did I mention we walked up to the room so we KNEW what was in there.
They are making renovations but the old side is really old. The pool is a good distance away from the newer side and it feels like it’s in a basement, and the gym well it is in the basement. They do have some good machines but again it’s really creepy down there.
I usually make my bed in the hotel, this time I’m glad I did. You can tell the housekeeping staff did less than minimal work in cleaning my room. Who cares if the pillows aren’t fluffed but not on the bed in any type of hotel order, WOW!!! The TV is on the wall to save space I guess but it’s to small to get a good view from the bed and then there is a make shift wooden stand hung above it for the cable box.
The room design is extremely weird. You walk into the area that has two double beds and then there is a door the further you go back to a living room area with a Murphy bed. That space is great but you have to walk through the bedroom to get there just a strange layout.
I’m usually not this critical but when an establishment is called a resort I expect more.

If you are coming to try skiing, just buy the 1 day pass. For someone that is good (or has no fear) the mountain is probably awesome but, I don’t have any experience and after the first day, didn’t want to use the second day pass. I called the main number and asked if I could exchange it for a snow tubing pass first thing the next morning and they said they wouldn’t do it. It was a complete waste of money for me. This place had no customer service and only cares about making a dollar. There are exceptions to every rule, in my opinion, and I wasn’t asking for a refund, simply to uses that money towards another one of the activities that was offered.

This joint has really kicked it up a notch since the last time I visited more than a decade ago. It’s a very reasonably group-​priced naturally beautiful snowtime getaway with a couple of nice-​ish amenities that could be grand if any taste, attention to detail or customer service training for the children there employed were applied. The food at all locations sucked, bigtime.
Pool was nice but the jacuzzi about as big as a bathtub. Personally, I don’t want to bump toes with strangers, but maybe some do. Ditto the fireplaces. And, uh sauna, steam, massage?
Don’t you get it, WISP? Fire and ice, dig?
Chintzy linens, crap TVs, décor reminiscent of Fuddruckers. They really tried, but improvements are needed. Like hire a chef
Internet was ok, and I liked the art gallery, staffed by the artist!
Even despite shortcomings, the uniqueness of this venue in W. Md. Makes me give it a 4 star rating. They’re trying.
Ice skating rink was sad.
Tubing fun.

The ski school is awful. Both of our kids had great experiences at other slopes. Here, the «instructors» left them at the top of the hill alone and waited for them at the bottom of the hill. It was like pulling teeth to get our kids to ski again. Fortunately, we went back to Timberline in Davis, WV and the kids were won over again.
Wisp facilities are more modern and nice. Food is good. Just don’t trust the ski school!!!

What a great skiing experience for my wife! !! This review of wisp is from her experience since I was unable to ski due to my surgery!!!
We went to wisp this weekend 1÷30÷16 for the Subaru winter feet! We got free lift tickets for owning a Subaru so it was definitely worth the trip! I’m not 100% sure how much a regular pass is on a Sunday but we were definitely enjoying this event! Great job for Subaru!
The main lodge is pretty decent size and we didn’t have any trouble finding a seat to eat and take a break! There was even a race event here today so it seemed really busy! As far as prices for the food it’s a ski resort so prices are a rave for the other ski resorts I’ve been too! $ 2.11 for a bottle of water kind of thing!!! But definitely pleased with the service and the food! No wait for us to pay so that’s a plus!
As far as the lift lines, it was definitely organized and from my observation there was not much of a wait at all! It flowed smoothly!
The beginner area was definitely a great place to start! They had 3 different levels for beginners to try! My wife tackled this area first and was definitely pleased!
Today was definitely a great experience at wisp for her! We will definitely come back here in the future! I will be able t update the runs at that time!
My wife enjoyed the ski slopes for sure! Come check it out!

We went here to look for a wedding venue. The girl that helped us was nice, but it all seemed haphazard and not well put together. Their pamphlets were a mess (literally ink smeared everywhere). She showed us 4 spaces to have a wedding.
In the lodge– it’s a ski lodge, it smells like a ski lodge (plasticy) Meh
On the mountain top– pretty but really really windy and cold
On a covered pavilion on the mountain top– ummm picnic wedding anyone?
In a tent– as far as tents go, it was nice, but still a tent
The pricing started at like 20k. It just seemed like too much for too little that was not organized well at all. No thanks.

First of all, I’d like to address previous reviews. Most complain about outdated furnishings in regards to lodging, and overpriced food. To start, if you’re going to complain about not staying in the Ritz-​Carlton then you should re-​consider why you’re at Wisp in the first place. You should really only be using the hotel as a place to sleep (if you’re even slightly serious about skiing). As for the food, all ski lodges overprice their food. It’s a business, and their job is to know that we will all pay the ridiculous costs because of the convenience. This should be expected at almost every ski resort, so if you don’t like it pack a lunch.
My experience with Wisp has always been amazing. I started snowboarding there when I was about 5 years old, and it has always been a second home to me. My family usually makes it out there about 2 – 3 times a year, with one of those trips being a Summer lake trip. Wisp has a very «at-​home» feel with the constant snow-​fall, the beautiful homes, and the scenic views. There may be better resorts for a comparable price and distance from home, such as Snowshoe, but I will always choose Wisp first. The skiing is the best you will get for a sub-​3 hour drive from DC. The runs may be slightly short, and for advanced skiers they may not be very difficult. However, I am at a pretty advanced skill level and I can honestly say I can easily keep myself entertained for several days at Wisp. Trails are almost always groomed nightly, so expect groomed trails every morning. Just make sure you get to them before the novices scrape away all of the fresh powder! Wisp can tend to be crowded at times (especially during public school holidays) but with several different sides to the mountain it isn’t difficult to escape the crowds. Crowds also start to thin once dusk hits. Another advantage of Wisp is great night skiing. It is almost always close to empty towards 6 – 7 pm, so there is plenty of time to enjoy the slopes for yourself. The lodge food is lodge food. What can I say. Some have described it as «inedible», which I highly disagree with. Unless you are a health junkie, the food is very tasty and it is possible to get lighter/​healthier options. There are two different bars with their own separate menus apart from the lodge food, for anybody who is looking for something a tad less fast food-​esque. Food may be on the expensive side, but you can’t expect anything else from a ski resort. Businesses like this will always try and milk you for as much money as possible. The hotel attached to the Wisp lodge isn’t anything special, but I wouldn’t say it’s anything close to a dump. Most rooms have 2 queen beds, with the suites having a third «murphy» bed in an attached room. The beds are comfortable and the service isn’t sub-​par to anything else I’ve experienced in comparable price ranges. Rooms have free wifi and a mini-​fridge as well as a TV and full bathroom. Personally, I only am in the room when I am going to bed and waking up. I like to spend most of my day out on the slopes, but for anybody who prefers to spend a little bit more time in the hotel room, you will not feel as if you are living in filth. For anybody who prefers something a little bit more sophisticated, there are several fancier lodges in the surrounding area, with only a 5 – 10 minute drive away from the slopes. Wisp has a great ski school. This is where I learned to ski and they did a better job of teaching me than anybody else could have. Instructors usually start out teaching kids in a sectioned off ski school area, and then later taking them up on some green circles and maybe blue squares. Private lessons are available as well. For that one person in your family that does not ski due to various reasons such as injury, the surrounding town of Deep Creek is full of activities. There are many surrounding restaurants, a movie theatre, and also several fun things to do on the mountain. A relaxing day at Wisp comes with ease. Explaining my reasoning for only 4 stars instead of 5… I would have to say that there are ski resorts that are just as good as Wisp, but are around 30 minutes to an hour farther from DC. Because they aren’t much farther, they are comparable and sometimes better options. What to take away from this review: Unless you are traveling way up North or out West, Wisp is a fantastic ski resort to make memories and have an amazing time with family and friends.

THE PROS: The best part about Wisp Mountain is its Ski School. It’s snowmaking capabilities are good for a region that survives on it. The lodge, restaurant, and local amenities nearby are a big attraction.
THE CONS: This place is crowded on weekends! It’s full of people that should take more ski lessons and there are yard sales everywhere and people skiing out of control. Skiing is not as fun while you’re worried about your own safety. Their trails get tracked out quickly after a morning grooming. The lift ticket cost was high for the experience. The mountain has short trails and only has a vertical drop of 700ft, but sometimes I question if that number is even that long. Driving 3 hours from DC, then skiing down most likely icy terrain for a couple minutes on a crowded trail and you wind up back in a long lift line. It’s not how I would like to spend my time and money!
THE RUN DOWN: I cant justify the drive and money from DC whereas there are better resorts to go to under 3 hours away such as Canaan Valley Resort (180in of annual snow and a great terrain park) in West Virginia or Blue Knob (100in of annual snow, most advanced terrain in the Mid-​Atlantic, & should be skied after a big storm) in Pennsylvania!
My Blue Knob Resort Review:

Disclaimer: my experience is based on attending Wisp for a workplace meeting. First off, they claim to offer «free internet» however not a single person in a 30 person party was able to access their «free» internet for the duration of our stay. When asking the front desk (teeny boppers) for IT assistance they“emailed” their IT guy and absolutely nothing came of it. I then proceeded to ask for the password to their «Premium» internet and they were going to charge me $ 10 but couldn’t guarantee it would work either. They refused to waive the $ 10 fee and made a pathetic (I’m being polite) attempt to have IT look into the issue.
Secondly, the rooms themselves are dingy and outdated with several water stains on the ceiling and a smell coming from the air units that can only be described as dirty gym socks.
We will NOT be having another meeting at the Wisp which is unfortunate due to all the outdoor activities that are offered. The reality is if you’re thinking about utilizing the Wisp for anything beyond lodging and outdoor activities, look elsewhere.

I’ll begin this review by saying that I am very new to skiing. I’ve only skied at three locations thus far, all of which were small. I really enjoyed Wisp. I went on a Friday and a Saturday — would highly recommend weekdays if feasible with your schedule due to lesser crowds and cheaper lift tickets. Lift tickets are generally $ 20 more on Saturdays and Sundays, topping out at $ 69 for a full day.
Even though the crowds were bigger on Saturday, I never had to wait that long for the lift. And once up and going down hills, there was plenty of space to ski, especially for the newbies amongst us who require a little more room! I went to Whitetail a few weeks ago and the lines were way longer, which makes sense because it is closer to DC.
I consider Wisp to be a great place if you are new to skiing. There are a number of great green and blue trails, and the greens are longer than at Whitetail so you get more of a ride. Some of my favorites include: Wisp Trail and Possum in the main area, and then the whole section near Chair #7, such as Ridge Run and Big Dipper. Whip Saw was a little too steep for me. Maybe next time!

Great conditions. It’s a very wide mountain, it can take 3 runs and 3 lifts to get from one side to the other. It’s only about 700 vertical, but my kids don’t mind. The frozen lake view on some of the slopes is a great photo op!
They have new stuff in a new yurt village.

As far as Mid-​Atlantic resorts go, Wisp is on the top end of the spectrum,. Ample trails, decent powder, reliable grooming, and a awesome group discounts warrant this place 4 stars, in my opinion. Standard operating guidelines apply to Wisp like any other resort:
— Go on a weekday if you can, great discounts
— Group deals: purchase 20+ tickets, and they’re $ 25 pp on a weekday. Can’t beat that!
— If you must go on a weekend day, hit up the slopes earlier in the day. Sometimes, if you arrive a few minutes before the resort opens, the lifts are already going, and you can score 15 minutes or so free time. Plus the slopes get understandably more torn up and icy as the day goes on.
— Eat a big breakfast an hour before heading to the mountain; that’ll give you energy for the day, and reduce the chance you’ll binge and go into a food coma after lunch.
I’d compare Wisp to Seven Springs: as good as it gets within 3 hours of Baltimore. Want more? You’ll have to head up to New England.

I’ve been to Wisp several times and have had mostly good experiences in skiing and tubing. Staff experiences are usually 80% good but a few who still need customer service training. Ultimately the skiing and tubing is good with a base of man made and natural snow.
Today was different because of the customer base — several ghetto adults who had limited self awareness skills and thought it ok to talk loudly and used the phrase «mutha f@&ing» as the only adjective, noun, verb, adverb they were aware of. Plus constantly stepping in front of others. Really a rude crowd. It was the urban experience you’d think you would avoid by driving out to Wisp with small children.

I visited the Tubing Park Sunday, January 18^th, 2015 with 11 other adults and had a fantastic time!
I called a week ahead and made reservations for 8 people (paid over the phone) for the 10:00 am — 12:00 pm time slot. We arrived at 10:15 am and attempted to purchase three (3) additional tickets but we were told the time slot was already sold out! We were quite disappointed to hear this since we had woken up very early to have a big breakfast and made the 20 minute drive from our cabin! A manager came out and resolved the issue in 2 seconds though! The level of customer service we received was wonderful! Because of this we are all able to enjoy the Tubing Park that same morning.
We started our session a little late but it wasn’t very busy and we were able to make several trips down the mountain for the first hour with very little wait time. The second hour however was very different! The wait time was very long and the flat escalator ramp broke down a few times going up the mountain. All in all it was a good time and worth $ 34.
Tip: When selecting a tube be sure to go with the lightest tube (heavy tubes mean snow/​ice has gotten in the tube).

Can’t say this is the most luxurious spot I have ever stayed in but it does the job. The rooms are decent size — the one I stayed in had a fireplace. Bathrooms need a sprucing up too — seemed to feel like a low-​grade Days Inn. The place overall could really use an updating but once again it was decent.
I also stayed out of season as far as skiing, but I can say I haven’t heard a bad review from someone about the skiing and snowboarding.

Wisp is very hit and miss.
The hits all have to do with the skiing or snowboarding experience. The misses pretty deal with anything else related to the place.
To start with the hits, they have pretty good trails, as a first time snowboarder I started on the practice slope and though it is filled with kids doing lessons, you still have some room to get use to the board. After a couple of hours on the baby slope, I was able to step up, get on a lift and check out some of the real slopes.
Lift lines were decent, place was moderately packed but most of the lines moved swiftly. I was almost knocked over by a lift but it was my fault for not paying attention and the guy helped me out.
I stuck with the greens as I couldn’t handle anything more extreme than that. Backbone Pass and the Big Dipper were my favorites mainly because I had my most success on those, I actually had a run through both without crashing several times.
They call the Wisp trail a green but I would disagree, I got really messed up going down that one, the trail was uneven, it would switch from straight ice to overly powder with little to no warning and threw me off several times.
Even though I fell what felt like 100 times, I still had a really good time snowboarding for the first time.
The misses are plentiful, anything related to food or customer service is pretty bad. The restaurants on site are horrible, the food court is over priced with bad food and most of the service staff are mean, disinterested or just lazy and uncaring.
They call their rooms suites but the suite is a bedroom which is normal and a second room with bed that comes out of a wall. I wouldn’t really raise that to suite status.
I’d return because I like the snowboarding experience but I’d do all my dining and lodging somewhere else.

The hotel lobby was difficult to find. There were no signs pointing towards the lobby. Just an unassuming beat up Christmas wreath on top of some nondescript doors. Not even a lit porch light. Don’t expect a warm welcome. Just sarcasm from a kid that looks like a bat with a very off-​beat sense of humor.
The room was okay. The separate windowless bedroom was a check on the plus side.
For the price you pay to stay at the resort, they offer little to zero amenities.* The only amenity we saw was the indoor pool. There was a hot tub but it was the size of a tea cup and always filled with mouthy awkward teenagers who did not appreciate the saxophone solo from Patrick Swayze’s «She’s like the wind» playing on Nancy’s iphone.
We attempted to «be efficient» by getting the rentals the night before. There were no signs for rentals or lift tickets. We visited three different places and each time turned down by a miserable employee directing us to another place. Customer service is nonexistent at this resort. The managers definitely need to take notes at other ski resorts to come up with a better rental flow. When we finally found the boot rental, the place was saturated with a pungent foot odor. I feel bad for the employees who have to smell up to 9 hours of feet.
The mountain itself wasn’t terrible, but nothing to write home about. The «happy camper/​big dipper» trail was so flat you get more of a workout using your arms to go down. There’s also a separate cross-​country skiing trail (who does that?) «Possum trail» offered some scenic views. Mix that with some dramatic 80’s tunes in your headphones to maximize relaxation. I had Paul Young’s song from Trains, Planes, and Automobiles stuck in my head the entire day. Nice log cabins on top of the mountain (one had a hot tub that looked inviting). Be sure you’re fit enough for Ace’s Run! There’s no ‘breaks’ on that one. We would’ve done more blue squares but according to the map, the 2^nd half of the slope turns into a black diamond. No thanks!
The food court was barely edible. There is NO mountainside BREAKFAST. No even a continental breakfast lol… don’t expect an all-​you-​can-​eat waffle station and Rodney Dangerfield omelette man either. DC’s was the only decent place to eat. However, I could imagine the guy from Restaurant Impossible tearing the place to shreds except for the log chairs.
Black Bear tavern less than a mile away was definitely the highlight of the trip (that’ll be another Unilocal another day). Chileans, dancing, and White Russians are a good combo! I probably won’t visit again in the winter, but will come back in the summer with my harmonica.
My suggestion: Wisp needs an employee appreciation day (even for the Chileans). This place needs a serious morale booster. There was a negative vibe from most of the employees. Although I doubt a lunch at Archie’s bbq will give these employees the boost they need (how about that Mountain Man special?) I just heard that they are recovering from a 2012 bankruptcy. guess that doesn’t help! Opening more of the green and blue trails also couldn’t hurt. No wonder the lifts weren’t jam packed on a Saturday afternoon in January.
*This may be biased by a prior visit to Seven Springs where guests are welcomed with a luau, diamonds, and a roasted pig.

I didn’t get to see the indoors to this resort but the outside is rather nice. Some ski slopes and tubing along with ice skating, a coaster, and a small bonfire.
The hill leading up to the ice skating and tubing was very icy so be careful walking up the hill. The cost to go tubing on the holiday was a very insane $ 34 a person to slide down a hill for 2 hours. Normally it’s $ 19 for a full session but $ 34 for 2 hours is wack. We were dumb enough to get tickets because lets face it, there’s not much else to do up there. So we went tubing on a decent sized hill that had 6 or 7 lanes and three bumps on the way down the hill. We went so fast down the hill because it was icy and ended up flying through the barrier almost into the crowd waiting for tubes. When that happens they give you these big red plastic bottoms beneath your tube to slow you down. In fact, it slowed us down so much that we barely made it to the up hill slopes used to slow down the tube.
After only 3 runs down the hill and waiting more than 10 minutes between slides it was time for us to go. The small escalator like lift that takes us up to the top of the hill was malfunctioning and would stop working and then run again with no warning causing many people to lose their balance nearly falling. The fact that there is no railing on either side to stop people from falling is rather dangerous. They make you sign a waiver before riding relieving them of any accountability if you are injured or possibly die! I feel really safe now.
We were near freezing but didn’t want to waste the trip up there so we sat in the small café for a few minutes before heading to the coaster. The line for the coaster wasn’t long but it took about 25 minutes before we actually got on. It’s a single seat coaster with each car about 1 minute apart. There is a track that pulls you up a very steep hill and then you free fall all the way down with a break you pull to slow you down. We were told to go full speed all the way down the hill but it was freezing cold out and the track was icy causing you to go faster than normal. I still used the break because the corners were way too sharp. The only thing holding you in was a single seat belt and I almost fell out trying to move my feet to another position.
After 2 rides down I was convinced my feet were seconds from being amputated. We decided to leave after only an hour at the resort. Mostly because it was too cold and that we underdressed but also because we just spent $ 100 and neither of us were too happy with our purchase. I don’t know much about the slopes but I hear its a slow ride up the lifts and a quick ride back down. This place should definitely use a fixer up especially on those prices.

My review is for the mountain coaster only, and at $ 25 for three adults to take one run, it’s not a cheap ride. It was fun, lasted less than a minute (well, the lift chain took a few minutes), and I would go again if they had some inclusive or day pass for all of their activities.
Unfortunately, even though it was a beautiful day for it (mid 50’s and sunny), their mountain biking had already closed in prep for ski season.

Wisp is a good mountain for intermediate skiers. The runs are short and there aren’t a whole lot of challenging runs. However, there are quite a few of beginner and intermediate runs. The beginner ones are a little narrow though which can get tricky.
I came on a holiday weekend so the lift tickets were quite expensive for what you get.
If you are renting, definitely do so locally– it’s cheaper and the line here was crazy.